When we drove in the “village” of Thukje, at a first glance it looked like a heap of rubble. we kept looking for an intact building. And there it was, quite nice, actually. In the adjacent tent a large Ladakhi family was gathering and yes, they had two rooms in their home for us to stay. We were uncertain about whether all these people were staying in the small house or if some was just visiting. Hassan, our driver, noticed our concerns and pointed at another intact building in the distance – a guesthouse: two concrete blocks on a plot of land outside the settlement, ten rooms, some with a view of the salt heaps nearby. Very, very basic, but livable. Continue Reading →
Tag Archives | Tso Kar
Tso Kar – On Top of the World or At the End?
Once we turned east off the Mandali Road, the landscape turned even more spectacular. Soon we spotted a nomad camp right along the tracks. We had hoped for so much to meet Changpa Nomads… A few kids, barely able to walk, were playing in the dust next to the road. Our stop made the rest of the family leave their tent or whatever chores they were doing. Their burned and frost bitten faces mirrored their harsh life. Living in tents through a winter at 5.000 meters with those extreme temperatures was beyond our imagination. Continue Reading →
Another Loop, Down South This Time
At the police check point in Upshi, the super correct police officer found out that our permit for Tso Moriri started the following day. Big excitement! Gilles having a loud and angry telephone conversation with the agency who made the mistake, the mobile phone of the policemen playing music at full volume and all the drivers discussing the situation. Heidi took a look at the map and everything was solved. Instead of doing the loop west to east we would start with Tso Kar, which does not require a permit. Continue Reading →