Wari La

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Our return to Leh from Diskit took us over an alternative pass -- the Wari La. This pass, at about 17,200 ft, was almost as high as Khardung La. The road was not in as good a shape, but with almost no traffic, it was a far more pleasant drive. We also got a chance to see more wildlife than on the Khardung La road. (See previous post.)

It's long past time that I should recognize our fantastic, fearless drivers with nerves of steel. Second from right is our guide, Rinchen. The other six drove our Toyota Innovas.

A major flash flood occurred in Ladakh in August 2015. While the roads have been re-opened, we still spent a lot of time going over barely passable wash-outs and landslides. This small area near Khalsar was filled with rocks and debris that washed down the mountain. You can see that the debris filled this house about 3 feet deep. Fortunately, this was a market area that was empty when the flood hit in the middle of the night.

Another view of the flood area. The top of the photo is an army camp that was above the flood damage, but you can see flooded and destroyed structures in the bottom half of the photo.

This view of a road-cut shows the type of "rock" that fills the valleys. It's not so much solid rock as unsorted sediment that has washed down the mountains. Crumbly and highly erodible, I'm surprised there aren't more problems with roads than there is. I guess the dry desert climate helps.

More evidence of road problems: a small landslide and road collapse. Clearly the caution sign doesn't do much good anymore!

We turned off the "main" road at Agham village to start our climb to the Wari La. This is the village of Tangyar. It has a small monastery at the top of the hill.

Although beautiful, the people of Tangyar have a subsistence living. They farm a few fields and raise some livestock.

Of course, some people do have amenities. This house has the usual hay and prayer flags on the roof, along with a satellite dish and a solar panel for power.

A Tangyar resident and Rinchen help Madeline cross a rickety bridge.

At Tangyar we met two women cyclists from Barcelona, Spain. They were going to hire ponies in Tangyar to carry their gear, while they pushed their bikes along a trekking route. We came across two more cyclists bicycling up the pass. Lakakh is trying to brand itself as an adventure sports destination.

We had the road and the landscape mostly to ourselves.

Almost at the pass: Looking back down the valley towards the Shayok River.

Looking down the road towards the Indus River. The village of Serthi is at the bottom of the road. We joined the main road into Leh at Karu -- very near Hemis Gonpa.

Chemrey Gonpa -- just past Serthi

Stakna Gonpa on the banks of the Indus.

It's our last night in Ladakh. Tomorrow morning we fly from Leh to Delhi, and then back to Mumbai.