BEST SEASON TO VISIT LADAKH

BEST SEASON TO VISIT LADAKH:June to October, as most of the high passes and trekking routes remain closed after November due to heavy snowfall. However, for Chadar trek, the best period for visiting is during January to mid-March.
WHAT TO WEAR: Warm clothes and a windsheeter or raincoat along with good waterproof shoes are advisable for trekking, while an extra pair of shoes or sandals, a good spacious rucksack and a warm sleeping bag are also an asset while trekking above 4000 m
BY ROAD: The Srinagar-Leh road with a stretch of 434 km is the most popular land route to Ladakh and remains open only from early June to November. The steep ascent of 11,500 feet to Zojila is thrilling and exhilarating. One can easily get regular government and private buses along this route. The second most land route to Ladakh is the Manali-Leh road stretching across 473 km. It has been opened recently and remains open mostly from mid-July to mid-October. The trip on this route becomes more interesting with the panoramic views of the snow-clad peaks of the Western Himalayas on the way.The most important passes and places of Ladakh are Rohtang Pass at a height of 3,978 m on Manali - Leh road, which is a gateway to the Lahaul Valley and Spiti Valley, Bara Lachha Pass at a height of 4892 m, which is supposed to reach the highest regions of Ladakh, Zanskar Range, a camping ground in Zanskar, Lachalang la Pass at a height of 5,059 m, which is one of the most difficult passes to cover, Upshi, from where the road bifurcates to reach Rupshu and Demchok and Leh, the Headquarters of Ladakh.
BY AIR: Leh is connected by regular flights to and from Delhi (daily), Chandigarh, Jammu (twice a week) and Srinagar (once a week).

Phuntsog Ladakhi

When Ladakh had just started to open up to the outside world one young Ladakhi had the vision and ambition to apply and get admission in the prestigious IIFT,Pune.In those days when the Indian cinema industry was coming into its own Phunstog Ladakhi made his and Ladakhs presence felt all over the country.Of the many movies he worked areKhel Khel MaiUchi UdaanShalimarKachhey Heraiand othersPhunstog has also worked in many famous television serials of which he would be specially remembered for Intizaar ( The serial made him a household name in India )Paramveer ChakraHe is also the pioneer of modern Ladakhi music. His album Om Mani Padme Hum is still considered a classic bench mark all over the Himalayan belt.He has also directed his own documentaries and movies on Ladakh namely

Dr.Siddiq Wahid,(Harvard)

He received his PhD in Inner Asian Studies from Harvard University, a Masters in Education from Harvard University and a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Theory from Gustavus Adolphus College. Dr. Wahid has taught Central Asian Studies and Comparative Literature at Harvard University and at Metropolitan University. He has authored a book on Ladakh and several articles on Central Asia, Tibetan Civilization and the Kashmir conflict; he has lectured widely in South Asia, Europe and the United States. Since 1990 Dr. Wahid has been deeply involved as an activist in Jammu & Kashmir; in 2001 he was named a member of the People?s Election Commission of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. He is a member of the Governing Board of the People?s Commission on Environment and Development India (PCEDI) and a founding member of the India Forum, (IF) a Delhi-based discussion group.

Nightingale of ladakh (tseshu lamo)

Everybody knows her; from the tiny-tots to the aged as they direct you to her house in Chushod, in the outskirts of Leh, set amid willow trees and rows of cabbage and barley. Tseshu Lhamo, 72, in a carelessly brown deep brown goncha, suns herself on the verandah of her modest, traditional house with gaily-painted beams and woodwork; is engulfed in her thoughts. To an onlooker she passes off as any other old women basking in tender sunlight to beat the chill; but this 'Nightingale of Ladakh' (as she is popularly known) is a living legend. To Ladakhi music she is special and precious. Also nicknamed 'Lata Mangeshkar of Ladakh' by the townspeople, this Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee has taken Ladakhi folk music across geographic boundaries to other parts of India and also Japan, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong and Mongolia.
Fame and Fortune do not always go together—like many other artists in India, after a glorious and inspiring career, now in her twilight, Tseshu Lhamo still struggles for her basic needs.

A Great Ladakhi

It is the remarkable, but true, story of Rassul Galwan, a native of Ladakh who early on in life became a trusted assistant to various nineteenth century European explorers. Setting off at a young age, Galwan was soon to be found in the company of adventure travelers like Sir Francis Younghusband, who explored the Tibetan plateau, the Pamir mountains and the deserts of Central Asia.....
for more detail.
Amazon.co.uk
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Three Ladakhi Mountaineers Missing in Action.

Leh, Monday, September 18, 2006Disaster struck a mountaineering expedition team of J&K Armoured Police organised by the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering (JIM) when the three members of their advance party went missing during their feat to claim the Kun peak of Zanskar range recently. The rescue team sent to trace Sonam Wangyal r/o Saspol, Leh (Ct. 4th Bn. IR), Tsewang Nurboo r/o Alchi, Leh (Ct. 9th Bn, IR) and Mohd. Mussa r/o Sankoo, Kargil (Ct. 12th Bn, JKAP) returned empty handed. SSP, Leh Alok Kumar, said, so far no recovery has been made and the ITBP team assigned for the task could not find the missing members. The 19-member expedition team including two Inspectors and one team leader Colonel Shekhawat of Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering (JIM) was set off for the expedition in the first week of this month. According to Dy. S P, Kargil, P Sonam, Kargil police have been carrying out intense rescue operations for the past 15 days during which two rescue teams were sent including aerial surveys by helicopters but so far there is no trace of the missing climbers. P. Sonam further told that the three members are believed to be stranded at a height of about 22000 ft. where the snow level is up to 10 ft. The three advance team members were at verge to scale the summit when they lost contact with the base. The local police at Kargil is leaving no stone unturned in their effort to find the three missing constables and more rescue teams are being dispatched for the same.
Reeling under shock, the relatives of the missing members are knocking at doors of all top authorities and ministers but to no avail so far. “There is hardly anyone left whom we did not approach for help,” said Sonam Wangchuk, cousin of one of the missing climbers. Blaming it on the organisers, Sonam revealed that the relatives of the missing climbers were informed about the tragedy very late on Sept. 9 though the incident occurred three days earlier. Soon after receiving the news, we sought the intervention of top ministers and bureaucrats that finally set the rescue operation on, he said. The ill fated families, disheartened by the tragedy, feel that rescue efforts being put by the concerned quarters are not satisfactory. “We heard that during a helicopter sortie tents were sighted at a height, but no actual rescue effort was made,” Sonam said. A glimmer of hope is still flickering in the hearts of the grief stricken families and they are praying hard for the safe return of their dear ones.

The Himalayan Yeti (Brown Bear)

Tuesday, September 12, 2006The Himalayan brown bear (Denmo) is a very robust animal inhabiting hills and valleys of the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region. They have large body with powerful limbs that terminate in broad paws with five non-retractable claws, which are mainly used for ripping and digging. The animals have tapering muzzle and round ears, and have excellent senses of smell and hearing. They have dense, shaggy fur, which is dark brown sometimes with a silver tinge. The males are bulkier than the females, and weigh up to 200 kgs.Brown bears can walk on their hindfeet, and leave gigantic and almost human-like footprints. According to its believers, even the Himalayan Yeti leaves a large human like imprint in the snow. A Japanese researcher, working in Nepal and Bhutan for more than a decade, trying to bust the myth of the Yeti opines that the Himalayan Yeti or the abominable snowman is nothing more than a Himalayan brown bear, although efforts are still on to shed further light on this.

Mission Ladakh.

We have learnt that all religions are the same and fighting in the name of religion is wrong”, said 12-year-old gal. She was at the Polo ground participating in the Public Information Campaign (PIC) launched by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to bring awareness among the people about various centrally sponsored schemes for the region. Schoolchildren of various educational institutes enthusiastically took part in the programme and pledged to make rural people living in their respective villages aware about these schemes. The Polo ground, the venue of the campaign, wore a festive look with about 36 stalls put up by various government departments like education, health, animal husbandry, agriculture, forest, JK Bank, tourism, horticulture etc., to showcase their products and highlight their achievements. At these stalls, information regarding important Central government programmes and how to avail the benefits under the programmes was made available to the people ignorant of such projects.
Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister of J&K government Mangat Ram Sharma said that in spite of weak infrastructure and reluctance on the part of doctors to serve in the rural areas the government has done a commendable job in bringing health facilities to the common man in far-off places like Leh and Kargil. He said that the government is hiring doctors on contract basis to serve the people of the region. “Lots of work has been done and lots need to be done. We will not rest till the last man in the state is guaranteed of quality medication”, promised Sharma to the motley group of Ladakhis who were outnumbered by the schoolchildren.

TSEWANG NORPHEL build glicer in leh..

TSEWANG NORPHEL builds glaciers in Leh. Chewang Norphel, a retired civil engineer and his colleagues at the Leh Nutrition Project have, to date, built 10 artificial glaciers. Mr Norphel was recently nominated for the Asian Innovation Award instituted by the Far Eastern Economic Review and Du Pont. After obtaining a diploma in Civil Engineering, he joined the state government service. His first challenge came in 1966, when he was posted to Zanskar, in Ladakh, as a subdivisional officer. He realized that the need of the hour was a bridge connecting it to the mainland. With the help of the villagers and using a technology that was purely rural – no cement, only local stones, rocks and wood – he constructed a bridge. He was later associated with the building of a number of canals where he did away with the cement lining because it was very expensive and often cracked in winter. Instead, he allowed weeds to grow and thicken with each passing year.

Ladakh Photos Updated.

Some Photos of Ladakh Festival and beautiful sceneries have been updated today.
Check the link below.
http://adventure-un-limited.com/gallery/index.php

Wish you all happiness and see you in Ladakh again.