Korzok Village, Ladakh, Himalayan India.
The lady of my guesthouse was dressing up for the High Lama’s visit to Korzok Village.
When I was just about to leave the house in the morning for a walkabout. I spotted her from the half open room while she was just about to finish dressing up. Had unbashingly invited myself into her bedroom and she welcomed me quite openly although she was a little amused on how excited I was seeing her dressing up.
I photographed her dressing and helped her with her coat and jewellery. Her head gear lined with precious turquoise was incredibly heavy and it was amazing how she could wear that for the whole day. The whole setup was heavy and it probably took quite awhile to dress.
You could tell how precious every gear and every jewellery were to her as she unwrapped them after taking them out from a wooden chest. Obviously these were her only possessions from her dowry as often females were only given these, passed down from their mothers as their only financial property.
We couldn’t really communicate as I couldn’t speak Ladakhi and know only little Hindi, and she, spoke only little Hindi and no English and all Ladakhi.
In between my hand signals and non-existent hindi, I came to know that she was one of the village representatives to receive the High Lama who was coming for the blessings and she motioned that she was also going to dance for the festival.
Really did wish I could speak Ladakhi, I could have communicated with her and perhaps asked her more about her life in this remote little village.
September 2009
Tanlangla Pass, Ladakh, India (around 17,00 ft)
He waited for a couple hours…
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Thiksey Monastery at Dusk
September 2009
Thiksey Village, Leh, Ladakh, India
Had initially decided to stay at Thiksey for a night so I could attend the early morning puja (prayers) at the Thiksey Monastery. It seems there were few options here, it was either staying at the hotel which is owned by the Monastery, expensive and quite yucky, it had some strange sickly smell at the room the manager showed me, or at the nearby guesthouse which was closed and locked up as the owner was away.
I walked around the village and looked for more guesthouse options, along came a local man with his horse. While asking for directions to other guesthouses, he offered his home without any hesitation, however I was hesitant but decided to follow him to his house because I was a little curious.
Immediately as I arrived into his house, I was welcomed by his two friendly kids, Tsetan and Yangdol and their grandparents who were in the garden.
In the house, I was greeted by his wife, Jigmat, Stanzin said some brief words to her who then signalled me to their modern yet traditional looking Ladakhi living room. This was where I slept for a few days.
Had I not met Stanzin and invited to his home, I would not have decided to stay a few days to experience more traditional Ladakhi culture. It was heart warming for me to be invited by these open and generous people.
It was cold and it was late at night when I took this shot but the whole atmosphere was beautiful, the monastery looked even more spectacular and photogenic at night.
Was brushing my teeth out in the garden when I saw this view. There is no indoor plumbing at the house hence everything has to be done out in the open under the clear skies. Water was collected daily from a underground well some distance away and stored in containers. A traditional Ladakhi house has an outdoor soil toilet and no bathroom, washing is done out in the open normally in the garden or out in the courtyard.
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September 2009
Thiksey Village, Leh, Ladakh, India
I got introduced to this traditional Ladakhi dish, ‘Sku’ while staying with a family in Thiksey Village.
Was wandering in the village and asking directions for a guesthouse when I was invited to stay with the family. At first I was hesitant when Stanzen, the man of house offered his place while taking his horse back to the household, but I was warmly welcomed by each member of the family, along with the two cute kids, Tsetan and Yangdol who helped carry my bag to the family living room where I stayed for a few days. That’s Ladakhi hospitality for you, very open and friendly people.
Sku is made from local wheat flour (with unusual yellowish tone) and water and served with a vegetable broth. This hearty dish is something like a vegetarian pasta stew like gnocchi (potato pasta), a very simple dish that is helped by the incredibly sweet peas tomato and potato. All local vegetables harvested from the family’s various fields. These organic produce taste amazingly sweet and favor some. While peeling the vegetables I was constantly popping these deliciously sweet raw peas. I snacked on these constantly when I was in Leh, organic vegetables taste simply better than mass produce ones, if anyone doubt how organic vegetables taste better, they should come to Ladakh and eat these tasty vegetables raw!
Jigmat the lady of the house and Palmo, the sister in law who is currently a resident teacher at a Changtang village. She normally returns home during the weekend and cooks all her favorite dishes. Here we are sharing a cup of butter tea and while making Sku. As I didn’t eat red meat, Palmo decide to make Sku instead of cooking a mutton dish.
The dough is kneeled into cylinder then shaped into these little noodle by the thumb. Palmo was teaching me how to shape the noodle. She does it in one swift skillful motion while my part of the Sku suffered with my clumsy unskillful hands.
The broth sauteed with diced tomato and onions before adding the other vegetables and further flavored by other spices like saffron. The Sku is boiled along with the potatos until soft.
This pasta stew is hearty and very healthy dish often eaten during the bitter cold winter months where temperature averages -20 to 30 degree celsius. Sometimes the broth is made from mutton or beef bones along with dried vegetables that is harvested during summer.
