This is the third post in the Manali Leh Highway series. In the first two posts you read about Himalayan Shepherds and the nomadic Changpa tribe. Today in the third post of this series, you will see more than read the faces of the people living on this highway.
The average height of Manali Leh Highway is 4600 meters, and the faces of all the people living here are torn due to the cold air here. I do not have photographs of many people but I am happy with them. In the first photo you will see a Changpa with his animals in the 'Maurey Plains'. This Changpa is wearing thick clothes according to the cold, he has a bag tied around his waist in which he has kept salt. At such a height and away from the city, the cost of salt is very high. People used to walk for many days from one area to another just for salt. Salt is a very precious thing for the people of Changthang.
According to a brief conversation with Changpa, he has 1500 sheep and goats and 15 yaks. These people live in Hanle village but have come here to graze their animals. He is a Buddhist by religion. These people leave early in the morning with their animals after breakfast and come to their tent before sunset.
The next photo is of a child who showed me at a local dhaba located in Whisky Nallah. I tried a lot to talk to this kid but he didn't even say a word to me. Talking to his mother who works in Dhaba, we came to know that this child's name is Tondup and he is two and a half years old. He will stay here for two months with his mother and as soon as the first snow of the season starts falling, both mother and son will go to Choglamsar.
This photo is of the Changpa family, the photo is from when the father was going to buy chips from the nearby shop for his children. When I talked, I came to know that both the children live in 'Maurey Plains'. The height of Maure Plains is 4600 meters. He further told that there is only one disadvantage of keeping children at such a height and that is frequent colds. The children's father said that we will go to our house as soon as the first snow falls.
The next photo is of a Ladakhi woman from Choglmsar. Here this woman runs a dhaba with her husband. With the income received from Dhaba, these people will educate their children and make them all human beings for the society. An uncle is sitting in the next photo, he has a Buddhist prayer wheel in his hand. It is believed that by rotating this wheel, the pronunciation of auspicious mantras spreads in the universe and gives peace to all living beings and people.
In another photo, a woman is walking outside with her child. When I talked, I came to know that the child was crying for a long time, so to make him silent, the child's mother has taken him out so that he becomes silent. In the second photo, a child is looking at a mobile, although there is neither network nor electricity here, yet these people keep smart phones with them for their entertainment. Uses local solar panels to charge the mobile.
Crossing Rumse village, I saw two brothers, both coming from the shop after buying chips. Both the children had taken a kind of toy in their mouth and are walking waving the packet of chips in their mouth. When I click their photo and show them both, the elder boy says that “My father's phone takes a good photo”.
And at last I want to share a photo of a monk. When I talk to him, I come to know that he is the youngest in his family, so he was sent to a monastery to become a monk. According to the Buddhist religion, the youngest child of the house has to lead the life of a monk. Because this community is very small, this is done to save the existence of religion.
So this was the third post of this series, hope you liked it.
Disclaimer: All photos are clicked by me (