Today's post is about the famous Manali-Leh highway which is an urban territory located in the Trans Himalayan range in the north of India, named Ladakh. Ladakh is famous for its Mars-like landscapes, Himalayan ranges, high mountains, low oxygen level, and lack of greenery here. I went to this place for the first time in 2014, that too by bicycle and at that time Ladakh got engraved in my heart and mind, since then I go to Ladakh every year.
This ravine may not have anything in its womb, but still there is life here, and to save this small life, the local people here have put their lives at stake. This highway starts from Manali city of Himachal Pradesh and reaches Leh city after covering a distance of 480 km. The village between Manali and Leh comes only after crossing Tanglung La Crosse, which means there is no village for 317 km.
Life can be seen on this Mars too, some families of Lahaul valley run small restaurants in Darcha and Bharatpur, after reaching Sarchu these small restaurants are operated by Changpa tribals. Life here is very difficult as compared to other parts of the world and I am not saying this but the geographical conditions here are like this. This place remains completely covered in snow for 6 months of the year, not only snow but the temperature here also goes down to -35 degrees. It is a big thing to survive with limited resources in such a short season.
Because the temperature here is very low and on top of that this is Trans Himalayan land which is much above the tree line, hence there is no greenery here, and the lack of greenery increases the problems here manifold. Even if the locals want to, they are unable to do farming here because the weather here does not support farming. So when they did not get help from the womb of the earth, the locals sought help from the animals, which was also fulfilled. The locals raise goats, sheep, yaks and horses for their livelihood. And the money earned by selling the milk and hair of these animals is what helps Ladakh stand on its feet.
The locals have opened small restaurants on this highway where they earn a little livelihood for themselves by feeding the tourists and giving them a place to stay for the night. You can see their small restaurants in the photos which are made of a mixture of mud and stone. It takes them about 2 years to build such a small structure. The animals keep themselves alive by eating nominal grass and the people here keep themselves alive by making such structures.
This highway is repaired by the PWD, if you come on the highway, you will see laborers repairing the road at many places. So the highway is not the only problem for the locals, snow leopards and cyclones also play an important role here. Snow leopards eat the domestic animals while cyclones destroy their homes. Even after such a difficult situation, the people here are mentally very strong and always remain positive, they break down and then rebuild their homes, they stay awake all night to avoid snow leopards.
Despite so many problems, there are 5 mountain passes to see here which further enhance the beauty of this highway, the 2 high lakes present here are Deepak Lake and Suraj Lake. 20-30 feet high snow walls on the highway look very amazing. After Tanglung La, due to high minerals, the texture and different colors of the mountains are visible. The villages on this side seem like a wonder because the locals have managed to grow some agriculture by digging the earth. So today's post was about life which is supported so well by this highway.
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to translate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from canon 77d (55-250mm) and edited on laptop lightroom app, post thumbnail created in adobe photoshop.
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