Adventures in India

This high altitude cold desert, hidden in the HImalaya is o­ne of the most inhospitable and forbidding places o­ne can see, and home to some of the toughest people o­n our planet.

Changthang is a vast high altitude cold desert sandwiched between Ladakh and the Tibet (China) border. A harsh and inhospitable land that is home to some of the toughest lives we can find.

When I say desert, I mean it. Nothing grows here except for some scanty grass and shrubs that barely reach some 10 inches in height. The o­nes that grow taller than a foot can safely be called giant specimens. Agriculture is minimal and is pretty much limited to barley. Livestock is goats, horses and the ever present yaks. Cows or buffaloes don’t survive there, nor do chickens, dogs are very few and need much care. I have yet to see a cat. Other crops, plants and trees of course don’t survive there either except for some ‘trying to survive’ willow plantations in recent years.

Food consists of salt, meat, milk, barley, dry meat, curd, tsampa (made from barley), animal fat, butter, chang (local barley beer)…….. endless variations of three chief items – animal products, barley and salt. In fact, even the tea - tsa-cha (recipie) they drink has salt and not sugar!

The overwhelming reason for such scanty life in this region is its altitude. The river bed is at 4,600m from sea level. Anything else is o­nly higher. The other reason is the extreme climate. Winter temperatures here rarely rise above freezing and without direct sunlight, are around 40 degrees below and summer lasts o­nly for 3-4 months from July to September. The most comfortable time for a visit is August.

I remember seeing a picture of a local woman filling water in a stream. The sunlight was dazzling bright and the picture was a bit burnt out in places. Incongruously, this woman was wearing even more clothes than I have usually seen Changbas wear. The mystery was clarified, when I noticed that she had made a hole in the ice that must have been some six inches thick (on flowing water!!!) and was filling water from there. It was a winter picture.The amazing part is that the people of this land (they call themselves Changbas) are nomads and live in tents round the year. This is necessary as the scanty grass cannot sustain livestock for long and runs out making it essential to move to fresh pastures and they travel around the year in all weather – men, women, babies, kids, pregnant ladies, the old…. Everyone.

Another impossibly sturdy aspect of this place is its abundant wildlife. Kiangs (wild asses), nabo (blue sheep), marmots, wolves, eagles, some migratory birds, snow leopards, wild goat breeds….. They all seem to be in abundance (except for the elusive snow leopard). They live here round the year building body reserves in the short summers and surviving o­n available scanty frozen growths in the winter. Spring is the time for new births and winter says good bye to the unfit. A simple cycle of life constantly evolving into a sturdier existence by weeding out the weak.

What more do I write, and where do I stop……?

One last subject for this page:

This is the land of the expensive pashmina. Pashmina shawls are world famous for their softness, incredible warmth and extremely compact size. A good quality pashmina shawl that provides protection comparable with a warm jacket will pass through a wedding ring. Needless to say, they are very expensive and pashmina is what sustains the Changba economy. There is no such thing as a Changba household without these goats. Contrary to popular belief (or complete ignorance of this subject), pashmina is NOT wool. Pashmina is very fine goat hair.

What happens is, all the animals that live in this region develop an extremely warm, fine undercoat of hair in the winter. This is pashmina - a natural protective mechanism. The Changbas say, that any animal will start producing pashmina in their land (provided it survives the climate). However the quality of the pashmina from goats is best suited for harvesting. This is a completely painless procedure. Every spring, the goats are simply thoroughly combed, and the pashmina collects in the comb. This is labour intensive and what makes the pashmina expensive.

I can go o­n for ever, but I am writing for a webpage, and not a book, so I guess, I have to stop somewhere.

What remains, will of course land up o­n some other suitable page. If you find this land interesting, feel free to browse other subject related to the Changthang.

Article by Vidyut