During my visit to Ladakh in September 2016 I had a very unique experience in the village Tsogsty. Hidden in Zanskar valley, the village of Tsogsty sits at the edge of a mountain cliff. I was travelling two of my friends. We just finished our three days of trekking in the Hemis National Park and now we were back on road. While we drove alongside the River Zanskar a green patch just appeared across the river (see pic1). We were very curious to know more about this location. A bumpy ride of a few kms and we reached Tsogsty. It was late evening so we couldn’t see much, but among the walnut trees the village entrance gave us a very warm feeling. The villagers gave us a warm welcome and we were given a room at one of the homestays.
As the next morning unveiled we were welcomed with an awesome sight. Our homestay was surrounded with apple and apricot trees. Apricots had already been harvested but the juicy apples were still laden on the trees (pic2). We got to know that there were 5 varieties and we got to taste each one of them. They were juicy and tasty, unlike any apples I had ever tasted in my life. We strolled through the green farms and then visited the natural water spring that flowed beside the village.
This was not all. We were fortunate to meet Thetan Wangyal ji, a 65-year-old copper artisan of Tsogsty. We were amazed to see his works of art and more so the passion that he exhibited towards this work. He took us around his workshop where he sits during the winters and creates his work made of copper. What was even more interesting was to get to speak to him and know about his concerns about this art which is fading as there are no takers from the new generation. The intricate work involved in this art is laborious and time consuming. The kettle that Thetan ji is holding (in pic3) takes almost 40-45 days to make.
We met many other villagers too and were lucky to get to try our hands on Ladakh’s ancient sport of Archery. The village experience was complete when we got a chance to finish it with an amazing dinner of Shu-tagi (local pasta) and Chhang. We were totally overwhelmed with what we got to see and experience and returned home after 9 days in Ladakh. The enriching memories that we had gathered are locked into our bag of memories that are delved into at regular intervals to refresh ourselves with, in the fast paced city life that we all are part of.
I also created this short video that captures my experience at Tsogsty: https://youtu.be/TIHkgbEkqFc
This trip was organized by Mountain Homestays (http://mountainhomestays.com), who apart from giving people a chance to take a peek at the life in these remote villages are also actively involved in trying to save this ancient handicraft.