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In the evening we came to the officers’ club which was in front of the Dak Bungalow. Apart from the Deputy Commissioner, there were some other officers and about 40 prominent citizens of Leh. Mr. Rehman, the Deputy Commissionr introduced us and informed the citizens that we had brought the good news that hundreds of foreign tourists would be arriving in Leh shortly. However, to accommodate these there was no space! He requested every citizen to come forward and make at least one room available in their own houses for accommodating tourists as paying guests. Every one immediately agreed and overnight we had posh 500 beds available in Leh for foreign tourists. This is how paying guest accommodation was born in Ladakh. It came to be known as “Home Stays” under UNESCO which adopted it as a model for many other places. In subsequent years the paying guest accommodation developed throughout Ladakh and was liked by all foreigners. An important facet of this movement was the preservation of the traditional style of living. People maintained their houses in traditional style and added modern amenities. I consider that evening meeting in the officers’ club in Leh as a turning point in the development of tourism in Ladakh. The tourism department later on offered an incentive of rupees two hundred thousand for conversion of houses into paying guest houses. The incentive was taken by people all over Ladakh and it made a difference to their own living.
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Next day while walking in the bazaar of Leh, Rauf met an old friend, Colonel Jeeti Goel of 4-Paras. He used to be in Gulmarg when Rauf was posted their some years back (in mid sixties). These days he was stationed in Chumathang and was the Officiating Commander as Brigadier Goel. He said that we could not go back without spending a couple of nights with him. Accordingly he bundled us into his official flag bearing Jonga and drove towards Chumathang. It was a virtual kidnap. We had some tea and snacks at Kiari Brigade Headquarter and then drove to his battalion headquarter in Chumathang, the place famous for hot sulphur springs. We were provided small cubicles within huge bunkers as our quarters for the night. Colonel Goel suggested we freshen up with hot water of the springs. We were offered choice of getting water in buckets in a make-shift attached bathroom or go to the spring itself. I preferred the bath room while Rauf decided to go to the spring. I freshened up, had a quick bite, and went to sleep due to the fatigue of long travel. Next morning I learnt that Rauf had a problem of breathlessness as he had inhaled sulphur fumes. They had to give him oxygen in the night. However, in the morning he was fit again and Colonel Goel took us to Puga valley to see the Geysers. It was a fantastic sight to see gushing steam and hot water in a flat valley. In some places there were huge statues of ice as the water had frozen during the cold night of the high altitude. That evening we had a feast of fish caught by soldiers from the Indus River. These were tiny black fish which were quite tasty. Next day early in the morning we returned to Leh. Here, I met my college mate Benjamin Deldin who was working as an Assistant Engineer in Khalsi. He was constructing road to the Drokpa area of Dah, Hannu, and Gorkan. Drokpas are an animistic tribe claimed to be pure Aryans or by some as Greeks left over from Alexander’s army.
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They are fair and very good looking with non-mongoloid features. They abhor cow and their revered animal is goat. Benjamin invited me to stay for a night in Khalsi on return and he would take me to visit the area. Accordingly, on our return next day we stopped in Khalsi. Rauf stayed back in the Dak Bungalow while Benjamin took me to Dah in his jeep. The road goes all along Indus River to the point where it enters Pakistan. However, at that time the road had been made through only up to Dah. The area is quite dramatic with terraced fields and mountain side hamlets. People have stone houses and each house has a balcony full of flowers. The people here make excellent wine from grapes which are in abundance. They also make goat cheese but they eat it only when it is rancid. One can find goat cheese which may be a couple of years old. They do the same with meat. The tribe has very strange customs. Every few years they hold a festival of fertility at harvest time when the whole tribe gathers in one of the villages. For five days they make merry. First the head of the tribe relates the story of their tribe and then they eat, drink, and dance. They also have a custom called Yatta, which relates to celebrating people coming of age. It is almost a re-marriage of the elders to celebrate their aging.
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In the evening we returned to Khalsi and next morning started our journey back to Srinagar. The return was mostly uneventful except after crossing Zoji La and taking in the first view of the lush green forests of Sonamarg we had a strange feeling! On reaching Srinagar we described our most adventurous journey to friends and colleagues. Almost for a week after return I was feeling disoriented. It was as if we had returned from a voyage to a different planet. I put my journey details in a small yellow coloured booklet for the use of intending tourists. This booklet which was nicknamed as the “Yellow Book” was in great demand by foreign tourists. I had supplemented my own description with the quotes from Fredrick Drew’s book. His description of the route was exactly as we had found it on the ground after the lapse of decades. After my first visit I had umpteen opportunities of travelling to Ladakh but the spirit and the ambiance of that maiden voyage still lingers in my mind and I feel strong nostalgia for it. It was truly a journey of discovery! In the next few episodes I will describe my experiences on the first journey to Zanskar, the last place on Earth!
(Concluded)
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