04
Tso Moriri
2 days
Due to heavy snowfall our plan to visit Nubra Valley is postponed and we are first going to the highest sleeping place of our trip at 4500 metres: Tso Moriri. Ladakh means “the land of high passes” and that meaning truly becomes clear while we drive the roads
Every turns shows a different colour of mountains and bushes. The grass is golden, the bushes wine red. Even when no vegetation can be seen, we see shepherds with their herds of pashmina goats looking for grass along the snowy roads. Sometimes we pass by local women who are sweeping the roads with twig brooms, or men from BRO who sleep in tents in the cold by the roadside. We stop at a field of yaks with calves, so I can look at them up close. They are absolutely beautiful with their fur skirtings. On the vast barren plains we see several seemingly airbrushed brown wild ass.
In Korzok, Husain finds Milky Way guesthouse for us to stay in. The host offers us tea and arranges chairs so that we can enjoy a view of the lake. The smell of burning cow dung in the air is poignant. It's freezing cold but the burning sun and our tea keep us warm.
The fields surrounding the lake are golden and barren. The neighbour's kids are playing outside with a little calf and splashing water our way. As preparation for winter, cow dung is drying in the sun. It is piled on the roofs of the houses in between the buddhist flags. The water we drink is molten snow that the owners collect from the mountains.
The food is delicious. As the only guests, we are well looked after. The son tells us they move to Leh during wintertime. He plays ice hockey for the Leh team. From 7 pm to 11 pm the power is on. Temperatures plunge to -10 during night time. Although the house is luxurious for this area, the window is still single glass. Delicate Western Europeans that we are, we really appreciate the two hot water bottles from Husain and mountains of blankets. We wake up with frozen windows. After a quick walk around Korzok we have breakfast on the terrace in the basking sun. The bread omelette with tomato ketchup tastes delicious. Somehow the eggs in Ladakh are the best I ever tasted.
Tso Kar might look like it is snowy, but it is actually a crust of white salt as this is a salty mountain lake. The Himalayan nomads used to export this salt to Tibet . The ochre coloured grassland around the lake is perforated with little holes. One curious inhabitant shows his face: a marmot. A late sleeper. His brothers and sisters are probably already hibernating. As we drive off, we see a couple of black necked cranes - the official state bird of Ladakh - foraging the grasslands.
Lunch for the day is our first maggi in a little shed by the road. Maggi is a true street food staple. much like instant noodles with curry taste.