In the former Buddhist kingdom Zanskar are villages and monasteries, which are among the most remote in the Himalayas. If you want to reach them, you have to walk - and experience a spectacular mountain world.

"Julley!" Tesering greets us, a friendly, highland man. He stands between his eight horses, without which there would be no progress here.

After two car journeys we reached the end of the road, which started in Leh as a tarred road and became a narrow pothole slope in Zanskar. It is still the only access to the former kingdom in the Indian Himalayas and this only in the short summer. In winter, the region is almost completely cut off from the outside world.

Our trekking and photographic equipment is distributed on horseback, as well as the cooking tent and food supplies. My wife Elly and I want to move on a lonely route through Zanskar. Besides Tesering, Rabyang accompanies us as a guide as well as Koch Tensing and assistant cook Keseng.

At noon, our caravan sets in motion and immediately it goes steeply uphill. We come through the village of Cha and soon see from a small pass on the bright blue Tsarap, one of the two main tributaries of the mighty Zanskar River. Our first destination is the Buddhist monastery Phuktal on Tsarap. Ninety-five percent of Zanskar's close to 15,000 inhabitants profess Tibetan Buddhism, which, unlike Tibet occupied by China, was always free to practice here.

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Trekking tour in Zanskar: Through rivers, over passes

At six o'clock in the morning we sit in the prayer room and listen to the prayers of the monks. A novice pours out butter tea, which was prepared in the kitchen on the fire. Thereafter, the young novices gather in front of the tiny school and learn Buddhist texts by heart, later in the morning begins the secular lessons. To date, most families in Zanskar send a boy to the monastery for at least a few years to have him trained.

In the afternoon we follow the Tsarap River up to a plateau where the horses can graze until the next morning. The next day we reach Shade, one of the loneliest villages in the Himalayas. Even before we enter the village, its inhabitants call us from the harvested wheat fields: "Julley! Julley!"

Shade consists of a handful of mud houses that nestle against a slope that divides a valley like a ship's bow. The barren soil, which is watered with channels of meltwater, produces just one harvest per year.

Because Zanskar lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayan main ridge, it receives only 70 millimeters of rainfall per year, which usually falls as snow in winter. Snowmelt and glaciers are the most important sources of water. But the glaciers are melting rapidly. When they have disappeared, there will not be enough water left for agriculture.

In the morning the horses disappeared

Our route passes two high passes: the 5030 meter high Gorena La and the slightly lower but steeper Lar La. We are grateful to be able to walk without luggage, although after a week in the Himalayas we are already quite well adapted to the oxygen-poor air. To have the cameras always at hand, a horse runs directly with us. In the evening, we store with Yak shepherds from Shade, who care for 50 animals during the short mountain summer. Soon they will return to the village with the yaks for the long harsh winter.

The next day we follow Niri Chu, which flows in a ravine, and set our camp again in one of the few places where the horses find enough food. You need strength for the highest pass of the tour, the 5160 meter high Penang La. When it reaches the top at noon, it starts to snow. We descend quickly and set up camp again at Niri Chu.

The following day finally brings the longed for sunshine - but the horses have disappeared. It takes four hours for Tesering to find her on a high pasture. Elly and I are going ahead. Although it goes down slightly, but many river crossings cost time and nerves.

At noon, the team caught up with the horses. Together we pull into the wide valley of the Zanskar River and rest in the village Zangla. We've been on the road for six hours and have just completed half the day. The route is so varied that we make another five walking hours to the village Hanumil well.

Lingshed Monastery glows in the rock

The next day we follow the Zanskar River, then it goes over two smaller passes to the north, our destination, the monastery Lingshed. We store on a steep slope with little food for the horses, promptly they are at night looking for fodder again. Tesering again needs hours to find her. Elly and I use the lead and fight the last pass, the 4720 meter high Hanuma La upwards.

Michael Martin

View of the village Lingshed

At the top of the pass, it almost takes our breath away, as we look into an arena of rock. In seemingly tangible proximity the monastery Lingshed shines in immaculate white. "Six hours", our taciturn guide Rabyang quietly murmurs what we do not want to believe. Six hours later we are smarter. Under the monastery complex, the fields and houses of some farming families spread. In yellow, the wheat fields glow in the afternoon sun. We set up our tents next to the monastery.

For the last time we pack up in the morning and saddle the horses. After three hours we reach the current end of the road that is being built from the Indus Valley towards Lingshed. An excavator eats loud rattling through the steep slopes. The same happens along the Zanskar River as well as south of Padum, the administrative center of Zanskar.

The aim is to create a connection between the Indian lowlands and Ladakh, which can also be used in winter, which is of great strategic importance because of its proximity to Pakistan and China. This will probably bring in Zanskar Indian military. The Zanskar, traditionally influenced until today, will not be around for long.