Ladakh is a land like no other. Bounded by two of
the world's mightiest mountain ranges, the Great Himalaya and the
Karakoram, it lies athwart two other, the Ladakh range and the Zanskar
range. Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 feet (2750m)
at Kargil to 25,170 feet (7,672m) at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram.
Here there is a small population of Bactrain camels, shaggy double-humped animals,
which in the old days, were used as pack animals on the Central Asian trade
routes. During the past 50 years, they have been bred for transport purposes
in Nubra; today visitors can take a camel safari out into the dunes from Hundar.
The other circuit proceeds up the Nubra river, taking in the pretty villages
of Tirit, Lukung, Tegar and Sumur. Nubra's other kanor monastery, Samstaling
is situated on the mountainside just above Sumur.
This was the route taken by the trade caravans, and Panamik, the last village
on this circuit, wsa at that time a busy centre, the last major settlement before
the caravans plunged into the mountains of the Karakoram and the Kun-Lu.
Here they invariable halted for a few days to make final preparations for getting
over the mountains, or to recuperate afterwards.
There would be no supplies, not even grazing for the animals, for about 12 days
after Panamik, so they had to carry all their provisions for that time. The
Government maintained a granary to sell foodgrains for the men, and even for
the horses.
But this arrangement was insufficient for the amount of the traffic, and the
local villagers made a killing, selling grain and fodder, and letting out their
fodder-fields for the horses to graze in. Today, Panamik is a sleepy village,
its people quietly going about their work in the fields.
Though the granary is still there, converted into a store for miscellaneous
supplies, it is difficult to imagine the village's narrow lanes congested with
the bustle of the caravan traffic.
On the mountainside above, the village hot water bubbles out of the earth in
thermal springs, locally reputed to have therapeutic qualities.
And across the river, clinging precariously to the mountain there is a sliver
of green - a few trees rooted in meagre accumulations of soil among the bare
rocks surrounding the tiny Ensa Gompa.
