TALK BY RAJ NAIDU TO THE CLUB ON THURSDAY 30TH June 2011
MORE THAN JUST A HOLIDAY – „AN EXCITING EVENT‟ P
ast President Raj Naidu gave his long awaited talk to the Club on
the adventures he and his wife Pratibha had last January when they actually walked along the frozen River Zanskar in the remote province of Ladakh in the north East of Kashmir, Northern India.
T
he state of Kashmir is of course the region disputed between India
and Pakistan ever since Indian Partition in 1947. With the remoteness of the area and the political nervousness of
the Indian government over Kashmir, Raj told us that any travellers venturing to the boundaries of Kashmir, which border on not only Pakistan but also China, have to obtain Licences from the Indian government in Delhi (itself nearly 400 miles to the south). Luckily as Raj and Pratibha were staying in Leh, the capital of Kashmiri province of Ladakh, no licences were required, although the Chinese border is only 150 miles away.
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espite the Kashmiri problem, Raj said that international politics was far away from Leh and its River Zanskar,
itself a remote tributary of the great River Indus, The whole province of Ladakh, including Leh and its river, consists of a mountainous area reaching a height of over 11,000 feet above sea level and it is largely cut off from the rest of India and Pakistan – let alone Europe - for the area is north of the even higher area of the main Himalaya Range 400 miles to the south.
s befits its height above sea level, Leh City is very cold, so when Raj and Pratibha landed by plane at Leh (it
does have an airport) the temperatures were -19◦ centigrade. To keep warm even in the hotel they stayed at prior to their trek, heating was provided by a fire in a metal drum in their room. Temperatures were not helped by the fact that the hotel itself was 11,500 feet above sea level (although Mount Everest is nearly 17,500 feet higher still!). The coldness of the area can be seen in that all cars – such as there are – have to be warmed up by their owners each morning by placing a small open furnace under their vehicle (not quite what the HSE might recommend in the UK!)
T
he religion of the peoples of Ladakh is primarily Bud- dhist, and they make much use of prayer wheels in their
devotions. The numerous Buddhist temples in Ladakh are built on high vantage points. Raj and Prathiba also noted the frequent „choretens‟ – these are small Buddhist shrines built by local prisoners temporarily released from jail for this task. The Ladakh people in many ways relate more to Tibet to the SE of the province, and have similar facial features, with Mongol faces.
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evertheless, in Leh at least, the locals are not kept in isolation and they regularly have a large number of
Canadian teenagers who come each year to Ladakh to play ice hockey with the locals.
S
oon it was time for Raj and Prathiba to leave the relative comfort of their hotel and begin their walk along the
frozen River Zanskar. The Zanskar lies in a deep gorge, the floor of which is completely occupied by the river. So the only way to walk through the Gorge is to walk on the river itself, and this is only possible as the river is frozen over for much of the year. This frozen walk has many notable features, including the Zanskar‟s beautiful ice formations created by the extreme cold. But herein also lies danger, for amongst the ice patterns are patches of thin ice under which the river still flows quickly – despite the cold – on its journey to join the Indus and the Indian Ocean. To fall through thin ice into the river with these temperatures means a high risk of drowning or freezing to death.
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R I
ccompanying them on their walk along the Zanskar, Raj and Prathiba had porters with sledges to carry their
luggage the whole distance. The porters were a cheerful and knowledgeable group who added much to Raj and Pratibha‟s adventure.
ut what was inescapable to Raj and Prathiba for the whole of their walk was the extreme temperature, with a
day temperature of -5◦C, falling to -20◦C at night. But for all this it was a completely wonderful and unforgettable journey for them both to an area outside of any of their – and our! - experiences.
aj illustrated his talk with an excellent Power-Point presentation of photographs he and Prathiba had taken
on their adventure, which gave colour and substance to Raj‟s account of remote Ladakh, its wonderful scenery and its hospitable people. At the end of his presentation, which he summarized as „more than just a holiday – an exciting event!‟ Raj was given a warm round of applause from fellows for one of the best talks that they have heard from a fellow Rotarian for a long time.
Dick Palmer 7.7.2011 Editor’s comment.
Story provided by Dick Palmer
’m worried about Raj. For his 50 Birthday he took Prathiba for a walk up Kilimanjaro! For his 60th he took
her for this walk on a frozen river, walking 6 to 7 hours a day, sleeping in a tent at night and it took 5 days to walk into the gorge and of course 5 days to walk out! One of the guides did in fact fall through the ice (fortunately he got out) and they saw the footprints of a snow leopard!
W
hat will he do when he is 70? Watch out Prathiba! 33
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