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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.
In geological terms, this is a young land,
formed only a few million years ago by the buckling and folding
of the earth's crust as the Indian sub-continent pushed with
irresistible force against the immovable mass of Asia. Its
basic contours, uplifted by these unimaginable tectonic movements,
have been modified over the millennia by the opposite process
of erosion, sculpted into the form we see today by wind and
water.
Yes, water! Today, a high -altitude desert,
sheltered from the rain-bearing clouds of the Indian monsoon
by the barrier of the Great Himalaya, Ladakh was once covered
by an extensive lake system, the vestiges of which still exist
on its south -east plateaux of Rupshu and Chushul - in drainage
basins with evocative names like Tso-moriri, Tsokar, and grandest
of all, Pangong-tso. Occasionally, some stray monsoon clouds
do find their way over the Himalaya, and lately this seems
to be happening with increasing frequency. But the main source
of water remains the winter snowfall. Drass, Zanskar and the
Suru Valley on the Himalaya's northern flank receive heavy
snow in winter; this feeds the glaciers whose meltwater, carried
down by streams, irrigates the fields in summer. For the rest
of the region, the snow on the peaks is virtually the only
source of water. As the crops grow, the villagers pray not
for rain, but for sun to melt the glaciers and liberate their
water. Usually their prayers are answered, for the skies are
clear and the sun shines for over 300 days in the year.
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