Ladakh - In Search of the Snow Leopard

 

Prayer Flags
Disbursing prayers in the wind

The second part of my Ladakh trip was for the Snow Leopard. Their thick white-gray coat, spotted with large rosettes, blends in perfectly with Ladakh’s steep and rocky mountains.  The soft thick pads, the long bushy tail (a natural scarf) all serve a function. This perfect camouflage renders them all but invisible, earning them the name: the “Ghost of the Mountains”.

Blue Sheep (Bharal)

Another Bharal

We paid obeisance to the prayer flags and set out to find the Snow Leopards. We saw a Eurasian Magpie, Woolly Hare and a lone Bharal, at various times during the expedition.

Eurasian Magpie
Found at these altitudes only

Ladakh Urials
A one horned ram stands guards over the herd 

The Blue Sheep (Bharal), Ladakh Urials, and Ibex (too distant to photograph); all put on a show, and what a show it was.  Any one would have been a treat, all three…

Woolly Hare

These are the prey of the Snow Leopard, and it is the reason the Snow Leopards descend from the high mountains. They follow prey.  Humans are not the prey of the Snow Leopard, in fact they have become quite used to humans, coming quite close.

Snow Leopard
The distance at which it was normally seen

We were lucky in that a Red Fox, decided that the Snow Leopard’s kill was a tasty meal.  In order to protect its kill, the Snow Leopard stalked the fox and chased it away. This is the closest I have seen a Snow Leopard.

The Snow Leopard chasing the Red Fox away
The fox is in a quandary, one one side is the Snow Leopard
and on the other is us humans

Snow Leopard...

...stalks the Red Fox

The same Snow Leopard which came close

I wonder if our children, or their children will see the Snow Leopard, or will it become a historical myth?

Ladakh- a homestay away from home

…the breathtaking beauty of high passes, raw, snowy landscapes, serene monasteries, and unfortunately, the Great Indian Tourist.

Woodgrain
even the most mundane had a beauty
about it. Because of it?

I went to Ladakh and I spent 8 days in a homestay and a week on a Snow Leopard expedition. This photoblog tells the story of the homestay part of the trip. I stayed in a village called Hemis Sukhpachan, I would love to call it quaint, but quaint it isn’t, every other house is a homestay of sorts. From the lowest cost, bathroom outside; to a fancy hotel and everything in between. I stayed at Zinglo Residency, as I wanted an attached bathroom and three meals a day.

Winter's breath
a stone blocks the cold wind from getting in 
through a window

It had snowed for about two days and all was covered in white. It was white everywhere till the snow melted, became ice and disappeared.... till the next snowfall.

White and snow chains

Snowflakes crystallise against
a window pane

On the way my driver and I passed Sangam, this is where the Indus and Zanskar rivers meet. The Great Indian Tourist has been here (in summer of course). There are many “adventure” activities here, zip-lining being amongst the most prominent. Thereafter we turned and drove the remaining 8 kms to Hemis Sukhpachan.

Sangam: from the top of the picture flows the Zanskar,
from left to right is the Indus

Ground Zero in Hemis Sukhpachan

On the first day my host and I went to a huge Buddha statue, the stairs were slippery as they were polished granite. For such a small village such a large statue was an anomaly, and huge it was. On the way up and down my host showed me where his mother used to live.

The Buddha looks out over the valley...

...And blesses all who seek his blessings

On subsequent days I walked for about four-five hours, there were three roads leading into/out of Hemis Sukhpachan and I walked them all.  Preferring to do an uphill climb at the beginning and downhill at the end of the walk. On one of these roads the downhill came first, getting back was difficult.  

Another Brick in the Wall

I carried my camera whenever I went out, trying to take arty-*arty pics whenever I could. Though I did sneak in the normal image now and again, mainly as a record.

A more effective window block

Magpies soak up the morning sun

The mountains are calling, and I must go…