Ladakh is at the northern tip of India between Kashmir & Tibet; we've been regular visitors for the last 20 years and we stay with the family of Tsering Dolma just outside the main town of Leh. We met her in 2008 when she was a young girl of 14. She has degrees from Delhi & Chandigarh and last summer started working as a teacher in a remote village called Yulchung, a village we've trekked through on several occasions.
Ladakh is at an altitude above 4000 metres, winter is very cold and schools close between November and March. This year the snow continued for longer and the school at Yulchung reopened on 14th March. They have six teachers for about 12 children. Tsering lives in a small room with a bed, gas ring for cooking and little else. The outdoor earth drop toilet is about 50 metres away down precarious steps. The outdoor cold water tap for all washing is near the toilet. Luckily, Ladakhis are tough. They do have internet so we stay in touch with WhatsApp.
April 1st was Buddha Day in Ladakh and the village had a festival with traditional clothes, crafts, music and dance. Although was still snow on the ground by this time it's assumed winter is over and Tsering sent her warm winter clothes back to Leh. Alas, last week they had more heavy snow - and no electricity, the wires are down and the roads over the 5000 metre passes to get to Yulchung are blocked.
Next are some grainy stills from a video that Tsering made a video of the Buddha Day festival on the 1st of April, everyone dressed in their best traditional clothes for a day of song & dance and celebration of traditional food and village activities.
It was Saturday night, Sunday is the one day off, and Tsering was able to come with us to Nierak, another favourite village with happy memories for us. We stayed for a night, Tsering made friends with a small goat. In both villages, Yulchung and Nierak, we were blessed to meet three people we hadn't seen for eight years; we'd brought photographs and had joyful and poignant reunions.
Finally a photo I took in 2008 when we trekked a high path above these villages. I clearly remember a yearning to return and drop down to what looked like idyllic hanging valleys of Yulchung and Nierak separated by the dramatic gorge and wooden bridge across the Zanskar river. We've been along these routes several times, the landscape has changed with the coming of the roads and the best walking is now in the past but my heart is stirred by this landscape, the villages and people we met.