One of the days while I was at Tso Moriri, it snowed on the peaks surrounding the lake. After the storm subsided and the clouds kissing the peaks disappeared, sun rays penetrated through the still cloudy evening sky and lighted up parts of the landscape. Here are some images of the hour after the storm.
Powder snow on a peak near Tso Moriri
Tso Moriri Lake and snow-capped peaks.
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Tso Moriri Lake
Tso Moriri gave me a feeling of being in an enormously beautiful, secret location. Enormously beautiful doesn’t need much explanation. If you have seen pictures of the bright blue lake held captive by mountains around it, challenging the sky in a who-is-more-blue contest, you already know what I am talking about. The sky was hardly blue while I was there, but it did not matter. And it feels secretive, not because no one knows about it, but at any given point of time there are so few people in your vicinity and the place is so far away from anywhere else, it almost gives a feeling of being in your own private heaven specifically built to please you. It is an almost flawless place. The surrounding mountains have just a little bit of snow lurking on their peak, adding a nice bright contrast to blue and brown landscape. On the bank of the lake is a wide stretch of lush green grass like you would see nowhere else in the desiccated Ladakh. Horses graze unattended along the greens, creating an impression that a small group of nomadic trotters must have sought a temporary shelter somewhere nearby.
Tso Moriri Lake and the snow capped mountains
Ladakh is a place that has etched many memories in me, but no other place has made a deeper mark than Tso Moriri. The reasons are many. The tiny bits of snow on the peaks had always remained a great attraction for me. It snowed on the peaks on the days I was there, depositing beautiful buttery white powder all along the slopes. The dark gloomy clouds that gathered before the snowfall enriched and darkened the blueness of the lake.
The lake and the mountains beyond at the hour of sunset, with a stupa in the foreground.
Horses graze on the bank of Tso Moriri
But there was more to Tso Moriri than the lake itself. The ebullient people of Korzok (the village on the bank of Tso Moriri) added to the charm. There was an inexpressible grace in everything they did, be it milking the goats, working in the fields or herding the sheep back into the village in the evenings. The monastic festival at Korzok Gompa added to the chirpy atmosphere. If I had an option of staying forever in Tso Moriri, I think I would have taken it.
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Also: see details of Chadar Expedition in January 2012, lead by tour leader Manish Lakhani
Some of you might remember a post on this blog a year ago about the images of Chadar Trek. Chadar Trek is an expedition of walking on ice when Zanskar River (in Ladakh) freezes over. The sheet of ice, called Chadar, is an ancient winter route that connects people of Zanskar with rest of Ladakh.
Manish, whose images were published in this blog earlier, conducts Chadar expedition with the help of expert local guides every year. The next expedition is scheduled from 22nd January to 6th February 2011. I was planning to join the trek last year, but had to stay back to address some commitments. I am hoping to part of the group departing in January 2011.
Registration for the trek is now open. If you wish to join the expedition, read more on Chadar Trek and sign up. Manish will respond to your queries, if you have any, about the expedition.
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