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Undeniably the Li River landscape between Guilin and Yangshuo belongs to one of the most memorable experiences of any visitor to China. The river gently meanders amidst limestone mounds that everyone etches in his mind forever. Names of hills, towns and villages along the river add to the nature’s masterpiece that this part of China is – Elephant Trunk Hill, Pagoda Hill, Grotesque Peak Village, Daxu Ancient Town, Gudong Waterfalls, Mopanshan Wharf, Wangfu Rock, Mural Hill, Yellow Cloth Shoal
Xingping, Snail Hill, Lotus Crag and finally Yangshuo.

Not for all visitors cruising on Li River is a pleasant experience thus a warning is a must. While the landscape is bewitching, the boat traffic on the river is “bumper to bumper” with each boat teeming with tourists. Boats’ roaring engines somewhat negate the stunning landscape they navigate. The Guilin Li River Tourism Cruise Company
runs nearly 100 boats with capacity of nearly 9,000 seats with the annual total of over 3 million passengers. With that kind of numbers it is not hard to visualize the traffic and the spectacle that this romantic river has become. During summer, between June and September, the peak of annual tourist arrivals, the river traffic and the hordes that disembark in Yangshuo are best avoided. Spring and Fall are great periods to visit but make sure you will not schedule your visit to coincide with the key Chinese holidays, the Labor Day, celebrated the first week of May, and the National Day, taking place the first week of October, when Guilin to Yangshuo and the entire Li River watershed is overrun by Chinese tourists. Needless to say tourists come all year long, native visitors above all, included during the Chinese New Year between January and February.

While taking a boat downriver from Guilin to Yangshuo is what most visitors come here for, spending a few days along the river, visiting the many sites at your own pace, preferably from a base in Yangshuo, is a best way to soak in this truly unique natural wonder and its cultural ambiance.

The Mulbekh Gompa, about three quarters of the way from Leh to Kargil, marks the end of the Buddhist Ladakh and the beginning of its Muslim parts. The Muslim culture here as in Kargil and from here on toward the alpine valleys of Kashmir as well as the first third of the way toward Zanskar, leading through the Suru Valley, is related to Baltistan, the Pakistani region further west of the border with India formed here by the Indus River. Already in Khalsi, a scruffy junction town half way between Leh and Kargil, one can catch a glimpse of the Muslim presence as windows of some of the local shops are decorated with pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini, reminding one that regions further west are mostly Shiite Muslim rather than Buddhist.

Suru Valley constitutes the main supply route for the remote Zanskar and the journey is stunning though tiring and can be difficult. It takes some 12 hours to traverse the distance between Kargil and Padum in Zanskar by a 4-wheel drive, and the difficult part is crossing the Pensi La, often shrouded in clouds and subject to blizzards.

The first stage of the Suru Valley road past Kargil leads through Muslim villages. The road is relatively well maintained, as Kargil market is still too close and a lifeblood of these villages. Past the scenic Muslim village of Panikhar the road begins to deteriorate. Once the spires of the last village mosque fade away the valley narrows and high mountain ridge of the

Himalaya that separates Suru valley from Kashmir to the south becomes more prominent. Not far past Panikhar first glacier oozes down a side valley onto a valley floor and the twin peaks of Nun (7135m / 23,400ft) and Kun (7087 / 23,242) come to view.

A spectacular scenery continues on to the Rangdum Monastery that is sat atop of a small hill in a wide-open valley framed by jagged snow-capped peaks. Impressive multi-color layers of strata that lie one upon another, laid down by natural forces at 45-degree angle, form a sheer backdrop of the Rangdum Gompa. The

sense of the remote and desolate is omnipresent and awe-inspiring. Though a small hamlet of a few houses dots the flat plain, revealing there is life beyond the monastic edifice, the gompa’s solitude and eerie desolation is downright unnerving, definitely at best an outpost for search of spiritual wisdom and quiet meditation. There are some three dozen monks in residence and the their confines are truly Spartan. As the monks retreat into their quarters and the freezing wind howls over the ramparts of the monastic walls, a sense of destitute is as strong as the ambiance is peaceful. So much more it is shocking to imagine that in July, 2000, three Rangdum monks were brutally killed by a small band of Muslim militants (who were never found) for no apparent reason though it’s widely believed the killing was on purpose instigated by Kashmir separatists sat to extend their terrorist activities amidst the remote parts of Jammu-Kashmir of which Ladakh is a part.

After Rangdum the Suru Valley road starts climbing toward the summit of Pensi La (4450m / 14,400ft), the gateway to Zanskar. Though the high altitude of the pass is prone to sudden storms and heavy snowfall can block the road even in mid summer for days, on even a marginally fair day the views and vistas from the top of the path are simply stunning. When the clouds part above the snow-capped peaks of the Himalaya the long tongue of the Drung-Drang Glacier reveals itself in all its grandeur as it winds down from the high mountain peaks. One can gape in awe at the site for hours if it were not for the piercing chill of the wind that prompts one to proceed toward Zanskar. From top of Pensi La the road starts a long gradual descent toward Padum plain and the heart of Zanskar, and the impression that one truly entered one of the most remote regions of India becomes complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the current lockdown of Tibet and the unlikely chance that even if Tibet reopens once again, tourists will not be allowed to roam about as was possible more than a year ago. It well may be that Ladakh, referred to as the Little Tibet, the most remote outpost of India and a cultural satellite of Tibet, will likely lure more visitors this coming season, June to September, than in recent years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladakh offers the best that adventure and cultural travel in the trans-Himalaya can offer, from warm-hearted people, curious monks and an experience of the perfect harmony in which the locals live amidst their harsh yet stunning environment.

Visit Ladakh and discover Buddhist culture that has enabled its inhabitants to preserve and perpetuate their cultural identity north of the Himalayas – the remoteness and desolation of Ladakh and its thin air high at 15000 feet is truly bewitching, the architecture and Ladakh house style most fascinating, and the warmth of the local people, hardened by the harshness of their environment and life, most inspiring.

Bhutan, Sikkim as well as Nepal Himalayan cultures all stage the traditional Buddhist monastic festivals. In Ladakh, Hemis Gompa has been hailed as the festival to visit in Ladakh. It’s prominence has been in part created due to easy access by road from Leh, the capital. But Ladakh, as Bhutan, offers number of fine festivals and among the most unique is the Karsha Gu-stor festival in remote Zanskar. The festival takes place at the Karsha Gompa, a monastery that huggs a steep mountainside, a spectacular site some 12 kilometers from Padum, Zanskar’s ancient capital.

Being physically the largest Geluk-pa, Yellow Hat, monastery in Zanskar, Karsha monastery is also Zanskar’s largest in terms of resident monks, counting more than 100 lamas. The monks perform sacred dances or ‘chhams’ that commemorate the birthday of Tsongkha-pa, the founder of the Geluk-pa monastic order. Visiting the monastery during this event is a one-time opportunity to experience the colorful gathering of Zanskaris that come from all corners of this remote district of Ladakh, truly a spectacle not to miss. Short flight from Delhi, visiting Ladakh is an easy to do side trip on your India itinerary. Getting to Zanskar can be done trekking overland, a spectacular trek but not a casual hike. Second alternative is an overland journey by jeep, a 2-day venture that is a superb adventure in its own right.

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Canceled in 2008 because of protests and calls for Tibetan independence the previous year, the annual Lithang horse-racing festival may not happen once again this year if the situation in Tibet and much of the Tibetan-populated areas will turn for the worse in coming days. Tensions have been reported as high ahead of the 50th anniversary on March 10 of a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 that led to the Dalai Lama fleeing into exile in India. As last year, once again this February and March the towns across the Tibetan plateau are being sealed off from visitors with armed Chinese troops on heightened alert to prevent any repeat of last year’s explosion of discontent.

The annual Lithang festival, scheduled once again to be held in Mola Grassland in vicinity of Lithang from August 1 to August 8, a grand gathering of Tibetans to race, compete in acrobatic stunt riding and archery, is an experience to add to your list of places and events to must-see in your lifetime. To witness thousands of Kampa Tibetans gather decked in striking traditional garb and ornaments singing and dancing in an ambiance of nomadic atmosphere is one of those cultural celebrations that should not only be allowed to be staged every year but encouraged as well as protected as mankind’s cultural heritage. Unfortunately as individual tourists as well as tour operators have been banned from bringing their clients to Tibet, Westerns Sichuan and Gansu, and to make sure no uninvited visitor slips through troops block approach roads, more of the same hardline treatment dished out by the Bejing regime breeds more resentments worldwide, the crackdown induces a thouoght that China’s Tibet policy, they themselves, one could only hope, should finally realize is indeed in need of an overhaul.