In my recent trip to India I visited the beautiful region of Ladakh, the highest plateau in the indian state of Kashmir. We spent several days in Leh, the biggest town, and then visit other spectacular places in the region.
After an eight hour drive from Leh on a very bumpy and dusty road we arrived in Tsomoriri. A high altitude lake near the border with China. The lake is beautiful, surrounded by snow caped mountains and grassy fields. There is a small village with it’s corresponding monastery. Nearby nomads set up camp every year, they bring all their belongings on donkeys and let the goats feed on the few grass that’s left before winter comes. They lead a very simple life, with no sophisticated tools or a lot of belongings.

We set up our camp by theirs, in a few minutes children started coming, curious but cautious. They got closer and closer. The adults were more shy, it took longer, but in the afternoon I was welcomed to their site and I sat there for hours, watching them spin wool and make blankets and rugs. We talk to each other in our won languages and laugh. The gestures are so powerful that you can have a “conversation” without knowing a single word. They laughed at my clean and delicate hands, it was obvious I haven’t work as hard as they have! They tested me on wool spinning and goat milking and, of course, laughed again. They took some photographs with my camera, then I laughed! At least there was something I could do  better!

Nights were very cold, tents were small and the high altitude was tough on many of us. Despite that, meeting the nomads and seeing all the beauty around Lake Tsomoriri was definitively one of the highlights of the trip.

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