Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 8: The 3 Idiots & 2 Schools

17th July 2023,, 2.00 Pm - Secmol School

 Personally, I'm not a movie buff. I have lost that ability to sit through even a movie under two hours let alone a three hour blockbuster. The last full length movie I watched was Kantara, only because it took me back to my days in Manipal and Udupi. Most other movies, when I do see anything is watched in bits and pieces, with my family. 

The "3 Idiots", is a 2009 movie starring Aamir Khan in the lead role of Rancho. It explores the college education system and how it puts students into pressures of different kinds. Aamir Khan's character is loosly based on the life of Sonam Wangchuk an innovator and education reformist of Leh. (More details if you click the names). 

RANCHO' SCHOOL

If you are taking the regular tourist circuit and are very keen on visiting the "3 idiots' " school and shooting location, you will, most likely, be directed to Rancho's School which is actually the Druk Padma Karpo School. This school is located in Shey village, about 15 kilometres along the Leh-Manali Highway (NH 3). After it became famous, tourists to Ladakh make a bee line to this school for selfies and photo opportunities at the 'Rancho Wall'. 

However this popularity has proved to be more of a bane  than a. blessing. Unruly tourists posing for photos at the wall in peeing posture, perhaps peeing too, and photographing students and teachers inside the classrooms, without permission, have made the management build a replica Rancho's Wall in a separate area inside the campus.

All over the world, Indian's as tourists are looked at with disdain because of our unruly behavior. While all of us don't behave like idiots, the few who do, give us all a bad name. So it is not surprising that the school management learnt the hard way.

Anyway, cut the story short, we didn't enter Rancho's school!  (All photos, above, (and a few below) have been sourced from the internet as we didn't go inside). That was because, we had already been to the school that was the inspiration for Rancho's School in "3 Idiots", Sonam Wangchuk's Secmol School. 

SECMOL SCHOOL

On our return leg from Indus Sangam, Tsewangji said that we could drop in at the Secmol school on our way back to Leh. Since it was already lunchtime, we stopped to eat at a restaurant just before the turn off from the highway to Phey village, and theron to Secmol campus. As you reach the arched gates, the first thing you see, on the left, are the two solar panels that form a part of the grid providing power to the campus. It so happened that we reached beyond the 'free' visiting hours and so, entry and campus tour was chargeable after 12 noon!  

The unique thing about this school is that you can get admission only if you FAIL in your 10th standard! The education that is imparted in this school is not your typical subjects that you find in schools in other states or even in Leh. The objective of the Secmol method is to teach you how to survive in real life, meaning education for sustainable living, through experiential learning. SECMOL is an abbreviation of Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh.

Students enrolled here learn English because eventually they have to go out into the world, and communication is critical. All other things are very informal. While we were there, the students were involved in their designated daily activity. One student, who was assigned to us as the guide, took us around the campus and introduced us to the innovative methods they use to run the school.  

The campus, almost entirely, runs on solar power, though there is also a backup generator for emergency. The solar energy is used for lighting, charging batteries, heating water and also cooking. They have an innovative way for using solar power for cooking using solar panels made with mirrors to reflect light onto the vessels. (Check the website for details). Drinking water is from a deep bore well, pumped by solar energy.

The buildings are also uniquely constructed. They are built with 'rammed earth'. It means exactly that, a mixture of sand, slit, gravel and clay are poured between two panels and 'rammed' so that it becomes compacted. Layers on layers are applied till the requisite height is reached. The walls of the buildings here are two layered with the gap stuffed with sawdust, small wood bits, paper and such stuff that act as insulators. It serves as ventilation in summer and helps keep the heat inside in winters. 

Another unique feature is that the the buildings are 'sunk' one metre below the ground level. This is to make optimum use of the earth's temperature, which is comparatively warmer than the external temperatures outside in winter and cooler in summer. 

The windows of the buildings in Secmol School face south so that natural light is available all year round. There are also additional skylights covered with glass or plastic keep in warmth and let in the daylight in larger rooms. Another unique feature is the use of plastic sheets in winter that are draped at an angle outside the buildings in winter. These become greenhouses for the buildings, keeping the heat in during winters and allowing for growth of vegetables. They are rolled up in summer to prevent overheating. (More about the unique architectural features here)

The school is run by its students. By that, I mean exactly that. While food is sourced from the local market, the school has a fairly large kitchen garden growing a variety of fruits and vegetables. Apricots, a very popular Ladakhi fruit is converted to preservative free jam! 

Even during winter they grow leafy vegetables under the 'greenhouse' sheets. What was once barren land is now swathed in green along the bank of the Indus. The produce, grown by the students are used in the the school's kitchen. A good part of the harvest is stored in an underground cellar for winter, when all roads to Leh remain closed, and produce from outside is not available. Some are also dried and stored. 

Grains and flour are stored in a unique storage room that is filled from the top and emptied from the bottom. 'First in- first out' system with a dry storage facility.

They also have a small diary, that provides milk to the kitchen. The three cows recycle the vegetable waste by eating it, and their dung is used as manure for the vegetable garden. The dung, however, is not enough to produce bio-gas for the kitchen. 

Everything is managed by the students. The diary, the kitchen, the cleaning and maintenance of the campus, gardening, managing the funds etc

The toilets are dry toilets with two composting chambers. When one chamber is filled, the other is used, while the first one is allowed to compost. The manure is then used for in the vegetable and fruit garden. The wastewater from kitchen and bathrooms are allowed to run to the trees through small canals. The other waste generated; be it paper, plastics, wood or anything is collected and recycled.

All in all, a very unique school in a very unique location. It might have a very unconventional approach to education but it teaches the students how to manage in real life, when faced with the extreme conditions of Ladakh. It may not be for everybody but it seems eminently suitable for Ladakh. 

Inside the main block, as we entered we found a plastic bottle hanging beside the door. It wasn't a decorative piece but the bottle filled with gravel was serving as an 'automatic' door closer!

We also learnt that the school is run by very smart children. We ended up buying souvenirs before we left the campus!  

If you go to Ladakh, don't just go to Rancho's school. Make time to visit Secmol school too. After all Sonam Wangchuk was the inspiration for Rancho! He is the man who made the ice stupa, a very unique water storage system that helps store water during arid summers in Ladakh.

 

Link to the previous post

Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 7: Getting ready for an Adventure

This is a 'buffer post', if I can call it that. I don't claim to be an expert on Ladakh because I spent only a week there, but I have learnt from this brief experience how any future trip can be made better. So, I thought it is good idea to make a post that will help those with a desire to travel to Ladakh because the posts to follow this one will lay bare some of the most beautiful and popular places in Ladakh. That will be a magnet to pull you to this fascinating place. If after reading this series of blogs and suddenly, on a whim, you decide to pack your bags for Ladakh; hold your horses. Ladakh is not for everybody. If you are the run-of-the-mill tourist, I won't discourage you but would rather, encourage you to go with a very open mind. If you go unprepared, it will turn out to be a trip to regret. Here's why.

1. The Geography

If you weren't very attentive in your school geography classes, let me brush up your memories. The mighty Himalayas is that crescent shaped range of mountains that separate the Indian subcontinent from Tibet. It is actually three ranges running from west to east for 2400 kilometres. The Outer Himalayas or the Siwaliks, is the southern range that  has an average elevation of 900-1200 metres. The Lesser Himalayas in the middle with an average elevation of 3700 - 4500 metres and the Great Himalayas, the northern range, with an average elevation that exceeds 6000 metres. Himalayas are still actively 'growing' as the mountain building process is not halted.

The effect of this high barrier is that the cold winds from the north are not allowed to enter the Indian sub-continent and also prevent the monsoon clouds from going northwards. The clouds shed their moisture south of the Himalayas and the areas north of the ranges fall in the rain shadow area. That is why Ladakh is an arid cold desert. Ladakh itself is wedged between the Great Himalayas and the Karakorum range in the north.

2. Weather

Since Ladakh is north of the Great Himalayas, it sits at the south western edge of the Tibet Plateau, and thus shares most geographic features of Tibet. The landscape is predominantly, barren mountains with little green cover except along the banks of the rivers. Water levels of these rivers and other water bodies depend on the melt water from the snow capped mountains and the sporadic rainfall. It is a high altitude desert with extreme weather. Though temperatures in summer hover around the 20 degree mark,  it feels like it is around 35 to 40 degrees. In many part of Ladakh the night temperatures can plummet to sub-zero levels even in summers. In winter, it is usually covered in snow and access by road is severely affected. 

The peak tourist season is around July - August, starting in mid-April and going on to the end of September. Weather in Ladakh doesn't play by the book and in the last few years cloudbursts, floods and landslides have become a regular problem. It would be prudent to keep tabs on the weather conditions in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh also, especially if you are planning a road trip.

3. Access to Ladakh

Ladakh is not the most accessible places. Unlike the normal trips you plan, where you book yourself into a hotel, throw a couple of jeans and few tee shirts into a bag, check your papers are in order and take off; Ladakh is very different. The only way you can get to Leh is by air or by road. There is no rail connection to Ladakh. The nearest major station is Jammu Tawi some 700 kilometers away.

Flights are more frequent in peak season but reduce in number in winter, with chances of flights getting cancelled due to bad weather, not only in Leh but also in places where flights originate. Delhi is more notorious due to foggy conditions of winter. Flying in gets you to Ladakh faster but you have no choice but to hang around in Leh for a couple of day, to acclimatise to the altitude. See if you can get a flight to Delhi that reaches around midnight so that you can catch the first flight out to Leh after 6.00 in the morning. That way you save an unnecessary stay-over in Delhi.

The other option is traveling by road either from Srinagar to Leh (J&K side) or from Manali - Leh (HP side). Both roads are over 400 kilometers and have to be done over two days. One reason is that when you are climbing a few thousand feet in elevation, it helps your body to acclimatise gradually. The other is that you will be definitely stopping along the way to take pictures of the spectacular landscape you are travelling through. Both these roads are closed for six months or more in winter due to snowfall. Sometimes, even longer. 

There are blogs or travel sites that give more details, one of them is here.

4. Accomodation

There are only two major towns in Ladakh. The capital, Leh and Kargil. Most available hotels are in and around these two towns. Since our trip didn't include Kargil, I have no information to offer. Leh has a variety of options from simple home stays to five star hotels. If you book through travel websites the costs are definitely higher. If you can connect with a local tour operator directly things really become easy. For one thing, they will arrange accommodation, not only in Leh but in all the other places you plan to visit. Remember, once you are on the road to the next destination, returning is not an option. Most places will take half a day to reach even in good weather. 

Local tour operators also will be able to fix up an itinerary to suit your tastes. The other thing is that they prefer cash so you also have the benefit of avoiding excess tax on your bills. As you go further away from Leh, to the popular places on the tourist circuits, the most commonly available accommodation option are the tents. In Diskit and Hunder, there are resorts with solid buildings but in locations like Pangong, Tso Moriri, Tso Kar and other remote places there are also, wooden cottages but very rarely proper building. Staying in the tents are supposed to be an an experience by itself if you can tolerate the sub-zero night temperatures. 

5. Permits

Earlier, when Ladakh was a part of Kashmir you had to get, what is called, the Inner Line Permit especially when travelling to sensitive areas. As of 2023 it is not required for domestic tourists but you still have to pay an environmental fee, wildlife fee (both compulsory) and Red Cross fund (optional). This can be paid online (Leh Permit Website) and the receipt printed out. You have to carry it with you along with a valid government issued ID. This receipt has to be shown at designated check points on your drive to the various destinations. 

6. Cash, Cards and Digital Payments

Ladakh, as I mentioned earlier, has only two towns. Your credit and debit cards or digital payment apps will work in these places and places on the outskirts where network won't be an issue. As you go further away the mobile networks disappear altogether and payments with such instruments will not be accepted and won't work. You will have to carry cash on you, either when leaving home or get it from the ATMs in Leh or Kargil. Please remember, these ATMs can run out of cash very quickly and there is a limit to how much can be drawn. A typical one week itinerary will cost between 40,000 to 70,000 per person, depending on the number of people in your group, type of accommodation, mode of travel and the food. Taxi charges are on the higher side and bulk of your expense is for that. Expenses go down if the group is larger. (Travel expenses in Ladakh)

7. Communication and Networks. 

Without doubt, the most important thing that will be on every traveller's mind, other than expenses,  will be communication. It is especially important especially in a place like Ladakh. Here are a few important things to keep in mind. 

• Pre-paid cards from outside the union territory don't work in Ladakh (or Kashmir). Only your post-paid connection will work provided your operator has a network here. I also learnt a lesson that pre-paid connections that get converted to post-paid, online, also don't work! You have to have a genuine post-paid connection.
• The widest network is BSNL, followed by Jio and Airtel. Jio seems to be the fastest improving network in Ladakh. Vodafone - Idea and others are at best erratic. My Vodafone would connect whenever it fancied and that too only within the limits of Leh town. 
• Wi-fi is provided by hotels even outside Leh, wherever network is available, but be warned that it is notoriously slow except in Leh. 
• You can buy a local pre-paid card with a government issued ID card. They say it is easier if you have a local contact but the mobile stores are very happy to give you one using their ID for address proof! Get a BSNL or Jio as they have better coverage outside Leh, especially the former. 

More about networks here. (Mobile Networks in Ladakh)

8. For the Foodies

For those who love exploring local food, Ladakh has some unique cuisine that has its roots in Tibet. There is not much in terms of variety but it is worth trying out. There are plenty of restaurants in Leh that serve local cuisine but if your hotel package includes food you might miss this, so see if you want to save money eating in your hotel or spend a little extra on food. The two days you spend acclimatising in Leh can be put to good use for fooding. 

There are a few popular dishes of which Momos are a very familiar one, being served in most restaurants that serve oriental cuisine all over the country. It is the stuffing that matters. You can get momos stuffed with meat or vegetables and also yak cheese. The best part of the momos here is that it tastes a little different in different places. That is probably because the stuffings and spices are different.

Two type of noodles based dishes are the Thukpa and Thenthuk, a variant of the former. They are both soupy noodles and in thukpa, the spicy base soup is meat or vegetable, into which noodles, tomatoes, onion, garlic and seasonal vegetables are added. The thenthuk is a 'hand-pulled' wheat noodle soup, where the dough is kneaded, flatted, pulled and cut into strips that are dropped directly into the boiling soup. 

These are the ones that we tried but there are many others like the Khambir, a wheat based leavened bread somewhat like the roti or kulcha. Then there is the Tingmo, a bun like steamed bread. The Skyu is another soup based dish with balls of wheat or barley dough. Yak cheese or Churrpi is made from Yak milk and is added to a variety of food in Ladakh, including butter tea. 

Two traditional beverages we tried was Butter tea or Gur-gur chai, which is a pink coloured tea. It is brewed by boiling tea leaves and then adding milk, yak butter and salt. The colour is due to the pink Himalayan salt. Kahwah, of Afghani origin, is green tea infused with saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and crushed almonds. It is sweetened with honey. You have to develop a taste for Butter tea but Kahwah is instantly likable.

If you are not very adventurous, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from with cuisine from all over the world. You get, besides the regular North Indian, Chinese and Tibetan restaurants; Thai, Lebanese, Italian, and even a couple of South Indian restaurants!

The problem comes when you move out of Leh. You will find dhaba style restaurants in every village along all the roads. Unfortunately, the menu is limited because of difficulty in procuring fresh vegetables or meat. You will have to adjust with bread and eggs, noodles, aloo parathas, rice and dal or rajma. Of course momos and thukpa is always there.  So if you are fussy about food you might find it a little difficult to survive. 

While travelling out of Leh, load up on water, fruits, biscuits, bread, dry fruits, nuts and energy bars. If you get stuck on the road due to landslide or flood, it will be difficult to move for quite a while; sometimes hours to more than a day; so having food and water in the car will come in handy. 

9. Electricity 

In Leh, you can expect round the clock electricity but as you move out to the remote tourist spots, there are no electric lines or have been washed off in floods or landslides. Most places are dependent on solar power or generators, which will be available only for a designated period. Therefore, if you are a gearhead with the habit of carrying tons of gear, make sure you have extra batteries (for camera), power banks, and a power strip. Most resorts won't have enough plug points for charging all your stuff, especially tents and cabins, and you will have a small window within which you have to charge everything. In such a situation a powerstrip with at least four sockets can be handy. In any case, you won't need to charge your phones as there will hardly be any network access, so you can keep it switched off most of the time.

These are a few brief pointers for anyone planning a trip to Ladakh. There are plenty of sites where you can get more information. Some of those sites can be accessed through links I've placed in my blog. 

I will be updating this post as I get more information and as I progress with the rest of the blog series. So keep coming back to this page. 

(Updated 22/09/2023 at 7.30 PM)

Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 6: Magnetic Myth & The Confluence

 July 17th 2023, 11.20 AM Srinagar - Leh Highway

A little after quarter past eleven, we were at the famous Magnetic Hill. This location on the National Highway is famous, or should I say infamous, reputation for pulling vehicles up a slope and that too at 20 kmph!! It appears, every tourist to Leh, on their first visit will come here and 'gasp' at this phenomenon. Gasp, you will, not because of magnetism but because of the rarefied air. Let's take a few deep breaths and then investigate this astounding miracle!

Busting the Magnetic Hill Myth

According to the local myth vehicles parked in neutral with ignition switched off, will roll 'uphill' by themselves. There is painted box on the highway where you can park your vehicle and the feel it roll. It should roll from west to east, if it is going UP the slope. If you are that crazy type, you can even get off, pursue the runaway vehicle and hop on! Just that you should be able to run at 20 kmph, if the stories are to be believed. I wouldn't risk it because, suppose I did and ran after the vehicle at 20 kmph, at an altitude of around 11,500 feet (3500 metres), I would be on the ground rolling for breath in a few meters. I would be a victim of Acute Mountain Sickness and the vehicle would have rolled off the road at the end of the curve ahead. After all, I would have only had about 24 hours or slightly more to get acclimatised!

There are three explanations being bandied about to explain this extraordinary phenomenon. 

1. The first one is that the hill, that has this unique property, is believed to be a Gateway to Heaven and there existed a 'road' from top of the hill through which 'good' people went to heaven but 'bad' people wouldn't be able to. I'm only wondering; are all the cars filled with only 'good' people?! Maybe it is wormhole to another dimension. 

Personally, I think, with the current discord with my Gods, the Stairway to Heaven or more than likely the Road to Hell will be my option! (Please click the song names for some lovely music!) 

2. The second one attributes this phenomenon to a strong magnetic field emanating from the surrounding hills to the west that it pulls vehicles that are stationary. It is even said that planes avoid flying over this area due to magnetic interference. I am only wondering, how an airplane made predominantly of aluminum and composites, with less than 10% steel and flying between 35,000 to 40,000 above sea level will be affected by this. Starting to sound like Bermuda Triangle? Don't worry, no plane has crashed on the mountains here or disappeared through the 'wormhole' never to be seen again. I only have a simple question. Why didn't the coins in my pocket not fly out and get stuck on the hills? Are coins non-magnetic? Similarly, there will be so many small magnetic objects we carry on us. If a big 1 to 2 ton vehicle can be pulled, why not objects only weighing a few grams? A point to ponder.

3. The third explanation is that the obstruction of the horizon by the mountains creating an optical illusion that makes the road appear to be going upwards though it is actually going downwards. In any case, all three of us had good eyesight so we could see the road sloping from east to west. I feel, it is more of a case of 'been there, done that' for most travellers passing Magnetic Hill. A good yarn to spin after getting back home. 

We too joined the enthusiastic folk testing out the magnetism of the hill but I was only increasingly convinced that it is a hoax that has been fuelled up to have been made into a myth. Our car travelling from Leh was going downward on the slope. The point where the box for parking the vehicle seemed slightly level and further down the road slopes downwards again. Tsewangji parked our car in the designated spot and the car simply rolled downhill, not uphill!

While we were standing there a truck came labouring its way across the slope. It the hills were truly magnetic on top of the slope (east) it should have gone up the slope effortlessly, aided by magnetism! It is hard to believe that sensible people fall for this trick. 

The road, without doubt is visibly sloping downwards from east to west and it would require really bad eyesight to induce yourself to see it any other way. There certainly is no optical illusion either. If you feel there is, do come to us. Both, my wife and I happen to be ophthalmologists!

The Confluence

After the disappointment of Magnetic Hill, we drove further down the highway to the Indus - Zanskar Sangam (Confluence). Not too far away from Magnetic Hill, it is a 10 or 15 minute drive depending on stops in between. As you cross the army area, the road swings right and below the road, on the left, you will get your first look at the Indus river flowing at the bottom of the valley.

Standing on the road, the Indus doesn't look very impressive with it's placid looking flow. The recent rains and fast melting snow, had made the Indus the colour of coffee. Our visions of clear blue water were definitely muddied. Further up after the next curve you will realise why the Indus flows placidly. 

It meets the Zanskar river headlong and almost a right angles. You can differentiate the waters of both rivers by their individual hues. The Indus is mostly the dirtier of the two, and Sangam more cleaner and blue, but this time both rivers had muddy water due to the heavy rainfall and Indus more so. 

The Sangam is a very impressive sight when viewed from top, standing on the edge of the  Leh - Srinagar highway.  Before the rains strike the rivers are a fraction of their width (see picture below) with the sandbanks exposed. (Pic Courtesy: Vargis Khan) 

The Indus river system is one of the world's largest. The source of the river is in Tibet, from where it flows north-west into through the Chinese occupied part of Ladakh, into India. The Zanskar joins it first, and then the Shyok beyond Nubra valley, in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. This north-west flowing river takes a south-west turn in Pakistan and many tributaries join it along the way. The five rivers of Punjab, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej join it before it flows south into the Arabian sea. (Pic Courtesy: burningcompass.com)

At Sangam the new road, along the edge of Zanskar, to Chilling is almost complete. It is from Chilling that the Chadar Trek (Link in name) starts. It is a deep winter trek of around 60 kilometres to be covered over a week or more. Temperatures can plunge to -20 degrees at night and it is not a trek for the faint hearted.  

There are two things you can do at the Sangam. Go to the cafeteria and refresh yourself and later, if mood, time and the crowd permits, go rafting on the river. Of course, don't forget the mandatory photographs before leaving back to Leh because it will be past noon by the time you finish the visit to the Confluence. You can explore the road to Chilling or beyond Nimmoo but it was getting too hot and it had been a tiring morning. The cafeteria didn't have anything to tempt us to go for an early lunch either so we would have to make a lunch stop on the way back. (More about food in Ladakh in a later post.)

We had one more stop before heading to Leh. That will be for a subsequent post. 

Link to the previous post is here