preparing for dawn photos

Next day, I join Steven and Vlad in dawn photography. We get to our selected vantage point early, get set up, and await the sun. Alas, there must have been cloud on the horizon so we didn’t get the best of the dawn light. Oh well… there is always tomorrow.

After breakfast, we head to the next valley and the village of Hemis Shukpachan. The road, as is normal round here, is very curvaceous, and we have lovely views of the mountains all around. Most of the ranges here have peaks above 5600 m with permanent snow caps. In the passes there are usually multiple shrines and prayer flags. If every flap of each flag is a prayer, the prayer recipients must be overwhelmed.

Below the village we spend a couple of hours observing urials (a subspecies of the wild sheep Ovis orientales) as then progressed along the slopes. There seemed little to eat, but apparently they dig out roots to eat when the going gets tough.

Whilst we watch the urials, the drivers bide their time, building micro-walls with stones from the roadside. What they build is remarkable – they manage to get a nice flat face despite the irregularity of the stones they have used. Next time I need a retaining wall built I should call upon a Ladakh native to do it.

After the urials, we return to the village and explore the giant Buddah statue that dominates the village skyline. From there we also get good views over the rooftops. It must be a harsh life out here in winter when snow covers the roads and access is limited.

Lunch, as usual, is elaborate, with tables and chairs and multiple dishes. We eat as we watch tiny birds on the snowfield next to the carpark. Then we set up to photograph the fox that lives in the nearby copse of trees. The spotters head off to shoo the fox towards us. Sadly, the fox races across a dip in the snowfield below us with only its ears showing above the snowline, then acros the field beyond. As seems usual here, the animal is too far away to get good photos. The next stop is an old, disused, wolf trap. This is basically a circular stone-wall enclosure with a narrow enterance. Suitable bait was placed inside and once the wolf entered, the door is blocked and the wolf killed. Fortunately in these enlightened times wolves are protected species and the wolf-trap has become a litter-trap.

Nearby, a small stupa catches my eye with the interesting patterns and colours of the ground and rocks around.

More photos at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Yof9ptziUizVeZHb2