Just a few days to go before we leave for 1 month touring in India. The plan, Jill and I fly to Delhi where we meet up with Steven for a couple of weeks, covering Agra, Mathura (a good place for the Holi festival, we believe), Khajuraho, Bandhavgarh National Park, Kanha Tiger reserve, then to Jabalpur for a flight back to Delhi. The second half of the trip involves a flight to Leh in Ladakh, in the Himalayan foothills (altitude 3500 m, so we are expecting cooler weather and rather thin air) and from there to the Ulley Valley where there is the prospect of finding snow leopards.

I gather internet is rather limited in many places, so updates to the blog may be intermittent. Uploading photos might be a bottleneck. But then, they might be better than the NBN here in Australia. We will see.

We took the Thai Airways red-eye from Melbourne via Bangkok to Delhi. Passage through India immigration was smooth, thanks to our e-visas, baggage collected, and headed out. We were collected at the exit by an agent who got us out to a small bus. It’s only a few km from the airport to Nizamuddin railway, but it took about 90 minutes driving. The roads are a chaotic anarchy. A lot of the time we were at walking pace, or stopped. Vendors and beggars came past hawking for trade when we stopped at intersections. Flanking the road was an amazing mix, from modern steel and glass commercial buildings to habitations made from rusty corrugated roofing, or even plastic sheets. Despite the snail pace, we made it to the station in plenty of time, and grabbed lunch in the café that the the agent recommended. It was more of a small food court, but we managed to find some victuals that looked like they were safe to eat.

Finding the train was a challenge. Most of the signage was in Hindi, and the staff were somewhat unhelpful. We found the correct platform, but then we had to find the correct carriage. The trains are amazingly long … we walked the length to left and right – must have gone about 300 metres in each direction. First-Class AC carriage located we clambered aboard and found an empty compartment. By luck, it was the correct one. These trains do long runs. Our trip to Delhi – Agra was only 3 hours, but the train goes on and on, through the night, so one can fold down beds to make the compartment into a 4-bunk sleeper.

Agra, and we caught a taxi to our accommodation. Where we stayed was an easy walk to Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal. In the morning we headed out for an early morning walk, and ended up sending the whole morning in Agra Fort. A lot of the construction is a local red sandstone so it is also called Red Fort. Lots to see and do. The place has a complex history, with successive developments and re-developments. A lot is in need of renovation. Only about 25% is accessible to the public, but it is hours of fun for the photographer.

From Agra Fort it’s only a couple of km line of sight to Taj, but the air was so thick that the Taj Mahal was hardly visible. By midday there was better visibility because of the changing sun position, but I really am glad we don’t have air that bad in Melbourne. Ever.

We headed over the river, visting the “Baby Taj”, another mausoleum on a much smaller scale but still very grand, then to the sunset lookout, south of the Taj, where we had nice views across the river. Sadly, the thick layer of pollution masked the sun by the time it got down near the horizon and made for a rather weak sunset. It was lovely nonetheless.

First thing in the morning we headed to the Taj to arrive before dawn. Already there were long queues. We managed to bypass the queues by hiring a guide, so we rushed in and got a few snaps with the soft dawn light (softened by the thick air … there is a repeating theme here) before the place swarmed with people. The place gets 60,000 visitors per day!

Next day we hired a taxi to Mathura for an overnight stay. This town, the guide books assured us, was THE PLACE for Holi. And the main Holi festival was the next day.

We dumped our gear and headed out for a random walk. We found took a few wrong turns, heading through a slumish area beside the railway, complete with dead pigs in the open drain, and cows basking in knee deep rubbish.  Another turn, somewhat predicated by our attempts to avoid being colour bombed by some kids on the balconies beside the street, took us down to the river where we took a 20 minute boat tour.  Then, in further endeavours to avoid the Holi bombers took us up further side roads, where a friendly local “rescued” us, taking us to an ancient temple site where we had fantastic views over the town. 

Then we headed back through small back streets where there were many pyramids of dried cow pats (fuel for bonfires to celebrate Holi, it seemed like most intersections had one.) With good fortune we got back to our apartment without further colour bombing.

Next day was Holi. We enjoyed that from our balcony overlooking one of the main Holi streets. Ideal viewpoint. Our neighbours went out in the street. They came back absolutely plastered with pigments. They were clearly braver/more foolhardy than us. We don’t know what pigments they use in the powders, but some of them seem rather permanent. Our neighbours spent an hour or more in the shower scrubbing away, and they were still mottled with colour. Their clothes were ruined.

Lots more photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/crKDZ3jssFzlbgPo1

After the Holi excitement had died down in Mathura late in the afternoon, we returned to Agra.

Next day we took a taxi out to Fatehpur Sikri, an ancient fortified temple and palace complex. It was developed initially as the Mughal capital about 500 years ago by Emperor Akbar the great. It served as the capital from 1571 until 1585 when military campaigns took the emperor out to the Pubjab, and the place was abandoned around 1610. It seems a ridiculous effort to build such a city for such a short lifetime. As usual it took us about twice as long as the guide books suggested, and we could easily have spent longer, but we had a second destination – Keoladeo, another half an hour up the road.

Keoladeo, formerly known as Bharatpur bird sanctuary, encompasses almost 30 square km of forests and wetlands. It is famed for its bird life. We arrived in the heat of the day, hired a nature guide and a couple of cycle rickshaw pedallers and headed off down the track. As expected there were lots of birds. The abundance of bird life included a pair of the endangered black headed storks (only about 18 pairs left in the wild in the subcontinent – the rest in Sri Lanka).

Next day we took a Tuk Tuk out to Akbar the Great’s tomb, Sikandra, about 9 km out of the centre of Agra. Here there is a vast square walled garden (~50 Ha) with huge gates north, south, east and west, and the 105 m square tomb building in the centre. It is rated as a Mughal architectural masterpiece. It was built by Akbar’s son after Akbar’s death between 1605 and 1613.

As usual we took twice as long as the guide book says, but we enjoyed exploring the place. All the gates and the main tomb building are elaborately decorated, but the actual crypt where Akbar the Great resides is totally undecorated. I guess when you are so great, the lack of decoration makes a more powerful statement.

Returning from Sikandra, we got the Tuk Tuk driver to drop us near the Taj Mahal east gate, where there was a Nature park that we wanted to explore. It turned out to be rather nice, with pleasant paths through woodlands, lots of birds, and some nice views of the Taj. We walked back to the hotel. The first part was an interesting meander through back streets. Lots of small shops, public water pumps (these are installed every 100 m or so in all the towns – the locals lack piped water and so use these to fill their water containers, do their washing etc), piles of cow patties, potholes you’d need a ladder to climb out of … a very cultural experience.

In the morning we took a dawn walk to the Taj Nature Park, bordering the grounds of the Taj Mahal for photos of the dawn light. We had to talk persuasively at the gate – although the guide books say it opens at 6:30 the people at the gate said 7 am, though there was some difficulty because they spoke no English and we spoke no Hindi. We persisted and eventually they let us in. Dawn was very pretty, though the thick fug of persistent smog did dilute the sunlight on the horizon.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack ready for the pick-up for the drive to the airport for our flight to Khajuraho. What we did not realise was that Agra was a joint military/civilian airport. We got to the external gate to the airport and had endless paperwork, passport and ticket inspections etc and then had to wait for an Air India representative to come and escort us to the terminal building. There we went through a security check and x-rays to get into the terminal. We checked our bags and then had a long wait (fortuitously we had left in very good time… I wouldn’t want to be running late – it took half an hour to get to the terminal building from arriving at the outside gate). And then we had to go through a second security screen with x- rays etc… military and civilian obviously don’t work together. No photos of the airport… the military had lots of no camera signs.

As usual there are more pictures at https://photos.app.goo.gl/1OasXESBcbv4rF8w1

Enjoy.

The Agra to Khajuraho flight was uneventful and arrival at Khajuraho was a surprise – a huge terminal building, polished marble floors… all very modern. We gather that the terminal was to be the new International terminal. However there was a tiny glitch. There was an ancient temple that prevented them from extending the old runway to the length needed for international flights. So now they have a really nice domestic terminal.

Khajuraho is famed for its complex of Hindu and Jain temples famed for their Nagara style architecture and erotic sculptures. The site is World Heritage listed. The temples were built mostly between about 950 and 1050 AD by the Chandela dynasty, with about 85 temples spread over 20 square km noted in records from the 12^th century, but only a core of 25 temples remain in about 6 square km centred on the Khajuraho town, with the majority in the Western Temple complex.

Arriving late, we took a taxi from the airport to town, and hired the driver, Lachan, for the next day to tour us round the locality. Whilst most of the temples are in reasonable walking distance, in the heat the walking is less than comfortable, and we valued the local knowledge.

After arriving at our accommodation and freshening up Lachan took us to an isolated temple on the outskirts of town for the sunset light, and then to the the “Sound and Light” show in the Western Temple complex where we got a sort of potted history of the complex associated with coloured lights on the various temples as the narrative unrolled. After, we went to an Indian dance show. This was in a theatre within a vast emporium of local (we assume) crafts. The dance show turned out to be rather “Bollywood” – entertaining in a way, but not quite what we had expected.

Next day Lachan picked us up before sunrise, gave us chai from a local vendor (excellent and it was fascinating to see the vendor at work) then took us for dawn light on another temple, and then we spend the morning at the Western Temple Complex, amusing ourselves with our cameras exploring the architecture and carvings.

Although there was a degree of sameness in the architectural style, the different temples all had their unique flavour and there were many interesting angles and shapes to capture. There was also a fascinating diversity in the sculptural elements. It seemed like some of the sculptors had a sense of humour. In one alcove on a temple I found this cheeky sculpture (note how the 4th war elephand is somewhat distracted by the goings on to its left:

There were many other erotic sculptures scattered about. The sculptors seem to have run riot on sexual imagery, and some of the carvings seem somewhat physically challenging.

In the mid-afternoon, Lachan took us on a personal tour of the village.

This was off the tourist beat, and gave us a flavour of village life. We parked outside, since the village streets were walking streets too narrow for vehicles other than bikes. At Lachan’s suggestion Steven bought a couple of bags of boiled sweets from a local shop. When the children flock around the tourists begging money we gave them sweets. That way, Lachan told us, the children would not get into bad habits, begging money from tourists rather than going to school.

The village is organised into sectors, mostly Hindu with various castes. There were a few Muslims, segregated into one small street, and we got the impression that they were not always welcome in the community. We noted that many doorways had tabular annotations, and discovered this was how they record households for polio vaccinations.  Lachan took us to his house for chai. He lives in a small house (2 main rooms) which he is currently extending, with his parents; we weren’t sure if his brother, wife, and daughter also lived there. We were a little surprised to see a very new TV with satellite reception in the main room, but thinking about it, for 2-3 months of the year the daytime temperatures are in the mid-40s and people become somewhat housebound. And when the monsoon rains come, it’s also unpleasant outside, so TV is a valued pastime.

We were also taken to a local private school, set up by charitable support, to provide education to the poor farm workers and orphans. We could not work out why they could not go to the government funded school, but clearly what they were doing was of great benefit. Discussing with the headmaster we were told they supported the education of 300 (10 classes) with free books, and bicycles supplied to assist those further from the village to get to school. We arrived about the end of the school day and were impressed by the students who seemed happy to be at school and studying hard.

Then, off to a temple for sunset light, before another dance show, this one put on by locals. It was much more interesting than the Bollywood affair we’d seen the night before, with live music, energetic and acrobatic dancing, and a feel of enthusiasm.

Next morning we packed and discovered our driver for the transfer to Banhavgarh was already there, so we skipped breakfast (bananas were purchased en route – 40 rupees (AU$0.80) for about a kg.  They were rather nice. I’ve added a few snaps through the window as we drove to give you a feel for the roads and the scenery.

Thus endeth our visit to Khajuraho. As usual there is a gallery of photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/e1BIRo9y7r2A5vAv2

The setup at Kanha was much the same as at Bandhavgarh, with pre-dawn starts for the morning safaris, and endless faffing around with passports and permits. And once again a variety of drivers and “guides” with varying skills and helpfulness. Unlike in Bandhavgarh, however, things seemed more tightly regulated. Gypsies were fitted with GPSs and if the drivers exceeded 25 kph they were penalised, so we had a more comfortable ride and there was a little less dust stirred up by passing vehicles.

The environment at Kanha is more diverse than in the areas we visited at Bandhavgarh with open grassy valleys, open woodland, and denser woodland with undergrowth, especially on the rocky ridges that dissect the park. The area used to be inhabited. It was made a national park in 1955, though the villages remained. But in 1973 the core area was declared a Tiger Reserve and over the next decade the villages were relocated. The grassy valleys are a relic of the past farming. In the extensive buffer areas around the tiger reserve core, there are some villages and sometimes tigers kill the villager’s cattle or other stock. To minimise human-wildlife conflict the there is a government scheme to compensate the vilagers for any losses due to tiger predation, which seems to be working well. The villagers also gain economic value from tiger related tourism so killing of tigers has been greatly reduced.

In Kanha we saw a good diversity of wildlife including swamp deer, a species that was endangered but with breeding programs has become more secure. They seem to enjoy wading into ponds and dams and plunging their head deep to munch on water plants on the bottom.

We also saw quite a lot of vultures. Vultures’ in India suffered dramatic population declines because of widespread use of an of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in cattle. Vultures eating the carcasses were dosed up on the drug, which killed them. Populations of one species, the white rumped vulture, fell from about 80 million in the early 1980s to a few thousand today. When Jill visited India in the 1980s every village had a “vulture tree”, and the village vultures performed a valuable function cleaning up dead carcasses. Loss of vultures led to water contamination and health issues from decaying carcasses. We were very pleased to see vultures in good numbers in Kanha. Diclofenac was banned in India in 2006, so hopefully there will be a progressive return of vulture populations.

 Whilst we were out on safari we did bump into a couple of elephants. These are used by the forest workers, sometimes to flush out tigers from thick bush so that we visitors might see the hidden tiger. These are amazing beasts. Despite their size, they can simply disappear into the forest just metres from the road where we were. Alas, no tigers were flushed. In 5 safaris at Kanha we saw a total of zero tigers. But there were definitely tigers there. We saw fresh tiger footprints to prove it.

From Kanha we took a long drive to Jabalpur where we caught an afternoon flight back to Delhi. The road the driver took to the airport was little more than a farm track, but it did cut a few km off the trip. Alas, the flight was delayed by a couple of hours, and the airport had few facilities. I had the joy of unpacking our baggage – apparently the x-rays had revealed a battery pack. I finally located my Samsung S7 phone, which died between Melbourne and Delhi (luckily I had a backup – my old nexus phone). Phone transferred to my cabin bag, clothes stuffed back into the hold baggage, we twiddled our thumbs and used the fitful free wifi in the “lounge”. Finally we got away, reaching Delhi late. We had a hotel booked in the “Aero City” area near the airport, so it was a short ride in a rickety taxi. The taxi driver had no idea where to find our hotel, and relied on asking locals as we drove through the area, driving past the hotel before we doubled back.

The hotel turned out as advertised to be clean and cheap. With a midday checkout, we enjoyed a relaxing morning catching up on photos and email before we packed and headed off through the streets of Delhi 800 m to the other hotel where we met the rest of the Snow-leopard tour group in preparation for our trip to Ladakh.  We settled into our room and then headed out for a quick look around the neighbourhood, grabbing a couple of samosas each for lunch. Just out of the boiling oil, stuffed with potato and peas they were very tasty and cost a whole 20 rupees each (AU$0.40).

The back streets were a hive of activity with small shops and manufactories, hordes of people, cattle, but few cars – the streets were a bit narrow for vehicular traffic. At one point we watched in amazement as a labourer piled up 21 bricks on a piece of rope, which he placed over his forehead with the bricks on his back. On the basis of a standard brick weighing about 3.5 kg, he was hauling over 70 kg when he proceeded up the stairs into the building site.

Later I saw a woman loading bricks – a different approach – she had a pad on her head with a platform of wood. On this she piled bricks until she was loaded with 13 bricks, then she wandered up stairs, balancing her 40 kg or so on her head. Amazing. Occupational health and safety … it’s a different world here.

By dinner time we considered the possibilities. The hotel restaurant prices were sky high, particularly by Indian standards. And the food hygiene may not have been the best. Steven tried the hotel for lunch and was given a dirty plate etc. In the end we all went out and the 6 of us were fed from the samosa stall – Jill and I shouted dinner for the group, with the total cost, including drinks, was under AU$10.

Early to bed, with an early rise – 4AM – for our early flight to Leh. All went smoothly and I scored a window seat so I took a few snaps. Shots of Delhi were useless – by the time we were ~400 m in the air I could barely see the ground, such was the quality of Delhi air. Fortunately as we approached the Himalayas we got some glimpses of mountain ranges after mountain ranges before our descent into Leh’s joint military/civilian airport; photography forbidden, so I put away the camera before the final approaches.

That’s all for this post. You can view more photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/3GX6OxWO8JcMGgol2 and https://photos.app.goo.gl/mXn9WcrXvu3RGTtA2

Leh sits in a valley surrounded by hills. At 3500 m altitude it served as an acclimatisation stop for a couple of days before we headed still higher (Uley is at 4000 m). It’s easy to spend a couple of days based in Leh, as it is an interesting town with interesting surrounds. We were accommodated in the largest hotel in town, which has outlooks over the valley to the snow clad peaks on the other side. Alas we had a room with windows onto a concrete slab, a plant room and limited mountain views and some annoying noises from plant room/ventilation system. Happily they moved us on the second day to a new room with mountain views, which we greatly enjoyed.

Leh is a curious town. In a region where India has borders with both Pakistan and China, there is a degree of military tension. Huge areas are fenced off military bases. About half the resident population are military personnel. Rising up the slopes from the valley floor is a plethora of tourist accommodation, much still being constructed perhaps in preparation for the coming summer tourist season. Once the lowland temperatures start heading over 40°C I suspect the 20 degrees of adiabatic cooling is most welcome. Indrjit, our tour leader tells us that on one summer tour to a lowland national park they had daytime temperatures peaking at 52°C together with considerable humidity. It’s much more comfortable in Leh.

With an early start, we arrived before lunch and had the afternoon free. I had a little wander round the hotel and found a roof access door that gave me some views of the surrounding town and mountains. I noted long queues had formed in the courtyard of an adjacent building. I discovered this was a distribution point for fresh vegetables. These are flown in on a military transport once a week and locals can get a 3 kg bag of mixed vegies for the equivalent of $2 (67 cents per kg) vs about $3 per kg in the grocery stores. Through winter the 2 roads to Leh go through passes that are over 5000 m high and are closed by snow so for 6 months of the year the only access is by air. Even though it is coming on to summer now, the road is still closed. Fresh food is limited and people rely largely on preserved food. Similarly there are large stockpiles of fuel. Mains electricity supplies are unreliable, and small generators are a frequent sight.

Then Steven, Vlad and I took a leisurely walk up the road.  We quickly noticed the thin air – even mild exertion made us huff and puff. The atmospheric pressure at this altitude is around 65% of our normal at near sea level. Steven had brought a tiny pulse oximeter which became an amusement passed around the table at meal times. Everyone had elevated pulse rates and reduced oxygen saturation (87-91% vs 97-99% at sea level atmospheric pressure). We got up to the centre of town (slowly) with cameras snapping regularly as we encountered interesting sights then gradually meandered down. With the help of the OSMand mapping program and a bit of trial and error we made it back. At one point we found that the “street” marked comprised a stroll along a narrow concrete wall top, across a bridge and then a tiny cobbled street about 1.2 m wide.

through back window of 16Leh emergency ambulance parked in street-note rubbish on floor, comfortable stretcher etc.

At the side of the street near the “CBD” we saw a van labelled Ambulance. I peered in the windows out of curiosity. There was a simple stretcher, a padded seat and old gloves and bandages on the floor. I’ll try not to use the local ambulance during my stay.

shopping bag

Given our experience with street kids in Khajuraho Steven and Vlad popped into a local corner store and purchased some sweets to be used to distract the swarms. The sweets were delivered in a bag made from old newspaper pages. In the event, we did not find swarms of kids in Ladakh.

Passing the local school I noticed a sign declaring that the sale of tobacco products within 100 m of an educational institution was prohibited with a financial penalty that had, alas, faded in the sun. Smoking in public places in India is prohibited following a high court decision here that recognised in 2008 that smoking is dangerous and in particular that passive smoking is a health hazard.

One of the things we noted as we walked was the abundance of shaggy street dogs. A somewhat different style to the usually short haired street dogs we had seen previously on our trip. It turns out that the military use dogs as watch dogs on remote patrols in the mountains. Many are released to become street dogs. The concept of neutering the dogs before release is clearly not a policy so they breed prolifically and they present a growing problem.

Next day, we were given a tour of a local Buddhist monastery where we were given a simple exposition of Buddhist belief systems. As I recall from this exposition, there is a striving for enlightenment, which may come after thousands/millions/trillions of cycles of life, death and reincarnation. There were many gods. It quickly became too complicated, so sadly I retain very little of the symbolism of the colourful artworks I had photographed. They had a cabinet with hundreds of compartments each of which contained a book of scriptures.

Up on a local hilltop there is a huge stupa. This was built with funds from a Japanese Buddhist society, so has a rounded base distinct from the Ladakhi stupas that have square bases. There were spectacular views and a sign there pointed to the Khardungla pass, the highest motorable pass in the world at 18,380 ft (5600 m). I suspect that they need to tune the engines for that altitude. My lungs need retuning and we are only at 4000 m.

The local market area was fascinating. Lots of small stalls sold all manner of things. Some women had set up shop on the kerbside with piles of vegetables for sale. There were tinkers and tailors, food stores, tourist junk, the local variant of coffee shops, and so on. One caught my eye because of the storefront access – customers had to climb up a blocks of cement as the store was perched on a wall 2 metres above road level.

Our final destination for the day was up to Leh Palace, perched above the town on a precipitous rocky outcrop. We got some nice views of Leh and the architecture of the building, but access to the inside was not possible.

Next morning I headed up to the hotel roof to capture sunrise views. I discovered the emergency exit at the end of the corridor was blocked because someone had stored some large boxes on the landing outside the door. Health and safety issues are not front of mind here. I headed up to 3^rd floor and took the external fire exit stairs (no balustrade) to the roof for some pleasant views over the lower reaches of Leh. It turns out the green(ish) patch surrounded by rocky outcrops just beyond the built up area is the military golf course. The civilian golf course is being constructed as I write, with plans to advertise it as the highest golf course in the world. Who knows, it may bring in even more tourists.

After breakfast we were driven down the road past a Buddhist monastery where we stopped to photograph the prayer wall (the inscriptions are apparently mostly variations on Om Mane Padme Om, which is meant to assist in elevating souls from Hell.

Next stop, a creek where we spied the rare solitary snipe. These birds have spectacular camouflage and were a challenge to see, but we eventually managed a sighting or two.

Further down the road we found Blue Sheep climbing with great agility along a slope. Although called a sheep, it appears to have a mix of sheep and goat characteristics, and current genetic data places it closer to goats than sheep.

Blue Sheep

Our next stop was a stream valley where we were meant to see a bird called the dipper. They were apparently there, though they disappeared quickly whenever I looked, hiding under the ice above the stream water. Still, the ice patterns were nice.

Last stop was to see the Tibetan Partridge, which we found in great numbers, invariably running away as fast as their legs would carry them.

Returning to Leh for lunch we got news that there was a snow leopard sighting at Uley, so we jumped in the cars and raced up there. We climbed to a small ridge (huff-puff-huff-puff in the thin air) and joined a bevy of other people, most with embarrassingly large lenses, aimed at the cliffs about 550 m across the valley. We joined the fray, where others of our group also dragged out huge lenses. But even with huge lenses, the snow leopards at that distance were small in the frame. Gusty, icy winds buffeted us and made photography challenging. After a couple of hours, somewhat chilled, we returned to the cars for the return to Leh, elated to have seen the cats, but disappointed that they were so far away. By our estimation they were 500- 600 m from our viewing spot on the ridge.

In the morning we packed and moved to Uley for our week’s stay. The snow leopards were still there, so we got another chance to see them. But they were hard to spot with just binoculars and even with powerful spotting scopes the view was not so clear. However, discussing with others it seems that these were good sightings, and often the distances are greater. But, as a bonus, we also have 3 animals, and mating, so we certainly did far better than most groups.

A gallery of images: https://photos.app.goo.gl/n7wPhMHuhBdB5FYo1

After breakfast we loaded our bags into the 3 cars that would be our conveyance to Uley and for the duration of our stay. We were surprised to find they were standard 2-wheel drive sedans. We’d expected 4WD vehicles. However the 2WD proved adequate for the job, though with a bit of wheel spinning in places.

The drive from Leh to Uley takes about 2 hours, though the total distance is only 75 km. Part of the way is on the national highway, which is kept in reasonable condition by the military. The minor roads are less fantastic. The final 6.5 km is a single lane unsealed track. The sign at the bottom declares it cost the equivalent of AU$150,000. There is no way such a road could be built in Australia through such steep and unstable terrain for anything like that cost.

Along the main road we stopped to admire the confluence of the Zanskar river (blue) with the Indus (brown). Apparently sometimes it is the other way round. It all depends on what is happening upstream on these two rivers.

A little further along we stopped to view the Buddhist monastery and Basco – Basco Gompa. Like many, this was build on a precipitous rock outcrop perched above the village. Very impressive.

Onwards we drove. The final 6 km climbs steeply with many zig-zags and hair raising hairpin bends. Thankfully we had a good driver.

After dumping our bags and getting a quick intro to the lodge, we all piled back into cars to drive to a neighbouring farm where a wolf had killed a calf the previous night. The carcass had been dragged out to the adjacent field and we spent a few hours observing vulture and eagle visiting to feed.

Then, later in the day we went to another farm, where we had been on our quick visit yesterday, to view the snow leopards again. The distance was still around 600 m – too far for good photos with my lenses, but good enough to admire the beasties, especially via some of the high-powered spotting scopes.

More photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/6VZT4b0jjCdG8nR63

We are up early, alerted to the presence of Ibex on the steep slopes on the other side of the valley. These Ibex are amazing. They are prancing on what is a landslip zone of steep, loose earth. One slip and there is nothing to stop their fall until the rocky river bed a hundred metres or so below. I guess there must be something to eat on that apparently barren slope, but what it is I cannot see. The ibex gradually work their way along the slope to a less steep area, and then away, out of sight.

The snow leopards are still up on the rocks high on the other side of the valley.  The current thinking is that the group comprises a female with a male cub ~18 months old, and an adult male. There was a risk that the cub would be killed by the male. However, the cub kept well away from the male. The male and adult female are mating on and off. The distance to the snow-leopards is around 600 m so not ideal for photography. One of our party commented that this was the first time they had been photographing wildlife that they could not see with their naked eye.

One of the staff has a “super-zoom” camera, and has given us a copy of a movie he made of the snow leopards mating.

A gallery with more photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/put0WtgKlff1pGI43

A new day. Overnight minimum -7°C so it is chilly at dawn as the light creeps across the mountains to our south.The valley slopes here glacial tillite, dissected into steep v-shaped ravines by water and erosion, though they only get a few days of rain each year. In places boulders are perched on tall columns of tillite, looking precarious, though in the generally dry conditions prevailing, these columns probably are centuries old.

The snow leopards are still bonking on the high slopes across the valley. It isn’t the best for photography. I need a longer lens… and a wheelbarrow to carry it. One of those “superzoom” cameras is looking very attractive. They might not match the quality of my SLR cameras, but if you need a long zoom, they can give huge range with low size and weight. And over 600 m the amount of distortion due to heat haze degrades the images even with the best of lenses (yes, even up in the mountains with daytime maximum around 6°C there is heat haze – the video in the last post shows this very well).  Above is a cropped image from the frame. Here is the whole frame taken with 560 mm lens … spot the snow leopards:

Around lunchtime we see some of the staff practising their archery. There are archery competitions between the villages, and Uley is the top dog. The locals seem to be having fun. Trying to get images of the archers at the moment of release of the arrow is challenging. Even with motor drive at 10 frames per second, mostly I get consecutive shots one before release, and the next with the arrow nowhere to be seen.

More images at https://photos.app.goo.gl/zopyPOaz2Hqr51cF3

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

Today we learn that a snow leopard has killed a yak calf in an overnight pen on a neighbouring farm, and we are invited to view the kill in the pen.  This is one of the old pens with open top. The snow leopard conservancy organisation has been funding wire to enclose the tops of the animal pens to prevent access by snow leopards and minimise the risk of stock losses for the farmers, but oddly, this has not happened here in this centre of snow leopard activity. Cynically, one might believe that the calf kill is good business. If it helps keep the snow leopards in the area, then more tourists will come in, promoting the local economy. We are assured that the farmer will be compensated for the loss of the calf.

The yak calf is not small. It appears to have been suffocated. A classic approach of the snow leopards is to hold the prey by the neck until they are dead.  There does not seem to be much evidence that the leopard ate anything from the carcass.

The plan is to drag the kill onto the nearby field, and tomorrow we will see if the snow leopard (or other beasties) come to feast, whilst we watch (with cameras and spotting scopes at the ready) from around the farm house.

In the late afternoon we visit the farm house to which Snow Leopard Lodge belongs, as Dolma, the lady of the house, prepares yak butter tea and other local delicacies and with the aid of her son explains something of the local way of life.

As usual there are more photos. The gallery can be found at:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vq8B4LoddT2i61ew2

As predicted, the snow leopard stayed close. The general pattern is that they will feed from a kill over the next 3-5 days. The spotters have identified the cat high in the rocks above the farm. This is a new animal, not one of the 3 we were watching earlier across the valley. This is an adult female that normally lives in the next valley, but she is here with us and we are not complaining. The cat is high on the ridge, sheltering under some boulders. We spend a long day watching events from the farm. A large flock of red billed choughs entertains us for a while. There must be hundreds of them wheeling in the sky, and landing for periods among the rocks and stunted bushes on the slopes.

Then, suddenly, late in the afternoon, the cat makes its move. In just a few seconds of fluid feline grace it flows down the boulder strewn slope and reaches the kill. Fantastic. And this time it is close enough to see (though still rather far for photography when you don’t have the BBC’s budget for cameras and HUGE telephoto lenses)

More photos in a gallery at https://photos.app.goo.gl/BlCmEorYehyK6r9U2

Wow, what a week. We have been busy dawn to dusk every day, and I have not got any blog writing done since we arrived. We have no internet here. Since today will be mostly sitting and waiting, I have brought the laptop with me and I will make notes as the day progresses to give a feel for how our days have passed. I’m typing this up in a word processor as we have no internet. I probably won’t find time to post until we get back to Delhi. Even with the screen on full brightness, it is hard to see. There is so much UV radiation that my photochromic glasses are very dark, even though I have a wide brimmed hat and the sky is overcast. My lips have taken a battering with the UV and dry air and they are very sore. For the past 2 days I have been wearing a balaclava to cover my mouth to give it some protection. Since it is also cold, the balaclava serves dual purpose.

24/3/18 05:45 get up and dressed, pack the bags for the transfer this afternoon to Leh this afternoon, clearing the rooms for the next group expected to arrive around lunchtime. 6:15 gather for coffee and biscuits, before the drive up the road.

24/3/18 06:45 AM at a small farm in the valley above Uley. Temperature hovering on -4°C. We’re rugged up in our down jackets etc High on the ridge above us there is a snow leopard peering down at the activity as we set up our cameras. About 100 m away across the stony slopes is the carcass of the yak calf that the snow leopard killed 2 nights ago. A Himalayan fox is gorging on the carcass, and a mob of magpies hop around, keeping out of reach, and picking up any small pieces of meat dropped by the fox. The calf is a valuable animal, but the farmer will be compensated for his loss and for the access that allows us to view the snow leopard. If the farmers earn more from tourism fuelled by snow leopards than their losses to predation, there is no pressure for the farmers to kill these magnificent beasts.

Yesterday we spend the whole day here from 06:30 am until 6:00 pm. The leopard was resting in a dark crevice between two huge boulders, occasionally poking its head out to check out our activities. Then, suddenly a bit after 4PM, she emerged, descended the slope with a fluid feline grace and started to feed. We enjoyed the sight until failing light called a close, and we headed off, elated to have seen the leopard so close.

Snow leopards generally feed from a kill over 3-4 days, so we are hoping that she will come down from the ridge to the carcass before we need to leave for Leh at 4pm. One danger is if a wolf comes to the carcass. Foxes don’t upset the leopards – there is plenty of meat on a yak calf for all to eat, but snow leopards are wary of wolves and she will abandon the carcass if a wolf or wolves appear. Although wolves are about the same size as snow leopards, they often hunt in packs and a pack of wolves is more than a match for a snow leopard. A fox has now come slinking across the hillside to feed on the carcass.

8 am. The fox has gone, The magpies are picking up their fill of scraps, the snow leopard gazes imperiously down on us from her ridge-top vantage point. The temperature is hovering on 2°C under an heavy overcast. Remarkably my fingers are OK. The down jackets must be working.

In anticipation of more severe cold than we have actually experienced, jill and I bought some insulated boots to keep our feet warm. I’ve been using mine, but Jill only tried hers today (she god cold toes yesterday). That was when we discovered she had a size 10 and a size 11 boot. I hadn’t noticed that I had the matching odd pair. So Jill now has one boot broken in by me over the last week.

08:20 am. The sun has just climbed over the ridge to our right and is shedding a soft pearly light through the overcast.  The cat remains aloof on the skyline before us.

08:55 am.  Something has disturbed the cat. She startled then disappeared. What startled her is not clear.  Was it the large male snow leopard that we were observing a few days ago? Was it a wold? Will she return?. And then there she is, back on the skyline. Phew.

The temperature has now climbed to +1°C and the breakfast truck has arrived. Whilst we feed ourselves on porridge, eggs, aloo (potato) parathas and pickles, the local spotters keep watch. Fed and filled with chai we return to our cameras.

10:20 am. The temperature has just dropped from 4°C to 3°C. Quiet conversations are going on between various people within our group and with people in the other groups here, in areas out of sight of our “lion king”.  This particular snow leopard is called Gyamba, and starred in a documentary film a couple of years ago. Her name means Queen in the local Ladakhi language. Spoken Ladakhi has a very Tibetan twang to it. The local guides and drivers spend long hours conversing among themselves whilst waiting for us, but they never run out of conversation. The other pastime is wall building. We’ll go off to photograph an animal, and 30 minutes later they will have built a miniature wall with gravel beside the road; good, robust, stable walls. Looking at the hillsides around here , I guess they get lots of practise. All the farmable slopes are segmented by stone walls. Interestingly, here they build the walls with a single layer of boulders, and looking up the slope with a wall agains the sky they have a lacy appearance. I speculate that this results in less damage to the walls from ice and frost-heave, or maybe it is just easier to repair them like that.

The environment here is fascinating. It is a cold desert. Rain is infrequent and the few days they get in the monsoon period generally leads to landslips. When we arrived a week ago the willows had a winter deadness about them, but over the last few days their colour is changing and they are coming into bud. The willows are farmed and coppiced and provide wood for construction and fuel for fires. As I write, the farmer is tossing a basket of yak manure onto the roof of one of the outhouses. It will dry there and provide fuel in combination with the willow. Despite preconceptions the fires here have a relatively innocuous, slightly aromatic odour. The “bio-fuel” burns hot and long, and I guess the sparse smoke distributes the minerals back onto the hillsides.

11:12 am. Gyumba has vanished again from her perch. Has she just shuffled back out of sight on the ridge, or is she on the move, about to descentd to the carcass below? Anticipation builds. I will man my camera in the optimistic hope of the latter.

11:45 No snow leopard…This is a waiting game. There is a cameraman from the BBC up the hill to our right in a neat, camouflaged hide-tent. He has a couple of remote cameras close to the carcass. Thankfully, today he has hidden them so they are not so obvious. Yesterday they were “in shot” for the cameras. I assume our grumbles were conveyed to the BBC man.

The general overcast is starting to break up, and there are hints of blue with fluffy white cloids, and the sun is starting to break through sporadically. To the north is the white caped range that forms the head of the valley. Behind me, in the south, are high, jagged, snowclad peaks. To the sides are the steep rocky slopes of the valley walls. The sun is moving round and I will soon have to move the thermometer before it is hit by direct sun. Current shade temperature has clawed its way up to 6°C.

1 pm. Snow leopard appeared briefly, adopted a sphynx pose, to the clatter of camera shutters, then stood and disappeared again. From Open Street Map on my phone I estimate she was about 400 m away. Too far for good photos with my lenses. But there are plenty of people here with lenses that cost more than a small car, that probably got good photos. Temperature 7°C. Lunch delivery should be soon.

2 pm. Fed and watered. Today’s lunch was rice noodles with vegetables, boiled carrot slices and baked beans, washed down with chai/masala tea, and peanut bars and biscuits for desert. Snow leopard has disappeared again. The overcast has persisted with occasional patches of sun breaking through.

2:30 pm.  Another group has arrived – this is the group that is replacing us at Snow Leopard Lodge. There is a brief flurry as they get set up. The guides quicly damp things down. The snow leopard has returned to its sphynx position on the ridge.

2:45 pm. A brief bit of excitement. 2 large yaks are wandering into the slope towards the kill. They are quickly rounded up by the farmer and the chief spotter, Norboo.  Calm rapidly returns, but the cat has gone again. An icy wind is blowing across the hillside and, despite the balmy 7°C, it starts to feel chilly on the exposed skin. The farm’s many prayerflags are flapping vigorously offering prayers with every flap.  Patches of sunlight are flitting across the snowfield at the head of the valley, making interesting patterns, and bringing out some of the textures of the terrain that were hidden in the overcast light.

3:45 pm I just watched the farmer catch another couple of yak from the adjacent field. He had a handful of some tempting yak treat that he used to get the yak up t im, then he grabbed the rope that was conveniently tied between a nose ring and the horns. Once grabbed it was easy to lead the huge beast to wherever it should be next. Every time the farmer passes he is full of smiles. In an environment as picturesque as this, it is easy to explain the smiles.

We haven’t seen the snow leopard for a while. I fear we will have to leave before it descends to feed on its kill.

4:30 pm. We have to leave, though we fear the leopard will descent the very moment we depart. But the road down is narrow and twisty, and a mistake could plunge us down a cliff or steep scree slope. We have to leave to get to Leh before the light goes for our safety and that of our drivers.

6:45 pm We arrive safely at our hotel on the edge of dark. The drivers will stay in Leh overnight before returning home to Uley the next morning.

At breakfast the next day we learn that the leopard did descend, but only at 6 pm. By then the light would be challenging for photography, all in shade, and the light level falling fast, so we don’t feel too upset. If the snow leopard had come down at 4:35, a few minutes after we left, we’d have been somewhat annoyed.

After breakfast we finalise our packing and head off to the airport for the flight to Delhi. Everyone gets a window seat so we all get good views. Unfortunately someone had put a wing in the way for half of us, so the views were not ideal. The views of these Himalayan foothills bring home the ruggedness of the terrain, and the quantity of fresh water tied up in the ice in those mountains. What will happen here with global climate change is not clear. This year was certainly much warmer that anticipated from past years. The snow had already receded to well above Snow Leopard Lodge. We came prepared for sub-zero temperatures as the daily maximum, when the actual temperature maximum was a relatively balmy 6-8°C.

After 10 days at ~4000 m altitude, with air pressure only about 63% of what we are used to in Melbourne at near sea level, we are expecting a fresh burst of energy when we get back to the lowlands.

Sorry the post was so long and rambling, but it did pass some time whilst we waited.  🙂

Here is a gallery of images to go with this post:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Pni3xNeuaIr3Nnq62

After the cool, calm and quiet of Ladakh, Delhi was a shock to the system. The daily maximum temperatures around 7°C in Uley and Leh switched to 37°C in Delhi. True, the air was not as thin down on the lowlands; instead it was thick with the pungency of city life. The tranquil soundscape of the mountains became a cacophony of beeping vehicles. After the flight from Leh, we had lunch then we took the afternoon off – luxuriating in flowing water, flushing toilets and other mod-cons that were in short supply up in Uley.

Next day 6 of us headed into Old Delhi on the metro. The metro here is not what you might expect. It isn’t a relic of the British Colonial period, as much of India’s rail infrastructure is. This is brand new. It is run by a state-owned company (unlike here where the once state owned transport infrastructure was sold off to private companies). Wikipedia declares it to be the 12th longest metro system in the world (252 km), with the 16th largest ridership (1 billion per year). But these statistics may be out of date. Stations were being opened whilst we were there. It is clean, smooth, fast and cheap (eg Connaught Place to the airport ~20 km was about AU$1.20 with trains every 15 minutes).

First stop was a major Sikh temple Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. Here we joined a fascinating tour. Sikhism is a religion that arose in the Punjab region around the 15th century AD. Fundamental beliefs include “one creator”, divine unity, equality of all people, and it fosters striving for social justice for the benefit and prosperity of all. Flowing from this they provide free food for any who need it.   The tour took us through the kitchens where they prepare this food; we were told they fed 25,000 people every day, so the scale of the kitchens was amazing.

The complex also houses halls of worship where texts from their holy books are read/sung, study rooms, there is apparently also a school and a hospital here. It was certainly bustling with life. Unfortunately the timing of our visit was out of sync with the timing of the meals. I am sure the full dining hall – thousands of people – would be quite a sight.

From the Sikh temple we headed onwards towards Connaught Pace (detouring via a couple of shops as one of our party wanted to purchase some gifts to take home). The shops were, as always, interesting. We were wafted indoors, taken up to 4th floor, where there were floor to ceiling stocks of Pashmina scarves and the like. There were about 5 staff on just that floor. We were the only customers. On the way out we looked on the floors below.. same story. lots of staff, few, if any customers.

Connaught place to my mind has connotations of British colonial grand architecture. What we found was a circular traffic jam with some rather tired, colonnaded, low rise buildings. For “one of the largest financial, commerical and business centres in New Delhi … that houses the headquarters of several noted Indian firms” (Wikipedia) it was rather a let down. The highlight there was being accosted by trinket sellers, desperate to sell us things… anything… We decided to turn the tables and hassled the hawkers, trying to get them to purchase our tourist maps – look – two maps, only 50 rupees, what a bargain … . In the end they backed off, perhaps hoping to avoid catching whatever madness had apparently afflicted us.

From CP we headed on to visit one of the market areas near Chandni Chowk. What a place. It is a veritable maze of tiny shops lining a network of arcades. Crowded, claustrophobic, chaotic. Thank goodness for GPS or we would never have got back to our station.

Next day Jill and I headed in to Old Delhi intending to explore Red Fort and visit some more of the markets. We trundled to the Metro and got ourselves to Chandni Chowk station, about 500 m from the Red Fort. We tried to evade the endless calls of cycle rikshaw and tuk tuk drivers to avail ourselves of their services. It was as if walking was a crime against humanity.

Reaching Red Fort was easy, though even by 10am the air was thick with haze. Red fort is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was built around 1639 and served as the main residence of the Mughal emperors for the next 200 years.

The red sandstone walls enclose 100 Ha of gardens and palaces of various eras, many of which are in disrepair or are being worked on. The impressive entrance gate/tower complex takes you through an arcade of small shops selling tourist trinkets before one reaches the expansive gardens.

There are remains here of what would have been extensive water features – ponds, fountains etc, none of which are now functional. It must have been a very different place in its heyday.

By the time we had circumnavigated the complex, admired the arches, marble inlays, sculptural elements etc, the mercury was hovering in the high 30s. We espied a new metro station, just outside the red fort gates. Given the choice of melting in the markets, and a nice airconditioned train back to the hotel, we decided on cool, relaxation and a bit more time to pack for our 11:30 PM flight.

This last image serves as a contrast to the usual street dog photos. This spherical beast was probably just a  teensy-weensy little bit over-fed.

More photos at

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eriK6yzoU3Yx2yUe2

That’s all for this trip. Hope you enjoyed the ride.