 |
| Dried-fruit and nut vendor in the Leh bazaar |
Mission #3: Don't Die
Of our three missions, I'm pleased that #3 was not the one we failed to accomplish. Although there were a few close calls. The whole walking-over-melting-river-ice thing, for instance. And then there was the time when I was minding my own business, climbing up a steep patch of scree in search of a snow leopard when I rather suddenly had to throw myself across the hillside to avoid a falling boulder, dislodged by he-who-will-remain-nameless. And then there were the inevitable ice-covered, potholed ledges along the edges of gorges that pass for roads in this part of the world. At least we had one snow chain. Um, yeah, ONE snow chain. Seems like getting two snow chains wouldn't be that much harder than getting one, but what do I know. How do you decide what tire to put it on? And let's not forget the uber sketchy zip-line/crate by which we crossed the Zanskar river. R. had a great deal of fun in listing all the numerous ways in which we might 1) get our fingers (or hair, in my case) stuck in the winch, and 2) fall into the river when the re-bar-reinforced wooden box we were sitting in fell apart half way across
Of our three missions, I'm pleased that #3 was not the one we failed to accomplish. Although there were a few close calls. The whole walking-over-melting-river-ice thing, for instance. And then there was the time when I was minding my own business, climbing up a steep patch of scree in search of a snow leopard when I rather suddenly had to throw myself across the hillside to avoid a falling boulder, dislodged by he-who-will-remain-nameless. And then there were the inevitable ice-covered, potholed ledges along the edges of gorges that pass for roads in this part of the world. At least we had one snow chain. Um, yeah, ONE snow chain. Seems like getting two snow chains wouldn't be that much harder than getting one, but what do I know. How do you decide what tire to put it on? And let's not forget the uber sketchy zip-line/crate by which we crossed the Zanskar river. R. had a great deal of fun in listing all the numerous ways in which we might 1) get our fingers (or hair, in my case) stuck in the winch, and 2) fall into the river when the re-bar-reinforced wooden box we were sitting in fell apart half way across
.
While in the Leh airport waiting lounge prior to boarding our flight back to Delhi, a nice young man walked up to us to tell us that he had just skied across Antarctica. I guess he just wanted someone to talk to who would appreciate his experience. Little did he suspect that we would also be Antarctic veterans, and could totally talk shop with him (although his experiences were a little more hard-core than mine). Not 10 days before he had completed the first Indian army ski expedition across Antarctica from Hercules Inlet to the geographic South Pole. The team of 8 skied 1170 km over 50 days, finally arriving at the South Pole on January 14th. Being native to Leh, our new friend was better prepared than most Indians for the rigors of the frozen continent. Read more about their expedition here.
 |
| Us with the Indian army Antarctic skier in the Leh airport |
For those of you who need another snow leopard fix, check out some consummate snow leopard footage here from the BBC Planet Earth series. And finally, a few pics of some awesome Leh beasties for all you animal lovers out there.
 |
| Blue sheep (or bharal), and preferred snow leopard prey |
 |
| ...and my favorite donkey in the whole world! |
No comments:
Post a Comment