Road Work in Ladakh HIMANK Project.

Road Work in Ladakh HIMANK Project., originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Every visitor to Ladakh comes away with an awe of the roads in Ladakh.. I for one was blown away the first time I visited there.. marveling at the kind of men required  to build roads in such inhospitable terrain..Most of the road gangs were workers from Bihar who are more used to the heat of the terai plains then to the icy locales of Jammu & Kashmir..
Till 1960, Leh was connected with Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh by mule tracks only. The first jeepable road to Leh from Srinagar was thrown open to traffic on August 1, 1960. In order to construct and develop the road network in Ladakh, BRO (Border Road Organization) was inducted.
Project Himank was raised exclusively for development of road communication and other works of BRO in Ladakh region, in December 1985. The need for creating a separate Border Roads project exclusively for Ladakh arose owing to increased work-load in the region. The quantum of work and long distances from road-head and inhospitable terrain was just another roadblock to be overcome
Project Himank, with its HQ at Leh, was given the task of creating and maintaining roads and airfields in the most inhospitable terrain in the world, where most of its roads are above 10000 to 18000 feet in height. In such altitudes, the efficiency of men and machine is adversely affected due to lack of oxygen in the rarefied air and extreme cold conditions created as a result of high altitude and icy high velocity winds. The long harsh winter of seven to eight months permits a working season of only five months from June to October. The summer temperature rarely exceeds 32 degree centigrade and winter temperatures plummets to minus 30 degree centigrade with the temperature at Drass falling to minus 50 degree centigrade; thus earning for it the distinction of being “the second coldest inhabited place in the world”.
In such adverse working conditions and hardly a working season to write home about,
Project Himank is unique by itself as all the roads of the Project are located in high altitude areas. The Project boasts of the highest motorable road in the world at Khardungla at a height of 18380 feet.
One of the most challenging and demanding tasks of the Project is snow clearance. There are nine major passes in the jurisdiction of the Project.
These are 

the notorious Zoji La (11578 feet) (Where in 1948 in what is now known as "Project Bison" saw Indian Army Tanks managing to cross the pass on a trail built by the Indian Sappers in nearly impossible conditions and this action saved the Ladakh Region from the encroaching Pakistani Army Units .) ,
Namika La (12200 feet),
Fotu La (13497 feet),
Hamboting La (13620 feet),
Khardung La (18380 feet),
Chang La (17356 feet),
Kajukongta La (16626 feet),
Taglang La (17582 feet),
Lachalung La (16616 feet) and

Trisul I, II , III & Mrigthuni

Trishul I, II , III & Mrigthuni, originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Location | Bageshwar, Uttarakhand,
Range | Garhwal - Kumaun Himalaya
Prominence | 1,616 m(5,302 ft)
First ascent | June 12, 1907 by Tom Longstaff, A. Brocherel, H.Brocherel, Karbir
Easiest route | North east flank/north ridge: snow/glacier climb
Trisul I 7120 mtrs (30°18′36″N 79°46′12″E /30.31, 79.77)
Trisul II 6690mtrs (30°17′24″N 79°46′12″E / 30.29, 79.77)
Trisul III 6008mtrs (30°15′00″N 79°46′12″E / 30.25, 79.77)
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Early Climbing History & First Ascent:
In the Annals of Himalayan Climbing History Trishul plays an important part as it was one of the earliest peaks in the Himalayas to be submitted in 1907

The legendary Dr. T. G. Longstaff made the first climbing reconnaissance of Trisul, in September 1905, focusing on the western and southern sides.

In 1907 The Alpine Club as part of their Golden Jubilee Celebrations were refused permission to climb Everest so attention shifted to Trishul.
A.L. Mumm (a wealthy publisher) guaranteed to meet all expenses. The party was
· Mumm, with his usual guide Moritz Inderbinnen

· Charles Bruce with 9 Gorkhas from the Gorkha Rifles.
( General Bruce would be the expedition leader of the 1922 Everest expedition)

· Dr. Tom Langstaff with his guides, The Two Bocherel Brothers Alex and Henri. (The Canadian climber who was the chief medical officer of the 1922 Everest Expedition)
{It was standard practice to climb with Swiss Alpine Guides in those days, except for Dr A.M Kellas who climbed with Sherpas (or coolies as they were then known), mostly all early explorers brought their own guides from Europe}

Bottled Oxygen was used for the first time in Himalayan Conditions manufactured by Seib & Gormann who would later supply the early Everest Expeditions of 1922 and 1924.

It remained the highest peak to be climbed until the next 25 years till the first ascent of KAMET in 1931 by Frank Symthe's team.

Mrigthuni was first climbed in 1958 by an Indian Team which included Aamir Ali (brother of noted Indian Orinthologist Saleem Ali)

Across The Changthang {On The Rupshu Trek}

Across The Changthang, originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

A group of Changpa Yak herders cajole their herd across the Changthang Desert in search of greener pastures.

Changthang is a high altitude plateau in eastern Ladakh and western and northern Tibet, with vast highlands and giant lakes. From Eastern Ladakh Changthang stretches approximately 1600 km into Tibet. It is the home of the Changpa nomads

The Changthang is a smaller version of the Takla Makan and the Askai Chin, which lie at the other end of the Tibetan Plateau, these two deserts were one of the main reasons why Tibet (and to a lesser extent) Ladakh remained in relative isolation from the rest of the world.

Very few survived a journey through them as it can be an unforgiving place and these nomadic herders and their flocks lead a hard life in such a harsh terrain.

Often their life is a hand to mouth struggle in which the desert dictates the rules but its a way of life now coming to an end due to the march of roads as deserts once uncrossable are bridged by the long black ribbon which marks the new highways crisscrossing them.

During the day the harshness of the terrain is evident as the sun beats down relentlessly sapping strength and resolve but in the evening light this country can be beautiful, desert and all: the harshness becomes subdued; shadows soften the hillsides; there is a blending of lines and folds until the last light, so that one comes to bless the' absolute bareness, feeling that here is a pure beauty of form, a kind of ultimate harmony rarely seen elsewhere.

A Pinkish Dawn on Sudarshan Parvat 6,057 m,

A Pinkish Dawn on Sudarshan Parvat 6,057 m, , originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Towering over an altitude of 6,057 m, Sudarshan Parvat commands a scintillating view of the Gangotri Peaks and valley, a little of Tibet and all the neighboring peaks. It is named after the chief weapon of Lord Vishnu - Sudarshana Chakra (- which is to be released only in the moment of ultimate crisis.)

Situated above the Gangotri Temple, it has been a challenge to mountaineers. It was attempted by as many as five expeditions, the last being in 1979 before an Indo -French team jointly led by Harish Kapadia & Bernard Odier made the first ascent in 1981along with 5 other peaks in the region