These topographical features explain why access to Zanskar is difficult from all sides. Communication with the neighbouring Himalayan areas is maintained across mountain passes or along the Zanskar river when frozen. The easiest approach leads from Kargil through the Suru valley and over the Pensi La. It is along this track that in 1979 the first and only road in Zanskar was built to connect Padum with the main road from Srinagar into Ladakh.
Zanskar is a high altitude semi-desert lying on the Northern flank of the Great Himalayan Range. Parts of Zanskar valley are considered some of the coldest continually inhabited places in the world.
The population lives mainly in scattered small villages, the largest being the capital Padum, with nearly 700 inhabitants. Most of the villages are located in the valleys of the Zanskar river and its two main tributaries. Given the isolation of this region, the inhabitants tend towards self-sufficiency, and until recently lived in almost complete autarky. External trade has, however, always been necessary for the acquisition of goods such as tools, jewellery, or religious artefacts.
The first traces of human activity in Zanskar seem to go back as far as the Bronze Age. Petroglyphs attributed to that period suggest that their creators were hunters on the steppes of central Asia, living between Kazakhstan and China. It is suspected that an Indo-European population known as the Mon might then have lived in this region, before mixing with or being replaced by the next settlers, the Dards. Early Buddhism coming from Kashmir spread its influence in Zanskar, possibly as early as 200 BCE. The earliest monuments date from the Kushan period. After this eastward propagation of Buddhism, Zanskar and a large part of the Western Himalaya were overrun in the 7th century by the Tibetans, who imposed their then animistic Bön religion.
In the mid-20th century, border conflicts between India, Pakistan, and China caused Ladakh and Zanskar to be closed to foreigners. During these wars Ladakh lost two thirds of its original territory, losing Baltistan to Pakistan and the Aksai Chin to China. Ladakh and Zanskar, despite a tumultuous history of internal wars and external aggressions, have never lost their cultural and religious heritage since the 8th century. Thanks to its adherence to the Indian Union, this is also one of the rare regions in the Himalaya where traditional Tibetan culture, society, and buildings survived the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Summary:
Two Buddhist monks fulfill their pledge to the Dalai Lama by leading a group of 17 poor children aged 4-12 on a journey from Zanskar in remote northwest India through the Himalayas. To seek an education... On foot. On horseback. By jeep and bus. - Whatever it takes. These children won't see their families again for 10-15 years.
30 years ago, when they were children, these monks walked the same path themselves. Friends close to His
Holiness led them from the Tibetan plateau to monasteries in southern India.
Now, it's their turn to lead the next generation - to keep the flame of Tibetan culture alive. But it won't be easy.
