I’m writing this as we embark on a fantastic study trip to Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh. From the coast to the highest hills. From the edge of the sea to the snow peaks. From coconut fringed sandy beach to the cold desert bereft of vegetation. From the most accessible city at sea level to the last motorable village more than 4,000 mts above sea level. From the land of the Western Ghats to the cold deserts of the Himalayas. As part of the Travelling Dome initiative this is a first with the ever growing family of students, youth and young professionals. Travel is an education in itself. It teaches you so many things and more importantly helps build values. It gives you an insight into communities, their culture, their world. It helps build tolerance, resilience, patience, empathy.
We began on the May 13 late night. The larger group drove to the Margao station where we were met with the others including family who had come to see off their most loved going on a long trip for the first time. We boarded the train for a 36-hr journey and got down to allocating tasks for documentation and immerse ourselves in a completely different experience in travel.
We were a team of eight. My children Vikram and Varun, colleague and friend Vishal Rawlley, two young architects-Harshal Parsana from Vadodara/Rajkot and Mrunmayee Yamal from Pune, a BBA student from Bicholim, Florence Kurkundi and Gaurav Komarpant from Palolem-Canacona, a Std XII commerce student pursuing his dream to become a photographer! We travelled by train till Chandigarh, traversing 10 States before we were to alight the bus up into the hills to Kinnaur at an altitude of 2,000 mts.
We boarded the Himachal State Transport Bus for an overnight journey to our first pit stop Rekong Peo where we had our first glimpse of the majestic snow capped mountains! The temperature had dipped already and we spent a lovely evening at the small town exploring the local temple and walking past many shrines with prayer wheels. The local architecture in wood and mud with exquisite carvings and iconography was mesmerising. We also feasted on momos, tukpa and chowmein. The next morning we started early as we had to ensure seats in the bus as we had no reservations from Rekong Peo to Kaza – the main town of Spiti. When we reached the bus depot, while we were early to make it to the queue, the seats were already taken by workers who were going for some road construction work and so we had to hire a maxi (a Sumo jeep) to Kaza. We made friends with a local couple who also hitched a ride with us to Kaza. The journey was so pleasant as we shared stories and snacks from Goa. When we reached Kaza, our new friends took us to a local café where we feasted on the most sumptuous momos and delicacies. Then the same couple took us to Key Monastry, one of our destinations in Spiti.
The location was ethereal. Super majestic rocky mountains, harsh and cold, flanked by another line of white snow capped peaks. And amidst all this was a tiny settlement along the river fringed with fields where local mutter was grown, with the Key Gompa monastery rising amidst this cold desert landscape. We stayed with the Lamas for three days and experienced their generosity, simplicity and peaceful life. We used the dormitory with other visitors with no heaters, adapted to using the dry composting toilets, sampled the same food of tingmo bread, milk with butter and salt, rice and dal. We were lucky to witness the Buddha Poornima ritual and participate in the day’s cultural event where the Lamas presented their traditions and people from the surrounding villages also presented their culture, dance and music. On the last day we played football with the little Lamas, helped in the kitchen and finally conducted a workshop for a group of 60 young Lamas of grade 6-12, on stop animation as an opportunity to use modern gadgets like phones to tell stories about life in a monastery, skills, nature, Buddhism, etc. Harshal, Gaurav, Vikram, Varun and Mrinmayee were assets as they guided and assisted the Lamas in using the animation app.
We are now in Kibber, slightly higher in altitude and yes colder too. We are staying with a local family-elder daughter Indira Devi and her two younger sisters that run a homestay and are acquainting ourselves with their day to day lives, assets of the village, impact of tourism, etc. Later with Sonam as our guide, we explored the nearby fields, documented the sparse vegetation, visited a new house under construction, took a ride in a tractor used to cart mud for building, visited a gorge with a new cable stayed bridge to the neighboring village of Chicham. In the evening we helped senior lady of the house and a real superhero Lubzang Dolma in making momos, roll out rotis, re-fix the pipes across the village from where the house taps water from the nearby spring, milk the cow/yak and participated in daily prayer.
We have some tasks identified for the following days: conduct a workshop in the local school on garbage, talk to the stakeholders on the value of dry toilets and negative impact of modern water based toilets, help with shepherding for the day in the forests nearby, volunteer in building rammed earth house and make a short film on social responsibility for tourists to Spiti.
(Tallulah D’Silva is a practising architect in Goa and has recently taught at the Goa College of Architecture)
