New Heights With Lexus

Six days and four different SUVs; Lexus India takes on the elements of Ladakh and its interwoven, pashmina-laced history

-  Sharan Sanil

For the uninitiated, driving in Ladakh comes with a long list of new prerequisites. Apart from acclimatising yourself to the altitude of India's highest plateau, there are the vast expanses of open border roads to keep track of, the lack of phone signals, and with the thinner air, harsher UV rays. 600-odd kilometres down on the odometer, I became well acquainted with the latter - sunburned hands turning over the LX500d's steering wheel. We were well over 12,000 feet above sea level, and crucially, two feet away from a sheer drop of at least 500 feet and yet, my usual test-drive anxiety was nowhere to be found. Our convoy would double the distance across the next few days crossing lakes, mountain passes, herds of sheep and horses and countless army bases; in ways that would profoundly change the way we saw the world around us, and perhaps within us as well.

THE PATH OF PASHMINA

Pashmina wool, often referred to as soft gold’, is a treasure deeply ingrained in every facet of Ladakhi culture. While it’s often worn daily by the local folk because of its innate softness and warmth, came to learn that pashmina is much more than mere luxury clothing.

Lexus quickly introduced us to the women behind Lena Ladakh Pashmina a successful women-led startup that was set up in 2016 and has since gone on to upskill several young women, keep the art of hand-woven pashmina alive and thriving while supplying their handiwork to ateliers around the world. The idea was to follow the thread of pashmina back to its very roots from holding phenomenally woven finished products in our hands to learning how to dye and knit the fabric ourselves, and finally getting up and personal with the 'Changthangi' - the charmingly small, fluffy goats that produce cashmere wool worthy of the pashmina moniker.