VALLEY OF GOLD

Beating the biting cold and formidable altitudes, RIDDHI DOSHI traverses to the Changthang region in Ladakh to trace the journey of the world’s finest pashmina.

-  RIDDHI DOSHI

THE SHEEP AND GOATS around me had walked several miles during the day. But they couldn’t sleep. Tired, scared, and cold, some tried to flee inside the only built structure in the village in a desperate attempt to escape the biting rain and hail. We were in the village of Kharnak in Changthang, located in the Tibetan Plateau of Ladakh. Around 5,000 metres above sea level, Kharnak is the summer village of the semi-nomadic Changpa and their yaks, horses, dogs, sheep, and the fluffy goats called Changra that grow the prized Pashmina wool on their bellies.

The night was an eventful one. The rain water seeped through the mobile homes of the Changpas, called rebos (hexagonal tents made from thick yak wool), making it difficult for its inhabitants to have a good sleep. “I have been camping here for several years, with and without tourists, but have never seen so much rain and thunderstorm,” said Jiwan Kaur, my travel partner from Mantra Himalaya (mantrahimalaya.com), a Ladakh-based travel company that creates conscious travel itineraries across the region. We were in Changthang on their Pashmina trail, co-designed by another travel company called The Extra Mile (theextramile.co.in). The itinerary packs in a Cashmere and wool dyeing and weaving workshop, visit to a private textile museum, camping in Changthang along with a trip to the Alchi Monastery and other attractions.