Happy March! It feels as though spring is near here in Ladakh. Much of the snow has melted except on many of the mountains and the temperatures are very comfortable during the day, though it still gets cold at night since the arid land does not retain the day’s warmth.
The week before last (25 Feb-1Mar) our VIS group, 11 high school students and four teachers, went on a five-night trek. As a volunteer/teacher my role on the trek was mainly as a mentor/leader to the students, as well as answering the occasional question about strange rock outcrops.
Most days we would hike during the morning and arrive at the next village in time for a late lunch. In each village we were divided between a number of local homes to spend the night. This homestay style lodging is the only option in these small villages. The Ladakhi instinct for hospitality is unmatched by any people I’ve experienced before, regardless of whether we are paying. Upon entering any home, one is expected to stay for a cup of tea (equivalent to our sweet milk chai at home, although we also often drink the salty butter tea). Our stays were very intimate with the family as everyone would gather in the kitchen where the wood/cow dung stove kept us warm. We had plenty of time to converse with the family, play with the kids, and drink chang (local fermented barley wine), and occasionally help prepare dinner, such as momos which are a favorite—essentially barley flour ravioli that we would stuff by hand with veggies. Dinner was not until late and we usually turned in immediately afterwards.
The sun here is amazingly bright and strong, so I am glad to have a good hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. It can be very warm in the sun while hiking and then in the shade, or if the afternoon clouds over, the temperature can become quite chilly quickly. Often we would hike through shallow snow that would intensify the effects of the sun. It is so different from the snow that I am used to at home in New England; after sitting on the ground for weeks, it hasn’t consolidated except slightly into small ice granules that are light to walk through.
There were two villagers who attended our trek with three ponies to help carry some of our baggage, though most personal items we carried on our backs. One of the ponies merely carried an empty saddle most of the time, although on a couple occasions the beast wasn’t so lucky when a sick student clambered on. Bells hung from the necks of two of the ponies and had a beautiful chime that I could hear as we walked.

Here is a brief article that I wrote for the campus newspaper about the trek:
Last week the Vermont Intercultural Semesters (VIS) students and teachers, accompanied by guide Tashi Angchuk and three SECMOL students, trekked by foot from Likir to Temisgam (Ang).
The SECMOL students, Kunzes, Dorjay, and Padma, were selected by lottery to attend the trek. At each homestay they were invaluable to the VIS students by helping them to communicate with their hosts.
Aside from general banter, the VIS students aimed to interview their Ladakhi families about issues including agriculture, health, pollution, and technology. Many interviews occurred around the kitchen in an informal manner as students and Ladakhis prepared or waited for dinner.
The group first explored Likir monastery on Monday and spent the night in the village. The following nights were spent in Yangthang, Uley, Hemis-Shukpachu, and finally in Temisgam (Ang). The last night, only two students slept in each homestay, many without the help of a Ladakhi to translate. “I stayed with Thinles’ sister,” said Jansyn. “She kept saying, ‘I speak a little English,’ and I kept saying, ‘I only speak a little Ladakhi,’ and that was about it!”
Many of the group expressed that they had a wonderful time, including Toben who remarked that, “the last day I had three ‘yes’ moments.” His favorite parts of that day included eggs and chipotles for breakfast, sitting in the sun after hiking up a difficult pass, and exploring and sitting under a small bridge over a stream in Temisgam.
Wildlife viewed on the trip included a hare, a fox, and many chukars and magpies. Footprints of a snow leopard were also found in the snow near Hemis-Shukpachu.
Coming home on Saturday the group stopped to take in the lofty Temisgam palace and monastery followed by the Alchi village and monastery.
“This trek is short, but it is a good experience for students’ first time,” said Tashi; “Everybody was fantastic.”


For the past week I have been back into life at the SECMOL school, and the students have classes again. It is good to be back at ‘home’ after moving from village to village, although it is a significant adjustment to the full schedule. I wake up between 6 and 7:30, the earlier the better to enjoy the still morning hours. In the mornings there are classes, some of which I attend so that I can either help students or participate in the discussions, especially in English (literature and journalism) class. Otherwise I will use the time to do my own work. At 11:30, after tea, we have a community work hour. Everybody meets in a central location and groups head off for the hour to tackle a specified job. Following work hour is half an hour to perform responsibilities. Each person has a responsibility around campus from watering the flowers to shifting the solar panels a couple times a day.
After lunch at 2pm we have a third class period followed by some free time from 3:30 to about 6pm. This time is often occupied by something else such as a guest speaker. I teach economics to a few Ladakhi college students at 4:30pm for an hour, although this doesn’t necessarily occur daily, as perhaps it should! From six to seven is usually English conversation hour with the Ladakhis, followed by half an hour of Ladakhi language class for the Americans.
Dinnertime follows the Ladakhi language class at 7:30. This is a special hour when everyone is together and the latter half of the meal is entertained by the Ladakhis relaying the local news they heard on the radio into English, a community member stands and tells us something about him or herself (we are all seated on the floor cross-legged in front of “tablecloths” laid out, also on the floor), announcements are made, and we all sing a traditional Ladakhi song. Many of the students then play “rock, paper, scissors” within a group seated in close proximity to each other to determine who amongst them will wash everyone else’s dishes! Finally, two or three days of the week there is an evening activity that takes us until 10pm, otherwise we have the evening to do as we wish. A full day to be sure! Just add sleep and repeat.
There are some days when I will not attend most of the evening activities so that I can go off to a far wing of the school where I’m unlikely to be found. It is good to recuperate from the day’s social energy and noise during this time by reading a book, writing in my journal, or composing emails such as this prior to finding an internet connetion.
Because the school can be quite overwhelming with so many projects happening all of the time, I have felt much better here after focusing myself on two main objectives. One objective is to teach geology and glaciology as I originally planned to do here along with being a supervisor for the science projects as we build a special heat retaining greenhouse, and the second objective is to be the “tech guy” when it comes to the sound recording equipment we have here.
Next week we will be visiting a man who has created a frozen reservoir that he calls an artificial glacier, so preceding this visit I will be giving some lectures about glaciers and glacial landscapes. Glacial meltwater provides the majority of Ladakh’s water for irrigation, or for anything frankly, because Ladakh only receives a few centimeters of precipitation annually. The artificial glacier is supposed to be one solution to solve water shortages, particularly if glaciers disappear in the future as they are retreating rapidly at present.
The digital sound recording equipment has been used by past VIS students to record interviews, sounds from our environment, musical performances, or other events, which are then edited to make a short radio “postcard.” It is an exciting medium to use, although it takes a lot of time to familiarize oneself with the editing software on the computers. For that reason I hope to be of use to a few students that may choose to use this medium for their projects or end of semester exhibitions. I’ve already begun making my own “postcard” of the hockey tournament that was held at the school. Students and staff created six teams that competed throughout a late February morning and early afternoon, until the ice was melting and nearly impossible to skate on or move the puck. I collected many interviews with excited players and cheering fans, along with some of the sounds from the game itself: scraping skates, slap-shots, yells, and whistles. I played on the VIS Vermonster team and we held up very well against the SECMOL Junior team, coming to a tie after overtime and finally losing in the penalty shot round. It was very well played for having only practiced as a team the day before while the Ladakhis had been playing since December (they are very good skaters)!