Blogs

Tibetan people believe that children should be treated like “kings” until the age of 5 and regarded as being in a “learning phase” from ages 5 to 10. Their parenting system has a long tradition and is detailed as follows: All parents hope their children will grow up to be happy and intelligent individuals, but the methods often depend on societal norms and what people in that country consider correct. The book The Tibetan Art of Parenting: From Before Conception Through Early Childhood by En Maiden-Brown, Eddie Farwell, and Dr. Dick Nilson explains how Tibetans raise their children. This book is not written as a conventional manual for parents but […]

The Incredible Ladakh Monasteries One of the most visited monasteries in Ladakh is Thiksey, home to two hundred monks and dating back to the 15th century. I’ve already mentioned in a previous chronicle that traveling through Ladakh feels like traversing the moon. Only the blue serpent of the Indus adds a splash of color and life to the imposing landscape, bristling with peaks. The riverbanks break the gray monotony of the surroundings with the miracle of green life. The rest is bare, torn stone. To the right of the stream rise the snow-capped peaks of the Karakoram, while to the left stand the pinnacles of the Great Himalayas. The Indus […]

Zanskar Trekking Tour : To the Heavens in the Himalayas In the former Buddhist kingdom of Zanskar lie villages and monasteries among the most remote in the Himalayas. To reach them, one must walk—and in doing so, encounters a breathtaking world of mountains. ABOUT THE PERSON Michael Martin, born in 1963, is a geographer and renowned desert photographer. The Munich native has undertaken 150 desert journeys since he was 17 and has published more than 20 books on the subject, including “The Deserts of the Earth” and “Planet Desert.” Martin has named his new project “Terra.” “Julley!” greets us Tesering, a kindly man marked by life in the high mountains. […]

School on the Roof of the World When school holidays end in the Himalayas, the teachers of Lamdon Model High School begin their dangerous journey back to their school – over ice and rocks, through a spectacular landscape. With temperatures at minus 35 degrees, the hike takes several days: Every year, after the four-month winter break, the teachers of Lamdon Model High School dare to cross the frozen Zanskar River or the rocks on its banks to return to their school. The remote region of Zanskar is located in the Himalayas, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In winter, the only access road is snowed in and impassable, […]

Ladakh Ice Hockey Puck Hunt at 3500 Meters The air is extremely thin and minus 16 degrees cold, even the fittest players quickly run out of breath – but the view and the atmosphere are fantastic: Ice hockey has become very popular in the Himalayas. Teams from Europe are now also traveling to the cult tournament at an altitude of 3500 meters. Only a few minutes remain until a possible triumph. The German-Finnish ice hockey team “Geronimo” is leading 2:1 in this last period, but the opponent from London is putting on the pressure. The “Spitfire” keep getting great chances. The “Geronimos”, including some former German national players, get help […]

Photo Series on Shepherdess Nomads: Damn Tough Few people live at such high altitudes as the Changpa. The Tibetan shepherd nomads traverse a barren high plateau with their animals. A photo series captures their harsh yet romantically wild everyday life. They live permanently at elevations over 4,000 meters and endure long, icy winters. The Changpa are Tibetan shepherd nomads who live in the Changthang plateau, which stretches from Tibet to Ladakh in northern India. In search of grass, they roam the lonely and barren steppes with their flocks of sheep, goats, and yaks. Since 2015, Ritayan Mukherjee has been photographing a group of these resilient people living in a valley […]

Where to Learn to Become a Paraglider Pilot You fold the wing into a backpack, spread it out on the slope, let the wind inflate it – and you’re flying. Alexey Druzhinin, a photographer with RIA Nоvоsтi, is certain there is no flying machine lighter, cheaper, or easier to control than a paraglider. For many years now, Alexey, one of Russia’s finest paraglider pilots, has spent his vacations in the mountains, unfurling his wing over the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Caucasus. Along with his tent and navigation tools, Druzhinin carries his camera with lenses and a dictaphone. He records his observations on the dictaphone, transcribes them at home, and posts […]

India: Red foxes increasingly rely on garbage and food scraps In northern India, red foxes can be seen rummaging through kitchen waste. The growing dependence of wild animals on food scraps could affect ecological processes and increase conflicts with humans. The Spiti Valley, located in the remote Trans-Himalaya, is one of the least populated places in India and home to several rare and endangered wild animals. There, to see wild herbivores like the Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica), you might have to walk up to mountain pastures sometimes at 5000 meters (16,404 feet) high. If you want to see a snow leopard (Panthera uncia), you might have to track herds of […]

“Reaching for a Dream” by Visiting Ladakh Đỗ An Ninh’s trip to “Little Tibet” left a stronger impression than he had ever imagined. Đỗ An Ninh, 28, a Korean language teacher, recently completed an 11-day trip to India in late August. His destination was Ladakh, a region in the Jammu and Kashmir state known as “Little Tibet.” Ninh joined a group tour, which was cheaper than initially expected, with a total cost of nearly 30 million VND per person. In addition to being a Korean language teacher, An Ninh runs a travel blog named OnTheMars, where he shares his trips and personal travel experiences. Ninh wanted to fully explore Ladakh, […]

The Reference Article Fototour Ladakh A fine pass! Over 5000 meters high, with dramatic mountain lakes: The Ladakh region in the Trans-Himalayas is a photographer’s paradise—if the weather plays along. To capture perfect images here, one must rise in the dead of night. Outside the cabin window, bare rock walls rush past, then a sharp left turn. The airport at Leh, wedged among peaks over 6000 meters, is feared by Indian pilots for its altitude, which diminishes the aircraft’s lift. The small Boeing 737 rumbles onto the 3500-meter-high runway. Ladakh greets us with a deep blue sky and pleasant autumn temperatures. A Taxi brings my friend Corinna and me to […]