North East of Ladakh lies the Taklamakan desert, the second largest desert in the world after Sahara. Taklamakan means literally "Go in and you will never come out". So much for Dante's Hell... Gobi desert is also a cold desert, but much smaller and for some reason much more famous. Who knows, maybe some day Taklamakan will also welcome extreme races? This would be another adventure worth living! [View Full Entry]

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During our trek we will be accompanied by ponies or donkeys in charge or carying our luggage. Zanskari people act as pony-men along the way, they have an age-long experience of caravane trading. However my guide-book states that more and more non-Zanskari men work as pony-men and recommends avoiding them, because they uselessly overwork the animals. [View Full Entry]

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Here is another famous adventurer whose life is strongly linked with Zanskar: Olivier Föllmi. He is a French photographer who travelled on his own to Afghanistan in year 1975 (he was only 17 years old!), from where he went East and reached Zanskar. At the time, Zanskar had just reopened to foreigners, after more than 30 years closure due to border conflicts between India, China and Pakistan. He is one of the very few outsiders who spent several Winters in the very harsh isolation and weather of Zanskar. In [url=http://www.amazon.fr/f [View Full Entry]

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Third saturday spent buying trekking stuff at "Le Vieux Campeur"... They are offering special discount on trekking material until mid April, best buy as much as possible now ! I found out three detailed maps of Ladakh and a specialized guide book. Unfortunately, I could not find the Lonely Planet Guide to Himalaya Trekking I told you about a few days ago. So far this guide is decent, nothing you can't find on the Internet though. Hope it comes handy on location, where Internet connection does not exit outside Leh ! [View Full Entry]

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French Foreign Affairs recommends that travellers should avoid the area of Jammu and Kashmire, except in Ladakh, which is "not strongly unadvised" ! Indeed a number of islamist terrorist acts have occurred close to the Pakistani border and in New Delhi by the end of year 2008. Concerning Zanskar, they advise travellers to only go there under the conditions of a very good health and sufficient sports level. Closes [View Full Entry]

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Australian adventurer Garry Weare, author of the Lonely Planet guide to Himalaya trekking, dedicated several years to teaching modern medicine techniques to Zanskari families. Before that, sick Zanskari children were treated by traditional healers (the "oracles"), who treated diseases with a great deal of faith but very little efficiency. Look at the picture and meet Teh Shaman! Anyway, half of the children died before the age of five until Garry and his friends came to teach real health care. His help wa [View Full Entry]

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Good news: vaccinations for India are done: yellow fever, hepatitis A, typhoid. Air France vaccination center, next to Invalides, is the only place where they perform those ! Not so good news: doctors tell me I cannot run Paris Marathon tomorrow, because it is not safe so soon after the vaccination :( [View Full Entry]

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Zanskar is cut off from the rest of the world eight months per year, when the mountains passes are blocked by snow. At certain dates during the long Winter, experienced trekkers can take up the challenge of reaching or leaving Zanskar by walking over the Frozen River. This may only be attempted in a small dedicated group, with a Zanskari guide, because the ice is not solid everywhere and avalanches happen. Crossing this Frozen River sounds like Adventure with a big A ! [View Full Entry]

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Since the middle of the 20th century, Ladakh has welcomed a great number of Tibetan refugees who feld the Chines occupation by crossing the Himalaya. Among those refugees was the current Dalai-Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, who reached India in year 1959 . He came back to Zanskar in year 1980, where important community of Tibetan monks still follow the traditional Tibetan way of life and adore him as their king and spiritual guide. He plans to visit the Zanskar monasteries again this summer [url=http://www.aazanskar.eu/dotclear/index.php?pos [View Full Entry]

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Even with the map, it is not easy to point out where Zanskar lies - because there isn't any famous place closer than 500km away ! Zanskar is the Eastern part of Ladakh, which is itself a part of the northern-most region of India, Jammu-and-Kashmir. Kashmir extends beyond the Pakistani border to the West. Capital City of Ladakh is Leh, 3,500m high and 30,000 inhabitants. Famous Indian cities close to Leh are Srinagar (300km way to the West), Chandigarh (350km to the South) and New Delhi (600km to the South). Capital City of Pakistan, Islamabad, lies 400km to the West. East [View Full Entry]

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