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Published: September 4th 2021
Day-5: 27-08-2021 - Hunder to Turtuk and back:
Turtuk is the second northernmost village of India, captured from Pakistan during the 1971 war. Prior to that it was a part of Gilgit-Baltistan. Four villages of Baltistan are now part of India and Turtuk is one of them. The Line of Control is just about 2-3 km from this village. This entire region is very crucial from the military point of view. Warriors in Siachen glacier (world’s highest battlefield) are maintained through this area. The tip of Ladakh is sandwiched between Pakistan on one side and China on the other.
Road from Hunder to Turtuk passes through strategically very important Partapur, forward air base of Thoise and Chalunka.
Turtuk (9800 ft) is a small village with beautiful green surroundings. It is the lowest point in Ladakh. Most of the original inhabitants are Balti people. The main attractions in Turtuk are (1) the ancient home of Balti tribe which is maintained by one family as a museum and (2) natural cold storages. Family members show the tourists around at a small fee. One who guided us was a young man in early thirties. His remark was very significant. While explaining
the lifestyle of Balti people, he once remarked - ‘politically I am now with the Leh administration, future I don’t know’. Although he was born in Indian Turtuk, he has ties with his own tribe - the Baltis - which he was missing as almost all of Baltistan is still in Pakistan and these few families are stuck on the Indian side. He must be missing his relatives, but he must be getting more than compensated by his income from Indian tourists. But he was unable to accept his fate.
There are a few pockets near the ‘museum’, called natural cold storages. They said there are six of them. We were taken to one of them (for a small fee) and truly the air inside was like a refrigerator. These are in active use for storage of food grains. The more interesting part is that in the summer, they work like cold storage and in winter they remain warmer than the outside which is frozen with snow. This is how they protect the food grains all throughout the year.
From some point in the village K2 mountain peak is visible. We didn't find it. There is still no
proper guide system or signages developed in Turtuk. Once it develops properly, Turtuk will be one of the most favorite tourist attractions in Ladakh.
Returned to Hunder in the late afternoon.
Practically, our tour of Ladakh was over as we were not going to Pangong Lake.
But an exciting end to the journey was awaiting the next day!
10: Huder to Turtuk:
11. At Turtuk:
