Pristine..The rock climbing, off-roading, adventure zealots from the west did a very good job acknowledging Ladakhi tourism.
However, never has this region hosted such a surge of local admirers as it does today. Credit goes to the big boys in Bollywood followed by the South Indian movie legends. Hollywood too has its flag pitched. But the question to ask is ...ever heard of LEHLIWOOD??
Reading this bit gives an amazing insight into the lives of the people who inhabit this impossible terrain.. Hence, interrupting the fabulous snapshots with these footnotes...
Ladakh has monks for script writers, taxi & truck drivers as producers, trek guides & polaroid owners for actors & directors. These wondrous people still hold on to their old jobs & havn't got bouncers shooing off their fans. In last 6 years, almost 28 plus movies have been released in their local dialect. Hindi is as alien to the Ladakhis as English is to rural India.
Given the lack of amenities & the hardships of rural existence in a cold desert where temperature seldom reach double digit figure, making cinema at an altitude of 12,000 feet deserves all the compliments bestowed in the 2009 short film "Out of Thin Air". Achievements of Lehliwood can be parsed from the vibrant posters pasted all across the city walls of Leh.
We travel to experience the unknown, to witness the unbelievable & to indulge in the inexplicable pleasure of the world around us. The apple cheeked society of Ladakh is alive with wit, humor, humility & kindness which will rekindle the hope of simple living. In terms of amenities, Ladakh is surprisingly advanced, especially Leh with its buzzing cyber cafés & German bakeries. Mountaineering, harsh camping experts & well informed guides cater myriad tourist whims. Presence of surplus military cantonments & medical aid camps is comforting.
Monasteries are affluent with splendid art works and scriptures of Buddhism. These sanctuaries are excellent for those who seek to meditate & dwell upon ancient Tibetan civilization & philosophies.
The enduring creativity of the Ladakhi people is inspired by the intriguing landscape which I won't attempt to describe in my amateurish script. The township of Drass & Kargil, Nubra & Zanskar Valleys, the distant villages of Turtuk & hot water springs in Panamik, Pangong & Tsomoriri Lake and many more destinations, the very roads to reach these destinations, leave the observer is a state of perpetual ecstasy.
Suffice to say that Innocence of the virgin land overwhelms the materialistic urban minds.
