Saturday, August 31st and Monday August 31st, 2022 - A Festival Rehearsal, A Lake and Goat Herders - Tso Moriri

 

Chemrey Gompa

Our last outing on this marvelous journey, was a night at a Lake called Tso Moriri. A we left Leh, to start the long drive, we stopped to note this large temple, perched on a hillside. It was built in the 1600's and we were told that it had been designed by the same architect as the Potala Palace in Tibet. He had planned to have it identical to the Tibetan temple, but he plans got smudged on the journey, so they had to improvise. Google reveals that it is a hike to get there - one must go down to the river before going up he hill, so in spite of it having a notable statue and scriptures, it is not often visited by tourists. 

Awaiting the Rinpoche

We were headed to Tso Moriri for a Festival being held at the Korzok Monastery. In addition to enjoying the ceremonies performed by the monks, we understood that seeing the attendees dressed up is also worth seeing. So we were a little surprised to find a largish group of people waiting at a pass well before we got there. We found out that they were waiting to greet The Kyabje Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche, who was an honored guest coming from the Hemis Monastery for the Festival.

The Entourage for the Rinpoche

After his car had stopped briefly and some prayer scarves had been presented, everyone jumped in their vehicles and set off in a convoy.

Afternoon Tea Tent

Before long, we found that everyone had stopped at a tent for afternoon tea. Everyone was gathered around to see and hear the Rinpoche. He is like the local Dalai Lama, but represents three different schools of Buddhism. They are known as the Red Hat order. His visit and teachings are a high honor.

The Kyabje Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche

Being good photographers, we jumped out too and did our best to get into the spirit of the event.

No Tea for Us!

We were a little disappointed when it was suggested that we would be better welcomed at the Festival later that afternoon for a rehearsal, so we headed off leaving the tea photographs behind.

The Rehearsal Begins

The event on this day was a rehearsal, with the monks practicing their dances, without their masks on.

The Audience Was Very Engaged

Seating was on the ground - young and old managed to find places to watch from, even though they were often crowded together.

There Was Also Balcony Seating

Men women and children all watched.

Even Rooftop Seating, Too

Fund Raising and Security 'Clowns'

Very obvious and ever-present characters were these masked clowns, who carried whips with them and made sure that people would not get in the way of the performers. They also made it very obvious that they wanted a monetary contribution and seemed to hope for repeated donations from tourists.

The 'Clowns' Joshed With the Crowd

Generally speaking, the fund-raising efforts were treated with humor and their antics were a source of humor.

The Littlest Monks Enjoyed the Role

Not to be left out, some of the littlest monks took on the clown role - perhaps they played it with a little too much enthusiasm!

And The Monks Danced On

This was no wild dancing, although there were enthusiasms. They did seem to watch their leaders carefully and some were more enthusiastic than others.

A Lively Effort

I don't think it was easy dancing in those boots - and coming down the stairs looked quite hazardous. As you see from his face, it took concentration.

And now, I don't know what to say, except to share a few more faces.

Uh, Oh, A Yawn!

Well, all good things must come to an end.

Time to Go Home

Two Old Friends Enjoy The View

Tso Moriri

We too, moved on to enjoy the view over Tso Moriri, which means Mountain Lake. It sits at 14,836 ft high, and is the largest high altitude lake in India, at 26 miles long and 3 miles wide.

Fresh Snow on the Mountains

It was a glorious evening! I believe we saw the best this lake has to offer.

Lenticular Clouds

The next morning, we headed off to a nearby summer camp of goat herders.

Goat Herder's Summer Camp

The site we visited is a summer camp. There were some permanent structures there, and some tents.

Beautiful Faces and Glorious Fleece

The goats are painted to identify their owners. The herders don't necessarily own the animals - they sometimes are caretakers. They are raised for their fleece which makes the deliciously warm pashmina that I love to wear. Their 'fur' is eight times finer than human hair and eight times warmer than sheep wool. The animals grow it to protect themselves from the deep winter cold. Even though they are moved to lower, warmer sites in winter, they still experience temperatures as low as -40 degrees. 

I imagined that the goats were shorn - like sheep - to get the fleece. To my surprise, Google tells me that the herders comb the animals and collect the hairs that fall off ! What a lot of work!

They then sell it to be spun and woven. Traditionally, most of the infrastructure for that was in Kashmir, but there is now an emerging local industry in Ladakh.

A Traditional Tent - Robu

The black part of this tent is woven from yak hair and looked as if it had the traditional eight sides -called a robu.

Breakfast in the Tent

The tent was surprisingly roomy inside and I liked the way the yak hair filtered the light.

Organizing the goats for Milking

In the meantime, the real action was going on outside in the pens. Not only do the goats produce fleece for their keepers, they also provide essential food, with their milk. The goats are kept in the walled enclosures overnight and were transferred to this one for milking.

An Ingenious System of Securing the Goats

They had a way of looping he goats together to hold them still, with them each pointing opposite the other to stop horns getting tangled. Once arranged like this, they were quiet and co-operative. At the end, it just took one pull of the rope and they were all set free - I thought it a very ingenious system.

The Workers

There were three women milking, the man who secured the goats, this young boy, and another older woman.

Can't Beat That Smile

 The older woman was our favorite subject. She engaged with us, giving us both smiles and scowls. She had a wonderful face - the weathering of her skin and her few teeth tells the story of the tough life she has lived. Her knees, however, tolerated the low position she had to take to milk the goats.

The two younger women pretty much ignored us and just got on with the milking in a serious way.

Candy for the Boy, Worry for the Mom?

The little boy was very precious. He mingled among the goats very comfortably, but his age showed when he climbed on Mom's back and enjoyed a sweet treat. Unfortunately, his mother always had a worried look on her face.

Holding Back the Goats

Once milking was finished, the herd was untied, but there was a moment of waiting and the young boy pitched in heroically to hold them back in the pen. One goat had just run past him and you can se the other goat on the right, eying the opportunity to run for it.

Mother and Baby United

The reason the goats were so keen to move on, was the fact that their babies also needed to be fed. The herders had secured the little 'kids' way from their mothers prior to milking, so there was a great rush and much bleating as the babies ran towards their mothers. We heard a poignant cry from the last little goat crying a very distinct 'Maa', as it searched for its breakfast!

Headed Back to Our Accommodation

What a wonderful experience this had been! But now, we were hungry too, and needed to head back to our accommodation for breakfast.