Join us in May as a volunteer in Ladakh

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If you ask many people where Ladakh is they probably wouldn’t have a clue! This small enclave of the mighty Indian Himalayas is one of the most unique places on earth and the landscape of Ladakh is like an arid moonscape in places as it lies in the Himalayan rain shadow. But what injects considerable colour into this remote region are its inhabitants who still live a traditional life and the many spectacular Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. In many ways Ladakh feels more Tibetan than Tibet itself nowadays, hence it’s moniker of ‘Little Tibet’! Once you’ve visited it becomes one of those places you feel you have to go back to again, Ladakh’s culture and mystical allure has won over the hearts of many an intrepid traveller.  

We first ran a trip to Ladakh in 2001 and since then it’s become one of our favourite destinations and we’ve returned to run some trekking trips each year. This year will be doing something different, as we’re aiming to build a community shelter for local residents in a village called Phyang that has been our base in previous years. The Ladakh volunteer project was born out of the desire to alleviate some of the effects of global warming for our friends in Ladakh, in a small but significant way. This high altitude realm of stark mountain scenery so long cut off from the outside world is truly a unique place, and survives on a delicate environmental balance. In August 2006 this normally arid, high altitude desert suffered from heavy monsoon rains that devastated local villages, wiping out houses, crops and livestock in the form of flash floods from the surrounding mountains.  The village where our trekking groups normally stay was particularly badly hit with up to 20 families houses being completely destroyed or badly damaged and fields washed away from a river that expanded it’s banks from 10 metres to 300 in places. It was estimated that the erosion that occurred in those few days would normally take around 3,000 years! This came on the back of unseasonably heavy rains the previous year as well. What we are witnessing in Ladakh is being repeated all over the world as communities living in remote and marginal areas suffering the effects of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns with sometimes devastating results.  Currently the snow fall upon which Ladkahi’s depend for water during the summer months has been unseasonably light. These occurrences impact heavily on the lives of these people but are rarely reported let alone calculated amongst the costs of global warming in the developed world. So we see this as an opportunity for us to rectify some of that problem by lending awareness and a hand to rebuild to our friends in Ladakh. We have an online video there is a great introduction to this region. We’re inviting past travelers to come and be a part of a unique experience staying in a Himalayan village and undertaking the project work as part of a team.   

Our local leader Tashi Chotak explains the importance of this project to the local community; “What we are going to build is for unseen eventualities and for natural calamities. Like during flood and earthquake. Our community building or hall will be available for any family or individual who is in need due to such calamities till he or she finds his own house or shelter.”. “Therefore, our hall will become a public building in many ways. The scope of using such building, first of all that the local will use it during natural disaster as a shelter, for social activities like meetings, teachings from head monks, archery and other local festivals, if we provide double window panes and solarized it will be a great asset for the aged people during harsh winter months of Ladakh. We can also use it as part time school for the students during 3 months winter holidays for that village. It is also possible to keep there a first aid kit for minor health and physical problems. Also as a small library for that village. we can make this building a multipurpose. Very important that once it finished the people of that village will look after that building as their property”

The Ladakh project departs May 21-23 and costs $2240 AUD

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