Zanskar is a remote valley in Northern India wedged between Ladakh and Kashmir. It’s also the name of the river that runs through it: the Zanskar is a tributary of the Indus. In winter the valley’s many villages would be completely cut off, were it not for the river which freezes over, thereby enabling the valley’s inhabitants to walk along it. This is a fascinating journey that goes along gorges that can be as long as 70 km where the temperature can reach –30° at night and people have to take shelter in caves that have been created by erosion.
The travellers on this journey include teachers from Lamdon Model High School in Padum, the region’s capital. When they go back to school at the end of the winter holidays this is the only route possible, if they are to help youngsters in this remote Himalayan valley have access to education.
