This is Part 3 in a three-part series. For more, read Part 1 and Part 2.
To understand life in the Zanskar Valley, you must understand the rapid changes occurring there. Some of these changes are objectively good, others are bad, and some are just as gray as the silty glacial water that flows through the Zanskar River. To witness these changes first hand we set off on a four-day rafting trip down the river.
The glaciers like the one behind us are rapidly melting.
Starting with the bad, climate change is rapidly melting the glaciers that feed the Zanskar River. As the flow of the river changes, so will life around it. In addition to the glaciers, less and less snowfall every year decreases the amount of water available for both drinking and irrigation. Cultivating barley will become more and more difficult, and grazing land for the herds of goat, sheep, and yak that the people depend on will become scarce. As the climate changes, a people who have been self-sufficient for centuries may now become dependent on outside aid and imports.
The Milky Way visible in the night sky shows how isolated Zanskar is.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. With the opening of Zanskar to the world, more schools are opening throughout the valley and medical aide agencies are able to provide needed care at different times throughout the year. With this, children will lead healthier lives and be able to acquire some of the skills they will need as the outside world moves into the valley. We saw the fruits of this first hand as a young boy, growing up in a mud brick village of subsistence farmers, approached our rafting camp and spoke with us in fluent English.
Now for the gray. The Indian government is building a highway through the steep and jagged mountains surrounding the river, which will connect the Zanskar Valley to the rest of India. The days of driving 11 hours on a dirt road to Zanskar like we did will be a thing of the past. Though we had heard talk of the road while in Zanskar, we really heard it when we were a bit closer than we would’ve liked to a rock-clearing dynamite blast.
Cover your ears and run.
In many ways, this highway is great for the people of Zanskar. Improved accessibility will bring tourism, and with it jobs; one of our drivers excitedly talked of his plans to open a guesthouse to capitalize on this. It also will improve access to electricity and the internet, as cables are being laid along the road. But with the 21st century will come the blurring of a unique Himalayan culture, and bring in many parts of modern life that are unwanted. A woman in the village of Nyrak speaking through our guide to Midshipman First Class Grace Lane perhaps said it best, explaining that while she was excited for what the road would bring—better access to medical care for her young daughter—she dreaded the littering and alteration of their beautiful land that it also would bring.
A glacier-fed lake high in the mountains.
All of this cultural immersion didn’t keep us from being immersed in the excitement of rafting through Class 4 and 5 rapids in the Himalayas. We learned exactly how exciting this could be when the raft carrying all of our camping gear flipped and we had to get it upright before the next round of rapids and eddy currents—it’s amazing how fast six mids become a team when all of the food and dry sleeping bags are on the line.
Getting airborne in the Zanskar River.
Heading back to the Academy, we all have a new appreciation for our lives as Americans, a better understanding of a unique culture that may not be around much longer, and an idea of the complexities of the foreign environments we may be called on to serve in as officers. Once again, we want to thank the generous donors that made our trip possible, the hard work of the Naval Academy International Programs Office, and our team of Ladakhi guides that gave us an experience we will never forget.
