Elite Traveler January-February 2017

INSPIRE LADAKH

Clockwise from right A view from Leh of the sunrise lighting up the Himalayas The Shakti River House on the banks of the Indus is a typical village property, refurbished with luxury in mind Comfortable beds with fine cotton linen and fluffy duvets in the bedrooms The houses are restored using local materials and every opportunity is taken to make the best of the superb views

up on tables by the river or under fruit trees in the orchards. Post yoga on day one, I was primed for action. First a stroll round Nimmu village, its houses well spread out, with prayer wheels and prayer walls requiring ritual worship along the route. In June, the residents were tending vegetables – barley, onions, potatoes, carrots, green veg – pausing to greet our progress around the village with nods and smiles. Next up, a drive up the Zanskar Valley to Chilling, an off-road village that is still home to metal workers imported from Nepal by 16th century kings. With a declining home demand for their hand-crafted kitchen vessels, they’re now reduced to four families. In his one-man workshop, Tsering Jigmel pumped his sheepskin bellows to heat a charcoal fire, then tapped out patterns with a nail on shapes he’d cut from sheets of brass to create pots and spoons and rings. As he explained over mint tea in his Nepali parlor, he’s the lucky one because his son, Tsewang, wants to take the business into the fifth generation. Educated in Leh, English-speaking and IT-savvy, Tsewang has ambitious plans for a bespoke online service around the world. The river below Chilling is the start of a 19-mile white water rafting trip down to the confluence with the Indus. It is at its most exciting in July and August when glacier melt creates Class four, even Class five, rapids in the top section. For a more mellow descent, start halfway down. Alternative action includes cycling, trekking and fishing for wild brown trout. My own brush with nature took me on a trail past the 40ft Golden Buddha that dominates the Likhir

rivers, Rohan, my guide, and I walked on raised paths and hopped over irrigation channels to the Nimmu House, a substantial building with white walls and glossy maroon woodwork. After skirting the entry prayer wall in a clockwise direction, as Buddhist protocol requires, we clambered up steep stairs to the terrace. As an outsider, Jamshyd Sethna can't buy property in Ladakh, but he can set up contracts with home owners to finance guest rooms on their flat roofs. The cows live at ground level, farmers on the first floor, visitors up top. As the crop-growing and tourist seasons only last from May to September, the owners use the large sunny bedrooms to dry and store produce over the winter, a symbiotic relationship Sethna is justifiably proud of. From my room, I admired a view of cliffs on a dramatic bend on the Indus with a backdrop of snowy peaks. Then, with equal enthusiasm, a huge bed made up with crisp white linen. Hot water was plentiful, an electric fan cooled the noon heat and there was a wood burner in the corner for chillier times. Rising to these heights from sea level requires a 24-hour rest, from both action and alcohol, but the three-course dinner was a promise of gastronomic pleasures to come. Better still, Chef Yurgish taught me how to prepare the dishes: back home since my travels, my samosas and fenugreek chicken have been widely praised. Evening meals are eaten in the family's winter living room, its focus a traditional thab , a wood- or dung-burning stove that provides clues to the owner’s status: the more ornate, the more prosperous. Lighter lunches are set

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