Ups and Downs in Kargil

Last Thursday, six of us left Leh to make the 275km, 9-hour journey to Kargil. The journey takes a long time because the road, National Highway 1D, isn’t the freeway that the name suggests. It varies in quality, from a short section of two lane hard-top to dirt track. Mostly it is dirt track making for a bumpy and dusty ride, which you share with an endless stream of trucks, buses, cars, and motorcycles. The entire trip is a continuous series of near head-on collisions on the single lane track. To allow the large cargo and army trucks to pass, I thought we would pull over into the slightly wider areas at the edge of the road. Actually, we just went head-on, pulling slightly to the left at the last second, as the on-coming truck did the same, providing just enough room to squeeze by, even on the side of a gorge.

The mountains that the road is carved through are older, looser rock and the road has been dug through massive scree slopes that rise at an impossible angle, to unbelievable heights. On the far side, I could see sections where the loose slopes had slid like avalanches in the past, covering all the tracks in its path. This could be why the road is continually under repair and does not add to one’s peace of mind. All along the way, we came upon crews of road builders, fixing and building the road and supporting walls by hand, breaking rocks with hammers and chisels. Many of the road builders have children who spend their time at the job site and we even saw the odd baby lying at the side of the highway having a nap.

The entire trip was incredibly scenic. The highlight for me was the climb above the monastery of Lamayuru. A new section of the highway was closed for repair so we were routed up the old road; a steep section of 23 or so switchbacks that climbs from river-level, up the steep side of a mountain until it reaches the top, just a little higher than 14 000 feet. The drive up was made all the more death-defying by the trucks we had to pass on the narrow road. At some points, when the jeep edged past a truck, I could peer straight down to the river below, probably a drop of two or three thousand feet. When we stopped at the top, my face and hands were tingling again from the effects of the altitude. The views across the high plateau and mountain ranges were unbelievable.

Later, we stopped in a tiny town, at the only restaurant, for a rest and tea before continuing on to Kargil. Across the street, we noticed a Buddhist shrine. It was the site of a massive sculpture, carved into the side of a huge boulder. Just a random find that brings home how much there is to discover in this part of the world.

While the region we are working in is predominantly Buddhist, by the time you get to Kargil, you have moved into the Muslim areas of Northern India. Kargil is a small town sitting on the line of control between India and Pakistan, not the type of place where you will find lots of tourists. Sitting on the deck of our guest house we could look at the peak which formerly marked the border. In 1999, Kargil found itself at the centre of the ongoing disputes between India and Pakistan concerning Kasmir in what is known as the Kargil War. Parts of the town, including the hospital, which is just a stone's throw from our guest house, were shelled during the conflict and there were many civilain and military casualties.

When we arrived in Kargil, we met up with Dr. Akbar Khan, the E.N.T. surgeon who had arranged our visit and organized the village outreaches which we would begin the next day. Dr. Khan is a very interesting guy, who was always willing to talk to us about health care, politics, and culture. He described how, when growing up in a nearby village, the family had only one pair of pants between five people. They would have to hang them on the door in the winter so if someone needed to go out, the pants would be available. And, they were the rich family in the village. He wasn’t joking. He used to play in the snow for hours in the winter, without shoes on. Tough people. This is one of the coldest inhabited places on earth, with the temperature reaching -40C in the winter.

Dr. Khan organized a welcome meeting and dinner for us. He invited most of the local doctors and we had some interesting talks about Canada and India. We had an interesting conversation about how much this area has changed as a result of global warming. Over the past 20 years, the glaciers have receded significantly, which is concerning as this is the source of all the drinking water for this arid region. One doctor thought that there would not be people living in the area in another 20 years due to the lack of available water. They have also begun to see cases of malaria in the area, something which was previously unknown.

Shortly after this interesting meeting, I hit the ‘downs’ part of the ‘Ups and Downs of Kargil’. Some poor roadside decision caught up to me and I got as sick as I have ever been. Two solid days of hell, the first of which was spent up all night in the crappiest bathroom in the most dismal room in the guest house. The next morning, I was able to make the trip to the first village, Sankoo, hopped up on a cocktail of Gravol, Immodium, and Cipro. Still, the worst part wasn't so much the puking, it was having to eat, day after day, the same rice and dal that I had been throwing up.

But, after a day of recovery, I was ready to join the rest of the team at the outreach for disabled children.