Turtuk – The penultimate village!

My earlier posts of Leh trip are here

Day 1 : Julley Leh journey begins

Day 2 : Manali, day to wallow in nature

Day 3, 4 : Riding on curves

Day 5, 6 : It was time to say JulLeh!

Day 7: Nubra Valley – An odyssey

“The real name of Turtuk in Balti language is, ‘Dhuk-Dhuk’. About 1,100 years ago, two men came to this land and camped by the spring. They fell in love with the land and decided to settle here. Thus the name ‘Dhuk-Dhuk’, which means ‘to settle’”. A story I read in one of the bcmtouring forums & loved to share.

Whenever it was about Turtuk, I wondered what would I write about this heavenly kingdom, is it the facts or history which is so fascinating or the beauty of the place, people, weather or the flora or the air which blows on your skin and reminds you that it carries the smell of the place on other side of the LoC which is less than a couple of kilometers from this village. I don’t have the answer while I continue to pen down the thoughts running in my mind at this moment.

Photo Courtesy : Vidya Sharma

As we followed Faizal on those clean & tiny paths between the houses the next morning, we saw men working, girls playing with little ones and women sitting on the house attics watching us. We walked behind Faizal asking him about their life style, routine and many such things and the answers we received were surprisingly the opposite of what we thought it could be. Life on that patch of land is way too peaceful than what it is back in cities. Tensions must have been there but they seemed to exist at a distant mountain tip not in their hearts. They were too lovable & hospitable.

Faizal is doing his pre-university in Leh and visits his town during holidays. I asked him what is that he wanted to study after completing his pre-university studies for which I got a quick reply that he would do masters in history. I was taken aback by the sheer clarity he had right at this age. I, even today look at stars for such questions :P

Photo Courtesy : Vidya Sharma

The understanding and the cooperation among them is another factor I noticed. The household water and drinking water is supplied to every house in open channels flowing adjacent to the pavement. A board is put up indicating a fine on misusing the water for other purposes. This I assumed must have been for outsiders like us ;). Pure water from the mountains runs down right to your house all the time. This was pure bliss for me to even imagine. I bow to their skills in planning their village so well.

Another fascinating thing we happened to see in this place is the natural refrigerators where they store cheese and other produces for a long time. They look like normal huts made of stones but at a low height. They are generally locked to maintain its temperature undisturbed but you can feel the chill right next to its walls. I read somewhere that this is possible because of the cold river flowing below this land.

Photo Courtesy : Vidya Sharma

There were Apricot trees in plenty which bore yellowish fruits. They needed some more time to ripe and turn red. We enjoyed biting some apricots and red cherries as we strolled with our guide. The cherry trees and the babies red cheek looked so much similar. No doubt that people here are bestowed with all the beauty.

We reached a small gompa on a small hill constructed by few Buddhist army personnel during their settlements in the past. From this place, Turtuk looked like a very small patch of land with houses and around their dens spread are their land where they grow wheat and other daily needs. Army regularly supplies the necessary ration. The villagers shared a great rapport with army men around this place. Faizal, pointing his hand behind the gompa mentioned that few of the villagers have their lands on those hills where they grow white onions.

Faizal used really authentic hindi words while he spoke. He said he had been near LoC and had seen through binoculars the villages across the border. He used the word “Durbin” here. I quickly recalled its meaning and was amused with his vocabulary. Skardu, he said, looked so much like any other village in Balti region. They must have been relatives of Faizal and it is just that Turtuk, Thyakshi remained with India while Skardu became Pakistan’s territory. For a common man like Faizal all these dint really matter as long as there is peace in his village. He was not born during the incident of Indo-Pak partition in 1971 but it seemed that every child in this village grew up hearing this story several times from his elders.

Photo Courtesy : Vidya Sharma

The superman on the left corner is charming Faizal Khan. It was lunch time when we bid bye to Turtuk and headed back towards Deskit.

What seemed beautiful in the dark last night was now the same with all the more richness of variant colors. The mountains had a plethora of shades to flaunt as we cut through them on those straight roads, crossing delicate bridges hanging over the same ferocious river, Shyok. She remained cold and her color indicated as if she is flooding.

We were passing by Bogdang village on the Diskit-Turtuk highway when we were surrounded by kids from this village trying to get hold of some chocolates from the passing bikes. They almost blocked us and snatched the energy bars and dint let go till some elder men stopped them. They were tiny monsters looking so pretty. We were giving high-five to kids passing by, several instances I also got pulled off which forced me to stop this cool looking game. The people were rough just like the terrain around. But waving bye at every army truck dint stop till the end of the trip.

We enjoyed the ride while the sun glistened & by late noon our bikes were parked outside a roadside hotel. We were tired and craved for a hot bath and some sleep. We looked around for rooms and found Deskit tourism office offering wonderful rooms at a nominal rate. After a relaxed round of freshening up and after enjoying a cup of hot tea with snacks we decided to visit the monastery. It was now evening and the breeze had just turned little violent as we reached the huge statue of Buddha. The sun was setting at a distance as we clicked pictures and sat chatting with the group for some time. The face of buddha was eternal. It forced me & Suhas to talk of some philosophy while others clicked pictures of the setting sun. The precision in making this statue is something every person will greatly appreciate. The richness of the colors and to enhancing this statue is the clear blue skies of Deskit is a blissful partnership. Its as if the statue was made to be in this beautiful place facing the far horizon.

We remembered the tea shop that we had visited day before and wanted to visit it again. A PCO near this tea shop consumed all of us in making calls back home. Back in our rooms we had a delicious dinner with palak sabzi which we served several rounds greedily. It was not too late we sat around listening to some Kannada songs and got into our beds.