Culturally faithful
Despite the fact that India and Pakistan are still at odds over Kashmir, life goes on peacefully in Turtuk. Villagers were all issued Indian identity cards and made citizens after the takeover in 1971, and recent efforts to modernise the Nubra Valley, from better roads, health services and transportation, as well as the recent tourism boom, have meant more prosperous times for Turtuk.
However, it doesn’t feel much like India here. The apricot orchards, Noorbakhshi mosques, stone homes and irrigation channels — as well as traditional Balti dishes like kisir (buckwheat bread) topped with yak meat or served with muskat, an apricot and walnut paste; and balay, a soup with large buckwheat noodles — keeps the village culturally faithful to its Balti roots. (Credit: Dave Stamboulis)
Autumn colours
The village is particularly lovely in the autumn, when rows of poplar trees change colour and provide a bright departure from the stony scenery that makes up the landscape. While the Ladakhi villages in the rest of the Nubra Valley also make use of the rock, their creations are nowhere as elaborate and painstakingly built as in Turtuk, and even in a region of earthquakes and landslides, the Balti stone walls stand proud and defiant. (Credit: Dave Stamboulis)
A thriving world
This is a place where the inhabitants have not only learned to live in harmony with their harsh surroundings, but have thrived. Villagers have also remained faithful to their cultural roots despite ‘losing’ their former country — and are now looking to the future as they receive guests from around the world. (Credit: Dave Stamboulis).
This feature was first published in BBC Travel pages, July 31, 2019