The Ice Walkers: Surviving on the Frozen Zanskar River | Free Documentary

[Music] this is a world cut off from everything a world of mountains and prayer a world also where men suffer and struggle year round against harsh nature against the cold the wind and the ice [Music] [Music] morning [Music] in the Himalayas at an altitude of 3,600 M winter starts early and lasts 9 months at night the temperature drops to - 35° C these are the zanskar [Music] mountains slowly day after day the ice is closing over the Swift running Waters of the zanskar river transforming it into the chadar the Frozen River [Music] [Music] life is

imprisoned in this oneway mirror the ice has Frozen everything up to the the tributaries of the zanskar for four or five months this Frozen River then becomes the only passage linking this small forgotten Kingdom to the rest of the world ladak is a region of India it's a land of high plateaus and mountains which rise to an altitude of 7,000 m a smaller lesser known realm lies to the south of ladak the zanskar all the roads to zanskar are closed in the winter they are snowbound and impassible there's only one way out via a dangerous

ephemeral fearsome and fragile route it's a partially frozen River known as the zanskar in summer once it freezes in Winter everyone calls it the chadar a 120 km Frozen Corridor stretching along the base of the narrow gorges as the only passage between zanskar and ladak it is vital men fear it but are sometimes forced to take it I've traveled on the chatt four times two round [Music] trips the first time I was young it was to go to school in Lei the second time was from I work with the government on the CH I would

take two pairs of good skinned shoes with a special smooth so with two pads I could change them if they got wet or torn there can be a lot of snow on the part of the G and the risk of avalanches is high 40 years ago it snowed much more than when it snows it's not so cold the snow then melts which means there's more water in the river all sorts of obstacles delay the Caravans that's why it used to take eight or n days these days there's less snow so less risk making good progress

you can reach lay in four or 5 days you need less food so you carry less and travel faster it's important to have a guide who's familiar with the springs they know where the ice is thinnest the CH is a very old rout the zanco Caravans preferred this route as it was shorter they could trade with ladak selling Yak butter and buying spices clothes RS and [Music] all the passes are now blocked by snow the summer path is closed there is no more contact with the outside world no truck has arrived or left zanskar in

over 2 months [Music] the large zanskar plane is waking up it is -5° C which is fairly warm for this time of year since the 1980s the road trekking and humanitarian sponsorship have improved the living conditions of the 8,000 zanskari the country is opening up but slowly here people share their world with benevolent gods and demons and the zanskari must make sure that any changes don't [Music] them stands in 25 years old works as a guide in the summer and in the winter sometimes works as a porter on the chadar his wife is expecting their

fourth child this is a big family for the zanskari when stansen was 18 his father decided he should marry so he left his village to live in this house it's always the same here neither girls nor boys choose their Partners everyone obeys their family their father he knows best what is good for you families and animals live in the same house in the winter they huddle together on the ground floor by late afternoon the animals make their own way in a maze of dark Stables leads to the kitchen the only room where the temperature rises

above zero in the winter the heat comes from the animals and the dry Dum burning in the stove [Music] Zan is a farmer he takes the chadar to sell his butter in Nadu he lives with his two wives who are sisters polygamy is unusual here it's more common for one woman to marry two brothers polyandry is tolerated in zanskar so that land is not split up most often the zanskari live in couples no one can survive here alone one month ago during the New Year's celebrations Satan killed a yak with his neighbors they then went

to pray at the monastery a few tiny pieces of this meat showed up in the TAC the flower soups and the rice dishes fresh vegetables and fruits are impossible to find in [Music] Winter Winters are long there's plenty of time to spend together and it's far too cold to be outside the family and the village community are supported by Mutual assistance and solidarity and yet life is happy [Music] here the channel is dangerous if the ice cracks you fall in the water and you need help if you're sick you also need that's why I never

go on my own as for AI he left his village to get married in padum where he is a carpenter during the winter he works as a porter on the chadar I always check with my father-in-law before venturing on the river he tells me how the chadow will be whether the ice will be okay or not the conditions are all right I'll go [Music] my father-in-law meditates a lot in the winter he spends three or four months alone in a cave without seeing a soul in 1988 tashi's father-in-law withdrew to the mountains for four years

he meditated in one room without seeing the light of the Sun or the moon this is why people consult him before taking the trip on the [Music] [Music] chadar no the first time I went on the chatar was in 1965 for a business trip to L in in fact it was to pick up the pay for the team working at Pam who were still waiting to be paid when I left padam the CH was fine and it was an easy trip to lay but when we came back in March it took 21 days to get

home we often had to climb on the rocks or get in the water after camping ATU we had to leave the river all together and climb up to the passes via the jlam we didn't have enough food we had to turn back and return to chilling to BU s before setting out again it's a very long trail we were heavily loaded and 5 days later we started running out of Z we had almost no food left by Stroke of Luck we found some Ibex fortunately our Caravan included some Muslims who were able to kill two

of them we ate the meat and that saved Our Lives the second time I traveled along the chadar was in 1968 for another trip to L the ice was really bad and we could not get through we had to wait 10 days at the linkshit monastery as the chandar was still impassible we had to take to the mountains the sing W and luru to reach [Music] Le you [Music] after Consulting his father-in-law Tashi met his friends at sten's house everyone is getting ready for a harsh ordeal they are going to hire themselves out to haul

Timber over the chadar this means leaving their families for at least 2 weeks time it takes to transport the wood and return if the demons allow it all the men fear the chadar but it's also a way for them to earn some money in this extremely poor region the llamas prayed for the gods to accompany all the men young and old in their expedition over the chadar there are men from dibling skum some 150 Porters from the six villages in the district are arriving in Anum a 2-day walk away but some come from even farther

away even lingshed 50 km away for this tough job there aren't enough shelters to house all the porters even when they huddle in together it's snowing the late arrivals spend the night outside they are also the first awake the timber is transported by truck to the slope of Anum where the porters draw lots for their loads these 150 Porters are all simple Farmers they can't pass up a chance to earn a few extra rupees even punok who's always anxious is there he always consults the astrologer before setting foot on the ice he he's the dangers

of the Frozen River but no one can afford to refuse this work with the three EUR he'll earn carrying a piece of wood he will buy sugar and a sack of rice the wages are based on the number of pieces of wood carried not on the weight certain beams are twice the size of others but no one argues about drawings [Music] some of the wood is taken down to the riverbank in the afternoon [Music] [Music] now the wood has to be hauled as far as lingshed 50 km away at best it will take 4 days

to reach the town two days on the river arriving directly below the village then another 2 days as the men carry the Timber on their backs the 600 M straight up to the [Music] Village the youngest Porter is only 13 He is very proud to be able to earn a few rupees carrying the timber he made a deal with his uncle who will take half of his burden in addition to his own ah [Music] the porterage on the chadar will start tomorrow at dawn the zanskari are highly superstitious they fear these knights in the caves

which they believe are filled with demons in the morning the youngest are exhausted by the battles in their dreams like the monks dances [Music] [Music] speech foree [Music] some men left early in the morning before everyone else they had already spent two nights outside and tonight they'd like to find a spot in a [Music] cave a long Caravan of wood Porters set out a half hour later but over two days the conditions on the chadar have changed those who went ahead to scout the route had to wait for the others to build a makeshift Bridge

it's always the same when it snows the temperature rises as does the water level the ice expands cracks and then the problem start it's hard work pulling the timber over the ice but being poor we need work in Winter to earn a little cash that is why we do the poor we get 150 rupees for each piece of 10 usually one Porter can carry four pieces so he can earn 600 rupees or $15 per trip each trip lasts 4 days obviously the timber costs a lot less than the transport which is three or four times

High [Music] even when the ice is thick it's exhausting to carry the heavy unwieldy loads of wood all day long but the men greatest worry is thin ice which gives way under their feet or suddenly starts to melt when the ice loosens up there's no place to walk and often no rocks on the banks which PTO can climb to continue their route hurry up Suddenly the Caravan has encountered an obstacle there's no ice for over 50 m on each side of the river it's because of a well-known hot water spring will they have to turn

around now that they've already walked for so many hours already there is a possible passage on the right Bank on the other side by the rock face but with the 150 loads of wood there's no hope of climbing the beams will have to go via the Left Bank [Music] [Music] it's an exhausting painstaking job but 50 pieces of Timber have passed through now it's time for the men who cannot take the same route without ropes or harnesses and in makeshift boots they're forced to climb up the cliffs sometimes risking their lives [Music] [Music] [Music] the

for [Music] some have taken the high road While others decide to continue on the river 50 M below convinced they can't stand the Heights but is the icy water any less [Music] fearsome the first Porter has made it past the obstacle nearly 2 hours ago the sun has gone behind the rocks and the temperature dropped 10° these men have Liv their entire lives in icy weather 8 months of the year but they don't all react the same way when forced into water that's 2° below zero only the most courageous those who Wade through the freezing

water Barefoot will reach the shelter dry the others will have to finish the chatar in wet clothes [Music] [Music] what [Music] oh [Music] that before the socks can stiffen in the freezing temperatures they are pulled on wet the boots bought secondhand from the Indian army at the lay Market often have holes they rarely need to be emptied out [Music] Nightfall is just 1 hour away when the last Porters complete the passage the first ones have already reached the caves a few kilometers away they draw lots to decide who has to gather wood for the fire

despite the hard [Music] [Music] it's the second day of pdge on the Chad while a few still linger in the more comfortable caves most of the porters left without out breakfast to warm themselves up by [Music] walking the river has not frozen evenly but for the moment there is still a strip of ice that can bear the weight of a man and his burden if the wood falls in the water there is little chance of being able to recover it the current can drag it quickly under the ice [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] what H the

h there is the constant danger of falling in the water even if they survive the shock of the icy water most of them don't know how to swim 3 weeks ago after a long cold spell the level of the chadar dropped and the ice collapsed the blocks of ice formed dams the water overflowed refroze and left behind a jumble of ice [Music] [Music] despite the difficulties the fear and the wood that seems to get heavier with every step there's a sense of relief among the men they're reaching their goal [Music] but when they reach the

narrow Valley leading to lingshed they are suddenly overcome with [Music] fatigue they're done with the unpredictable River but physically the hardest part still lies ahead they have to carry the timber 600 m straight up the wood is heavier than ever and they can no longer Slide the beams [Music] [Music] after the ice steps comes a long slightly sloping Valley with glacial cross [Music] Cliffs night is fast approaching and the men don't want to camp outside for the fourth night they leave their beams and climb up to the Village everyone from lingshed does the same the

final step of the trip starts [Music] tomorrow for 10 days the men go back and forth between the village and the river to bring up the timber slated for the school construction lingshed is perched at an altitude of 4,000 m above the Frozen river between ladak and zanskar 45 farmers and their families live below the monastery built 500 years ago 20 years ago the residents of lingshed were truly cut off from the rest of the world because it took several days over paths and the river to reach the village many people died because there were

no doctors even today women give birth in hazardous conditions yet things have been slowly changing in recent years on the initiative of the gishi the monastery's Abbot and help from foreign sponsors [Music] just a few years ago parents did not send their children to school because they were needed to work in the fields conditions of 30 years ago classes were taught outside in a field there was a government school but the conditions were tough what with the cold and heavy snowfalls the teacher never stayed here for long they would arrive in spring which comes late

around May or June and stay for 2 or 3 months before returning to L or their own village then when the winter started with all the snow they never wanted to come back the teacher came from another zanskari Village he and his wife teach three languages Tibetan U and English along with mathematics science and Civics thanks to an Austrian sponsor the primary school is open even during The Long Winter months mom m the six villes in the district are counting on their children's education to provide for their Futures but the lingshed Solar School constructed in

the year 2000 needs to be expanded the major problem is transporting materials to the Village one room is very difficult because the building a classroom is really difficult because it's so complicated transporting the wood sometimes the coming water sometimes if a lot of water you have to go that deep into the river on time sometimes when the ice is broken you spend three or four days freezing it can get really cold which is [Music] tough barely 15 days after the exhausting Timber Portage the men of lingshed return along the Frozen Shadow but this time they

are taking children to the large school in lay their Caravan sets out on February 22nd to travel the 90 km over the mountains and Ice that separates them from the ladak valley after walking through the snow and crossing a path they spend the night in the high mountain shelters of nck along the river each child is accompanied by his father or an uncle two of them are but 5 years old the Caravan is in a hurry because the ice will soon melt and those not able to return by the river will be stuck in lay

when the ice breaks up yet they waited for the temperature to rise a few degrees before leaving with the children it's a tough trip for them Some Nights the temperatures drop to around -30° C the bags are heavy the children are leaving for several months and they packed extra food in case they are blocked several days on the chadar waiting for the ice to freeze again this Venture is even more dangerous with children they get tired more quickly and they cannot walk through the water as the men sometimes have to do [Music] [Music] let's get

down get [Music] [Music] [Music] Young stanan 5 years old leads the way and the Caravan settles into his [Music] rhythm they take a first break after 3 hours enjoying a bit of sun while they have something to eat and drink this is the best time of the day winter time in hly in Winter they're the holidays the students who came home to lingshed must return to L now that the holidays are over this little boy is very poor his father died a month ago a tourist who once visited lingshed will be paying his fees coming

he's going to live in L spor sing and now fall many snow there's a lot of snow at singla all the paths are blocked one chudar is the only roote in the winter the others are all impassible some days are hard others are easier May of water difficult if the water in the chadar is high it's difficult I hope the ice is hard now maybe it's been hot I don't know don't maybe I hope I hope it is hard shakya's smile conceals his concern he is the leader of the Expedition and respons ible for everyone's

safety the water level has risen 30 cm and soaked into the snow because of the currents and sometimes the Sun the ice changes all the time within just a few meters it can shatter like glass the chadar can be deadly [Music] shakya goes down to test the ice which has become too thin they can't take any risks with the children the Caravan has to travel over the rocks to go around this bad passage they organize the climb though they're fearful despite the children's good humor and determination [Music] later they will have to walk in the

water but the children are not equipped even the men don't always have good shoes bravely and even enthusiastically the line gets moving again over the chadar ice after losing many hours they are finally sliding across strong f iice [Music] is gradually becoming colder the water which had flowed over the first layer of ice froze on the surface shakya can't make up his mind the fragile crust makes the ice hard to probe he decides that it's safer to climb up the hill above the [Music] river Young stand him who never stops in the village and runs

after the goats for hours is exhausted and subdued his uncle has put him on a sled dusk is settling in and they push hard to reach a Gorge where there are shelters and enough wood for the entire Caravan the children gather wood and the stones that will protect the fire the cook pulled some sugar from his [Music] gona the sweetened Tampa is an exceptional treat stands and relishes it down to the last Chrome [Music] [Applause] the sun skims over the top of the Rocks but it's bitter LLY cold in the Gorges below the men and

women finally warm up by walking silently their stomachs empty [Music] H suddenly the Caravan is stopped dead there is not enough ice to pass they have to try to climb up the sides but the rock seems fragile it's very risky the passage is tricky for several meters and they have to climb without ropes anyway they didn't bring any scarves will have to do they would lose too much time if they rope the group up for each difficult [Music] passage they don't have any water bottles and everyone is dehydrated by the physical effort and the dry

air but no one drinks the icy River water they all wait for a break to make tea in June shakya and the others will return to bring back the school children walking four or 5 days through the mountains they need the children to help in the fields each family has only 4 months to store up enough food before winter [Music] Returns the people of lingshed are poor and without the help of sponsors the children would not be able to study and lay the men spent several weeks every year on the road to the school the

world is changing and they know that those who study will be better equipped to adapt as their Traditions are overturn the children have never seen a juniper so easy to reach they will burn it tomorrow morning for the gods to protect the Caravan on the river everyone knows this trip is extremely dangerous that there's a chance they won't make it through it all depends on the demons [Music] the Caravan plans to stop at the caves of tillet do it's still far and despite their fatigue they have to remain careful not get distracted and listen carefully

to the sound of their steps on the ice [Music] [Music] the sunlight has left the gorge the temperature drops and the wind has picked up they have to climb along the Rocks two more times yet none of the children ever complains about the cold or the length of this interminable trip [Music] life is hard here they become used to struggling at an early [Music] age one more narrow pass and then another it's not much further says shakya everyone wants to believe him they hurry [Music] along they finally reach the caves everyone agrees to share the

shelters and give the best ones to the children it's the last night on the river after Conquering the chadar the youngest are about to discover the large town of Le later once they are students far from their villages will they become strangers to their own world or Rich with knowledge will they return to help their people adapt to the changes already underway after walking for 4 days the Frozen Corridor opens up gradually and lets in some sunlight it's not as cold the mountains are no longer covered with snow ladak finally the chadar ends here where

the river flows into the indust [Music] the chadar is the only link to the outside world in the winter but the zanskari are awaiting the construction of the chadar road an ambitious project that will follow the Gorges of the Frozen River and will remain open all year round the chadar road will make a big difference to zansa because traveling on the river is tricky once the road is built zensar will be able to develop the only drawback is we won't be able to work as Porters on the chatar any longer when the Zar are ill

they have to travel along the chatar to get treatment in Le if they're too ill they can no longer walk down the CH it will be a good thing for the Zari the journey will be easier the Zari are very poor when the Chow road is built we hope it will alleviate poverty now the summer Trail connects us to a Muslim District we feel much closer to the people in Lay than those in Cargill because we show the same background in religion Lee is a relatively calm little town in winter but after you crossed the

Frozen River the cars restaurants and stores seem like another [Music] world a world where you can buy clothes and food and the zans Scaris who are used to bartering find plenty of ways to spend the little money he worked so hard to earn on the [Music] chadar after school started the return trip to zanskar was hard for the parents some barely made it through before the Ice broke up and returned to lingshed over the Chad others who left several days later had to turn around the jumble of ice in the chadar was replaced by the

turbulent White Water of the zanskar The Ice Trail has disappeared until next year [Music] [Music]