Neolocal view of Leh and Surroundings
It is astounding to observe that most of the cities in India are increasingly looking and feeling the same. Few retain the unique feel of the city.
I had an opportunity to visit Leh as part of a trekking trip and promptly scouted around for Neolocal experiences.
Matthews & Patton (2016) describe neolocalism as “a conscious effort on the part of people to pursue ‘local’ things, which serves to connect these people to a particular place”.
I find myself searching for the unique and personal, something with a sense of place and identity, when visiting a place. This urges me to peep into half closed doors and wander into side roads. Most oft have seen treasures and captured them too.
The demography of people who reside in the city of Leh seemed to me as local Ladakhis, people from Tibet, Kashmiris, and some workers from Himachal Pradesh. Of course in the trekking track from Sara up until Kang Yatse 2 were mostly Ladakhis, peppered with some Tibetans as sherpas. Although on the ascent — Nimaling to Chokdo the human population was almost Nil. But on our ride from Chokdo to Leh, could observe above mentioned diversity.
Eateries in Leh City have adapted to the tourist crowd that visits the city, the usual udupi restaurants, Punjabi dhabas, German bakeries and Pure Gujju Fares. For tasting local delicacies like tupka, momos, and Khambirs, scouted around and found great outlets too. We city dwellers have an impression of momos as the steamed variety, often fried also. But there are other varieties to it, steamed but bottom-only fried (Kotey Momo), Chilli Momo, Sandeko Momo ( spiced up moms with ginger, onions, and garlic).
The main Leh market street which is L-shape, is fascinating with the presence of a good melange of local vendors selling apricots, dry fruits, spices and fresh vegetables on the food paths, to the usual tourist-centric silver ornaments and Kashmiri shawl stores, and restaurants. There are numerous cafes selling local food, kawa( Kashmiri tea flavoured with saffron and almonds), apricot juice, and the usual array of coffee varieties which are thronged by backpackers, trekkers and tourists.
In the early mornings, this street gets abuzz with local vendors selling the freshest stuff in vegetables, flowers, and fruits before the shops open. It's a very colorful fare to observe that most of the local vendors are ladies and they wear their traditional robes, Goncha and most of them adorn their heads with their accessories and always have a soft smile lingering on their lips, which cracks up that weathered face.
The more permanent stores the main market which is around the main mosque were run by Kashmiri business men. In the bylanes which lead to Leh Palace were peppered with meat stores and old bakeries that were dishing out Naans and Rotis for the other outlets. We tasted some of them and they were delectable. These bylanes were fascinating with smaller tea shops, meat shops, gurdwara, spice stores, refugee markets, and museums. This was the starting season of apricots and juice oozed out of the fruit when dug into. A box was promptly packed for folks back home, together with the crispy naans, which were dished out of the tandoors.
As customary for any tourist, a visit to a monastery is mandatory. So did Thiksey monastry. It was up a hill and a very colourful structure. It was interesting to see the monks, doing the evening prayers and the younger monks informing of the time of prayers by blowing Tibetan horn or dungchen from the top of the monastery.
Most of the traders whom we interacted with had two bases, one in Leh and one in a southern state or region say Goa in winter months starting Oct. That says how they hustle to make living in the harsh dry conditions. Rimpoche, one such trader, who was a mix of Mongolian, Tibetan and Ladakhi by inheritance, who was into jewelry and Tourism in Leh market was telling us that his base which is in Zanskar region is very underdeveloped. When he goes visiting his parents there they ask him for soap and something sweet, as they consider these as gifts from the developed land. So we can imagine the connectivity and development they have. He says some roads are being laid right now and development pace in these regions are at a slow pace.
The omnipresent was the colorful Buddhist flag which made every corner vibrant. Each color in the flag depicts the elements of nature, blue is a symbol of sky and space, white signifies air and wind, red is for fire, green is a symbol of water, and yellow signifies earth. They were imprinted with the mantra — ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’. As were the prayer wheels in most of the corners for followers to rotate. Compassion and kindness are extolled as the main concepts of the Buddhists which they are trying to cling to, but by the infiltration that seems a task.
Places to go to for food and shopping
For Food :
1. Lehvenda Cafe: Good food, cant rate coffee as I don't drink it. ave varieties of tea. Ambience is comfortable inside and overlooking the market outside, which is vibey.
2. Wanderers Terrace & Cafe — Leh: OK food and music good and Ambince is the winner here I felt as it open and overlooked the market.
3. Leh cafe: The best among the ones we tried. Great food (local and continental), Happy customer service, No frills but functional interiors. fruit juices esp seasonal apricot juice is yummy there. So is local ladakhi wraps.
4. Bon Appetite: Great food, their highlight is Chocolate momos. Ambience is relaxed and nice. Outdoor seating they have which overlooks mountains is great for the evening sundowner meal.
5. Tsas by Dholkar: Vegan food, but tasty and flavourful. Tastefully done restaurant with a resort attached. The service is great.
6. For local Naans there are a lot of unnamed bakeries in the bylanes. they are exceptional.
For shopping the local spices and food: The morning market is the best. The vendors come in by 7:30 AM and is there mostly throughout day. They would have the best vegetables, fruits and spices.
For handicrafts there are many shops, the leh store near the “I love leh” sign i found good for local handicrafts. In the market there are many silverware stores and such
