ヒマラヤに閉ざされた標高４千メートルの秘境を歩く

　インド北西部のジャンムー・カシミール州にあるザンスカール高地は、ヒマラヤ山脈の北東部に位置し、７０年代まで外国人の立ち入りが禁止されていたという世界でも有数の秘境です。７千メートル級の山々により周囲とさえぎられ、住民たちはチベット仏教にもとづく独自の文化をはぐくんできました。同州ラダック地域の中心地レー（Leh）から、断崖に建てられた僧院で有名な Phuktal を経由し、徒歩で秘境ザンスカールを目指します。

　標高３千５百メートルから７千メートルにも及ぶ高地の面積は、東京都の２倍以上にあたる約５千平方キロメートル。わずか１万４千人あまりの住民は、乾燥した厳しい気候のもとでヤク（チベットの牛）やヒツジを育て大麦や豆、イモを栽培して生活しています。

　今回の旅は、地元に生息する希少なヒョウ、snow leopard（ユキヒョウ）の保護に取り組むNGOのメンバー、ジグメットさんが案内をしてくれました。筆者はユキヒョウには出会えなかったようですが、代わりに自然と共に生きる敬けんな人々の表情が印象に残ったそうです。

　印象深いのは、たまたま見かけた雄大な岩山の名前を尋ねたら、ジグメットさんに「名前なんてないよ」と軽くいなされた場面。ザンスカールの雄大な自然が目に浮かぶようなエピソードです。道中すれ違った、本を満載したロバが村の学校に到着した時の子供たちのうれしそうな表情も目に浮かぶようです。(M)

　In the remote Zanskar Valley region in northeastern India, the only way to cross the many deep valleys and high passes, ranging from 3,500 to 7,000 meters in elevation, is on foot.

　It's a difficult test for even three avid hikers like my two friends and me.

　We planned to hike through the Zanskar Valley for two weeks, from north to south, and asked Jigmet of the NGO "Snow Leopard Conservancy" to guide us through. Jigmet knows the valley well, because he often takes field trips to where the endangered snow leopard lives.

　Our excellent team consisted of a cook, a cooking assistant and two horsemen, with eight horses that were to carry all our belongings, including tents and food, for two weeks.

　The valley is partially accessible by motor vehicle these days, and we took advantage of this modern convenience to visit Phuktal, the most spectacularly situated gompa (Ti-betan Buddhist monastery) in the Ladakh region, which was a big detour in our itinerary.

　As Ladakh is often called the "Tibet in India," it is a region of Tibetan Buddhism. Our cook, Sonam, was especially pious, and his day started with a morning ritual of burning juniper branches and mumbling mantra.

　We left Leh, the capital of Ladakh, by car bound for Phanjula, the last village reachable by car, 100 kilometers away. After Phanjula, we walked up and down the trails along rapid streams flowing from glaciers or notch-like trails on mountain slopes.

　The third day was a tough test to cross Sirsir La (4,800 meters). "La" means mountain pass, and prayer flags around dome-shaped Buddhist shrines were always fluttering in the cold wind as we passed.

　Even a tougher day followed after descending near a beautiful village called Photaksar (4,130 meters), we then crossed Sengi La (4,900 meters), walking that day for 11 to 12 hours.

　Near the Sengi La, an eye-catching rocky peak made me forget my extreme fatigue.

　"What is the name of that peak?" I asked Jigmet.

　"It doesn't have a name."

　My guidebook also calls it only the "impressive peak." There were so many beautiful peaks that local people never bothered to name them.

　On our steep ascent up Sengi La, five donkeys with shelf boards caught up to us. "For school library, Lingshot" was written on the boards. I was amazed that even lumber needed to be transported by people for many days __ big trees don't grow up here __ and I imagined the great joy of the children when their library is completed.

　On the fifth day, we reached the village of Lingshot (3,900 meters), situated in the middle of Zanskar Valley, from where it takes five days in each direction to reach the nearest road. In this sense, this is one of the remotest villages in the entire valley.

厳しい自然と共に生きる

　The up-and-down trek continued. The next day, after passing a spectacular precipice, we crossed Purfi La (3,950 meters), our last high pass, then we finally caught a glimpse of the Zanskar River, along which we were to walk for another several days. This is the heart of the valley.

　This remotest valley was not deserted, but was dotted with tiny, self-sufficient villages of a small number of households high on the river cliff. Wherever water was accessible, villages were formed. Villages and people have long been connected by passages along the river, probably formed over hundreds or even thousands of years. Even with the risk of being struck by falling rocks from the mountainside and of falling into the river gorge, the passages have been actively used.

　We saw an old woman crossing a suspension bridge over the Zanskar River. Behind her was a tiny village on the high cliff from where a sharp zig-zag descended to the bridge. She must have come down that way, and be heading to Purne, the next village, an hour from there. Lama monks, young girls visiting other gompas, horsemen and men riding donkeys passed by on the trail. We even saw horsemen with flags of a political party campaigning for the upcoming election.

　Jigmet told us, "In winter when mountain passes are closed, villagers have an easier way to reach bigger villages or even to Leh. The river gets frozen solid, and we can walk on the river. It is called chandar, corridor of ice. You'll have much bigger chance to see snow leopards."

　Seeing stunning landscapes and wild animals such as ibex, marmots and blue sheep were, of course, a great joy of the long trek, but engraved in my memory is the relationship between nature and the people we met on our way and their way of life, revolving around the family, farming and praying.