Tso and La – A Journey In Ladakh

Seeking respite from a novel that has hit an impasse, Vikramajit Ram accepts an invitation from his friend Manoj Bawa to join him on a drive to Ladakh. It is the start of the Himalayan summer of 2009; the high mountain passes have just opened for the season. As the journey progresses, Vikram finds that the quirky company at the wheel and the otherworldly beauty of this Shangri La are the perfect fix for his jaded senses. On a high – literal and metaphoric – on the Highest Motorable Pass in the World, he abandons his doomed work of fiction to write instead of this journey. The outcome derives its title from the Ladakhi words for ‘lake and ‘pass . Weaving together elements of art and architecture, natural history and biography, Tso and La is a tribute to this enigmatic and deeply mystical corner of India. Against a backdrop of uncontainable grandeur, Manoj and Vikram find prayer flags and child-monks, magpies and wild asses, vast glacial lakes and surreal sand dunes. Four weeks and 8,200 kilometres later, the friends return home to Bangalore. One throws himself into a new job; the other embarks on a new journey of words.