Frozen Confluence

[Manfred M]

This is the confluence of the Indus River (flowing from left to right) and one of its major tributaries, the Zanskar River which comes in from the top. Being late in January, the rivers are ice covered, but the water still flows beneath the ice. A few openings can be seen in the ice in this image. The building at the bottom right is where rafting trips are run from in the summer months. This is near the village of Nimmu, in Ladahk, India. The mountains are part of the Himalayas.

The Indus is one of that longest rivers in Asia at 3180 km / 1,980 mi and flows from Tibet into the Arabian sea. The frozen Zanskar River was the only land route to the village of Padum in the winters when the high mountain passes were closed by snow. This route has become a popular adventure known as the Chandar Trek. The trek takes a week to 12 days and we ran into a number of tourists in the town of Leh on crutches or with arms in slings who had slipped and fallen and had hurt themselves. We heard that one group had to be rescued by the Indian Army because a landslide had blocked the route (this happened while we were in the area).





Best viewed in Lightbox. The yellow painted sign identifies that BRO - the Border Roads Organization; a component of the Indian Army the builds and maintains roads in border areas (including some of the roads in Bhutan and Nepal).

[Shadowman]

Nicely composed.

[John 2]

That small (in relative terms) building really shows off the majesty of the Landscape. Nice shot.