Brown muddy walled house at Indus River
Brown muddy walled house at Indus River
Unfold the stories of Ladakhi people on the banks of the Indus River where the village once had only one – Ek house
On the Leh-Nyoma highway, once there was a house standing all alone. The location of the house is closer to the main road from where all the traders come from Manali, Chandigarh, and Delhi. These Hindi-speaking traders come to Leh to transport the essential supplies. Back in time, there was this one house standing all alone with no neighbors and a village where it can be said it belongs. This became the identity of the area around the house. People started calling this region ‘Ikk’ – literally means one in Hindi. As time passed, the house got a couple of neighbors and Ikk is now a well-established village on the beautiful banks of the Indus River. The houses here hold a strong identity of Ladakhi culture with their mud architecture, big windows, and wooden roofs. These houses converted into homestays are the places where one sees how culture & luxury come together to create authentic experiences with the best services.
Guests like to eat our Ladakhi food. They say it is delicious, even when it is prepared by an elderly ama (mother) like me. I always make sure I serve them the cleanest and healthiest food. My husband is a copper artist. When guests leave us, they say ‘Julley’, and hug us. It makes us feel happy.
I became a Mountain Homestay Host in 2018, and I have hosted many travellers since then. Running a homestay has helped me and my family a lot. Not only is the solar set up in our house useful for us, but even travellers prefer to stay in our homestay because of it.
The training we got in astronomy turned out to be a life-changing experience for our village. I felt happy and proud while mapping the position of the planets and sharing the secrets of the universe with the tourists. Tourists told me that even they didn’t know so much about the dark skies!
