THE ROAD (1997)

The Leh-Manali Highway is a highway in India connecting Leh and Manali. It is open only between June and mid-September when snow is cleared from the road by the Border Road Organization. It connects the Manali valley to Kullu valley, Lahaul and Spiti and Ladakh. It is made part of NH 21, with completion date of 2012.
The highway crosses some of the highest mountain passes in the world, including Rothang La3,978 m (13,051 ft), Barachala La 4,892 m (16,050 ft), Lachulung La 5,059 m (16,598 ft) and Taglang La 5,325 m (17,470 ft).
The latter two passes are less problematic over former due to less snowfall in Ladakh. Between Lachlung La and Taglang La this road crosses the More Plains. A tunnel is being constructed to bypass Rohtang pass to make the highway an all-weather road.
As the journey along the road normally takes two days (or more depending on road conditions). Distance between Manali and Sarchu is 222 km in Himachal Pradesh state, and distance from Sarchu to Leh is 257 km, with total highway length of 479 km. Owing to the high altitudes and the low-oxygen air. Leh-Manali Highway was designed, built, constructed and maintained in its entirety by the Indian Army and is capable of supporting the heaviest of their vehicles.
Every year season workers from Bangladesh and from the poorest region of India fix the road often destroyed the past winter by ice and the 'impossible' weather conditions. They come here often with their family and they live in camps organised for them. The contradiction between the beauty of the landscape and the toughness of the work conditions makes this story symbolic of the lapsing of the progress in relation with the power of natural forces and the determination of human will. A neverending story.

Text by Lorenzo Castore