Harvesting and Farm Work in the Himalayas Helping Out in
Shangri-La Before dawn when I wake to singing outside my window
a simple chant rises from dozens of voices and fills the valley.
I dress warmly and hurry out to where Abale (respected father)
drives five dzos (a cross between a yak and cow) around the
threshing circle, the hooves breaking the barley stalks and
separating out the valuable seeds. Abale sings and swats the
animals to keep them moving. If an animal should defecate, Abale
quickly places a plate or his hands under its tail, catches the
load, and pats it out on a nearby rock to dry and be later
burned for fuel. Trees are virtually nonexistent in the high
altitude desert of Ladakh, on the western edge of the Tibetan
Plateau. Work is communal and people are always dropping by. We
drink butter tea and feast on apricots, apples, and walnuts
while waiting for the wind. With the slightest breeze we pick up
the willow rakes and toss the barley high into the air to winnow
the grain from the chaff. I l