Return to Zanskar

Zanskar is one of the most inaccessible settlements on earth: a remote Himalayan Buddhist kingdom little changed in a thousand years.

Thirty years ago two American college friends walked for seven days up the frozen Zanskar River to reach an ancient monastery, built into the side of a cliff, at an altitude of four thousand metres.

Only a few hundred outsiders visit each year, but this is about to change. The first ever road into the region is nearing completion.

The two friends have returned to try to find the people they met in 1986 - and to discover what they think about the dramatic changes coming to their valley.