Ghost of Gata Loops & other mysteries of Leh & Ladakh

In the Himalayas, in the middle of treacherous winding roads, there is a small temple that is literally filled with used plastic bottles.

It really looks like a garbage heap, but in fact - that's how it should be. Because all this garbage is an offering to the local Ghost of the mountain winding serpentine of Ladakh. This is where Shangri La is, this is where heaven meets the earth.

In fact, the mini-temple looks pretty creepy and dirty, as if it was built by crazy Lafkrat or other gods of garbage.

Foreign motorcyclists and sportsmen often go for a ride on this serpentine road, and they get scared when they see these piles of garbage with empty bottles.

Some even take pictures and complain that other tourists do not take care of the Himalayas and have polluted them worse than the Alps.

This serpentine road, it is completely unrealistic to drive here in winter

Superstition for those who take risks

The fact is that the winding serpentine in those mountains is very dangerous and difficult. And many are afraid of dying at the turn, so before visiting it, they leave an offering in this shrine to the Ghost of the Loop of Gat.

Ghosts of Gata Loop

As you drive from Manali to Leh, you come across a series of 20 hairpin bends that take you to Nakeela, a high altitude pass at 16000 feet.

Just when you are starting to navigate these bends, you will come across a shrine on the road with piles of water bottles and an occasional packet of biscuits kept reverently. These offerings are kept to appease a ghost that haunts these meandering loops.

Apparently many years ago, a truck with its driver and cleaner were headed towards Leh. It had snowed heavily and near Gata Loops, the truck broke down.

As the passes were closed due to inclement weather, there were no vehicles crossing this patch. After many hours of trying to fix the truck, the driver decided to walk to the nearest village to get some help. The cleaner stayed put to guard the vehicle.

Bad weather made it impossible for the driver to return to the truck for a few days.

By the time he returned, the cleaner had died of thirst, hunger and cold.

When the highway opened the following year, people saw strange apparitions of a beggar asking for food and water near Gata Loops. The word spread and soon, the locals set up a shrine in the name of the dead and often left offerings of water and food there.

(Ghost of Gata loops – Manali Leh highway)

(GoMissing cyclists (looking like ghosts ourselves) at the Gata Loops – this is the temple for the person who died here a few years back)

Ref: Ghost of Gata Loops & other mysteries of Leh & Ladakh (gomissing)