Gata Loops

Ladakh · India · Road

At the 21 hairpin bends on the road to Leh, no truck driver passes without leaving a bottle of water – for the thirsty boy who froze to death there.

The Gata Loops are a dizzying chain of twenty-one hairpin bends on the Manali–Leh highway, more than 4,000 metres above sea level. In the autumn of 1999 a truck is said to have broken down here just before the passes closed for winter; the driver went for help while his ailing cleaner stayed to guard the load – and died alone of cold, hunger and thirst. Ever since, drivers tell of a ragged figure at the roadside waving weakly and begging for water, and of bottles that fall straight through his hands. At the nineteenth loop there now stands a small stone shrine, forever stacked with water bottles from travellers who dare not pass without an offering.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Gata Loops?

Gata Loops ligger i Ladakh, India.

Opplysningene bygger på lokal folketro og vitneskildringer.

Image: Kiran Jonnalagadda from Bangalore, India · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons