A small shrine along the treacherous Gata Loops in India’s mountainous Ladakh region has become famous for the large number of plastic bottles left as offerings to a spirit known as the Ghost Of The Gata Loops.

Bicycle and motorcycle racers traversing the Gata Loops as part of their Trans-Himalaya tours are often confused by a large pile of plastic bottles around what looks like a makeshift shrine. Some confuse it for simple pollution, a consequence of the increase in popularity of the region with adventure tourism enthusiasts, but the explanation for this bizarre sight in the middle of nowhere is much more intriguing. Many of those who attempt to cross the Gata Loops leave water bottles at the shrine as offerings for the Ghost Of The Gata Loops, the wandering soul of a poor man who died here decades ago due to thirst and extreme cold. Some people believe that passing by without leaving a water bottle will upset the ghost and bring them bad luck on their arduous journey.

Photo: Instagram @rover_shutterbug

The story of Ghost Of The Gata Loops can be traced back to 1999 when a truck and his aid became stuck along the treacherous trail after their truck broke down on the 19th trail. With snowfall threatening to isolate them completely, the driver decided to try and reach the nearest settlement and return with help while the aid remained behind to guard the truck and their cargo. Unfortunately, the snowstorm got worse, and when the driver returned three days later, the aid had succumbed to the cold and a lack of food and water. The man was buried on the side of the gravel road, but then travelers started reporting weird sightings.

In the years following the poor man’s death, travelers passing through the Gata Loops started spreading tales about a man begging for water only to disappear into thin air when people approached him. Worried that the area was haunted by the ghost of the dead trucker, locals built a shrine in his honor and tried to appease the restless spirit by bringing it a bottle of water as an offering. Soon everyone who passed by the Ghost Temple and learned its story started leaving water bottles there to make sure they didn’t suffer misfortune on their journey.

Photo: Instagram @rover_shutterbug

Nowadays, those who know about the Ghost Of The Gata Loops and plan to pass by its modest shrine make sure to pack an extra water bottle to leave as an offering to the thirsty spirit.

The legend of the Ghost Of The Gata Loops and its modest shrine surrounded by a small mountain of water bottles has been known among adventurers for years, but it only recently went viral on social media thanks to a video shared by Akarsh Sharma, a bike rider who undertook a month-long journey from Jaipur to Ladakh. In it, the rider explains the presence of a mountain of plastic bottles in the middle of nowhere and also pours a little water in honor of the ghost, instead of leaving a bottle of his own.

 

Sharma’s video was viewed over 10 million times on Instagram alone, and it sparked an environmental debate. Some people suggested that it would be wiser to simply build a water fountain near the shrine instead of having thousands of plastic bottles polluting the pristine Gata Loops as the wind can easily carry them over very long distances, making them very difficult to retrieve.