Many rituals echo those of Hungarian gypsies, but nobody can say which came first, or whether they picked up their traditions during the migration from a long-forgotten homeland. Their history starts with Gyaltse, a great leader from the 16th century, and his fights with the local Baltese.

Despite a strong Buddhist faith the Brog-pa cling to pre-Buddhist rites. Washing is not part of their custom, although they frequently "cleanse" themselves by wafting smoke from carefully selected sticks of burning juniper over themselves. At nearly 3,000 metres above sea level though, the winters are long and few would survive frequent showers in the icy waters that run down into the Indus. Over 100 years ago the British explorer Francis Drew described them as "a dreadfully dirty people. Their women surpass even the men in dirtiness, and altogether are the most miserable of objects".

Pollution and purification is a constant in the five villages of Da, Biema, Sanid, Lastieance and Baldes. When an outsider visits a home it must be cleansed before the family will use it again. Even human waste must be ritualised before being spread over the narrow terraces for fear of offending the earth spirits.

Tashi Rigzing, the hymn singer, is from the Chogalog-pa household, whose family have been the guardians of the oral traditions for generations. He explained that there was no conflict between Buddhism and Brog-pa tradition. "It runs together, as two streams run into one river."

But the two holy sites in Da are kept apart: the sacred juniper tree, too holy for an outsider even to see, is separated from the Buddhist gompa on the other side of the ruined 16th century fortress.

Truck driver on the Srinagar-Leh road

In a small community that is clinging to its ethnic identity, the problems of inbreeding are rife. Five hundred villagers do not make for a genetically diverse stock. In six days I saw numerous examples of birth defects and there is a real danger that as the area opens to the west the young will move away and a fragile way of life will begin to crumble. Life is already harsh and the lure of an easier life away from the Indus is strong.

Although the Brog-pa are beginning to realise their uniqueness, they dismiss it as nothing special. Tashi laughed when I asked about the visits sixty years ago by German anthropologists. "Yes, I remember them. They wanted us to tell them we were somehow special, but we are just farmers. We tend our goats, grow enough food to eat, that's all. I don't think there are many of us left now. Perhaps we are the last Brog-pa". The Last Highlanders.

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