Paths not taken: on negative wayfaring in Ladakh

For Buddhist laity in Ladakh, familiar paths and places are delineated by bothmovement and avoidance. Negative forms of engagement with the landscape operateas active means of place-making: curtailed movement, avoidance, and theredirection of non-human movement all work to disentangle self and landscape,protecting against dangers often embodied in spirits. These processes invert thenormal logic of wayfaring and dwelling, relying on curtailed movement as a meansof protection against the threats inherent in the landscape. Avoidance behaviourcontributes to the management of the porous and shifting boundaries through whichthreatening forces routinely flow, particularly after nightfall.