The Himalayan region of Ladakh contains the highest motorable roads in the world reaching elevations of around 18 300ft, 5 500 meters.  Ancient trade routes ply this region but in recent decades these routes have been developed for motor vehicles, primarily for the movement of Indian army military equipment but they are also now open to the tourist trade. Road gangs, whose members are mainly hired from the poor Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, live in tent villages in the remotest and highest of places.  Woman labourers are also a major contingent of the workforce performing equally arduous tasks.