Leh to Pangong Lake

Pangong Lake - A Panoramic View

Pangong Lake: A Mesmerizing Experience

Pangong Tso (Tso means lake in Tibetan), literally meaning "enchanted lake" is definitely the most beautiful lake located in Ladakh. 60% of this lake is in Tibet and the Line of Actual Control between India and China passes through the lake. Even though a border point, this lake still attracts tourists from all over the globe. A trip to Ladakh is incomplete without a visit to this beautiful lake.

Pangong Tso

Monastery on the way to Pangong

And for good reason it was also on our list of must see places in Ladakh. Though it is suggested by many to complete the trip in two days we decided to do it in one day since we were short on time. We started off by booking the Xylo from the Leh market at Yak Travels @ Rs 7000. He offered us a discount of Rs 1600 for booking two cars; the other one we booked on behalf of the other 7 members in our YHAI mountain biking group.

Our group comprised of – Me, Akhilesh, Meet, Mili, Hamza, Mamta & Vinod.

As confirmed by the travels guy Dorje, our car arrived at 6 AM and we all settled down in the car and then started off for Pangong. The driver introduced himself as Akhtar. Akhilesh took the seat next to the driver and from the onset started requesting the driver to let him drive. Finally after stiff resistance, the driver obliged and let Akhilesh drive till Karu which was our breakfast point and also the junction from where the road bifurcates into two; one going towards Pangong and the other going towards Manali. 

After a bumpy ride to say the least we finally reached Karu and since it was quite early in the morning, there were not many shops open. We managed to find one breakfast joint and the only item on the menu was aloo parathas apart from tea or coffee. And with 7 hungry souls there was bo option but to go for the parathas. The parathas though turned out to be quite tasty unlike the experience that we had in the last week or so in Ladakh. We had to fill up a visitor form to be submitted at the TCP at Karu. This is introduced from this year onward post the requirement to have inner line permits have been abolished. While filling up the form we came to know that the driver's real name is Nurboo :)

Winding road towards Chang La pass

Off we were after breakfast. The road initially was passing through small villages and then started the climb up the mighty Changla pass. The Chang La pass at 17,688 ft is a high mountain pass in Ladakh. It is the third highest motorable road in the world. To put it in simple words, most places in Ladakh can be easily prefixed with adjectives such as highest, coldest or ONLY and ranked among the top three in the world or at least in India. Such is the might of Ladakh. The road up to Changla was winding through the mountains with rock solid mountains on one side and a deep valley on the other The road itself was bumpy at times and sitting in the last seat was a roller coaster ride inside the Xylo. 

Snow covered mountains near Chang La Pass

Sun beating down on the snow capped mountains

Saath Ajoobe :)

Welcome by Indian Army

Followed by warnings :)

As we got closer to the Changla pass, the air started getting chillier and thinner. The sudden drop in oxygen levels was quite noticeable to everyone. But everyone was fine as we were already acclimatized to Ladakh weather having spent a week in Ladakh. After about a hour of drive we finally reached Changla. It was covered with snow and there were clear instructions put up by the army that we should not spend more than 20 minutes. We clicked lots of pics to obviously upload on social networking sites to imply that we managed to scale the third highest motor able road in the road. There was an army post and a souvenir shop at the Changla. There is also a shrine of "Changla Baba", supposedly after whom the place is named.There was a makeshift bonfire lit by the army at the Chang La top just in case anyone feels too chilly and it can help tourists feel better. We also obviously took the benefits of the bonfire and made the most of it :)

Saath Ajoobe @ Chang La Top

Bonfire @ Chang La

Third Highest Motorable Road in the World - Conquered !!

Changla Baba Shrine

We left from the Changla pass and moved towards Pangong. On the way we took a break at Tangtse to have tea. This also gave us an opportunity to soak our body in the sunlight since we were quite frozen at Changla. We came across an alarming signboard; it is said that only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time!. I partly experienced this as my shoes were wet from the walk in the ice at Changla and the heat at Tangste. The route between Changla and Tangste was very beautiful and scenic. We experienced a wide range of changing vistas. I am short on words to describe the same and will let the pictures below do the talking !!

Changing vistas between Changla & Tangste

Changing vistas between Changla & Tangste

Changing vistas between Changla & Tangste

Changing vistas between Changla & Tangste

Moving ahead from Tangste we came across a place which inhabitants a mammal named “Himalayan Marmot”. The Himalayan marmot is found in the the Himalayan regions ranging in the elevation from 980 to 14760 ft. They can be seen in a wide arc ranging from Ladakh in northern India eastwards across the higher reaches of the Himalayas and much of Tibet to Nepal, Bhutan, and Arunachal Pradesh in the north eastern India. They are about the size of a large house cat, and live in colonies. Marmota himalayana is closely related to the woodchuck, the hoary marmot and the yellow bellied marmot. It has a dark chocolate brown coat with contrasting yellow patches on its face and chest. We tried feeding the mammal and took some pics.

Habitat of the Himalayan Marmot

Himalayan Marmot

Rightly said by someone that every turn that you take while traveling in Ladakh is a photo frame. Every picture that you click can virtually become your desktop wallpaper. Just when we thought we had seen enough we came across this amazing landscape which just left us awestruck. Just try to imagine the scene, a long winding road, lush green meadows, a pale greenish blue pond, black, white & brown wild horses grazing, brown mountains and clear blue sky.

Stop Imagining & see for yourself !!

We moved ahead from there and after about half an hour we got the first glimpse of the Pangong lake. It was an eye catching shade of blue water seen through surrounding brown and black mountains.

First glimpse of Pangong Lake !!

We finally reached the lake and the driver parked the car near the many stalls by the lake having the posters of Aamir Khan to signify the importance the place has gathered post the climax of the movie “3 Idiots” was shot here.

Pangong Tso with black mountains in the background

Pangong Tso with brown mountains in the background

The many hues of Pangong Tso

Prayer flags @ Pangong Tso

We went down to the lake and tried dipping our hands and legs into the water. The water was really chilled. Some of us even tried tasting the water. Unlike all lakes where the water is fresh here the water was salty. Well that’s the USP of the lake; it is a saline water lake located at an altitude of 14K feet. The location of the lake is also in disputed territory as the line of actual control passes through the lake. Approximately 60 % of the lake falls in Tibet and the rest in India territory. It is approximately 130 km long and is 5 km long at its widest point. There is also an army post at the start of the lake and there is continuous patrolling on the lake.

Strike a pose !!

Saath Ajoobe @ Pangong

We took a lot of pics with the lake in the background, with the Ladakhi prayer flags, the brown mountains in the background and the snow capped peaks. Witnessed the flight of the sea gulls to be amazed at the view. The view of the lake was amazing with numerous hues of blue, brown mountains in the background and the clear clue sky above. Sat down on the banks of the lake and admired the serene and calm atmosphere around the lake.

Just then we got a signal from our driver Nurboo that we had to move some distance ahead to the actual shooting point where the climax of the move “3 Idiots” was shot now famously named "Rancho" point :) (How innovative). 

After about 10 mins of drive we reached the point and could see the actual place at some distance down the lake. That is when Nurboo surprised us by taking us off roading and took us towards the lake. There was virtually no road. We just followed the trail of the earlier vehicles. We finally reached the spot and got off the car to start walking on the sand to witness the actual place. The view was amazing.

"Rancho" point from the adjoining cliff

Sea gull @ Pangong

Took loads of pics and by then we ran out of battery in our DSLR. The rest of the pics were then taken on mobile and point & shoot cameras.

"Rancho" point

We left the spot though very reluctantly as it would have got very late to reach back to Leh. We just couldn't get enough of the view. We stopped at one of the stalls for lunch. The food was just about fine and edible. We started pulling Nurboo’s legs by poking fun at him. To get back us at he made up a story that it as actually him who suggested this place to Aamir Khan to shoot the climax.

"Rancho" point - Another view

Pangong Lake

Post lunch we started back for Leh. This time however we didn't stop at Chang La as it was pretty late and we had to cross the mountains before sunset. We finally reached Leh after a hectic and tiresome ride but with memories to last a lifetime.

To round it off, we all had dinner together and revisited the entire day, the ride, the vistas and of course the lake. Lets see when we shall get the opportunity to visit the Pangong again. Next time probably will plan for a 2 day trip with an overnight stay by the lake to experience the sunset and sunrise at the lake :)

Many more memoirs to share ……. Sachin

Trip to Rohtang Pass

Rohtang Pass - The gateway between Manali and Leh-Ladakh

Every tourist coming to Manali will definitely have Rohtang Pass on their itinerary. It is a must visit to view the amazing snow clad mountains and engage in the various activities & adventure sports available at this pass. This pass is the gateway between Manali and Leh-Ladakh. This forms an integral part of one of the only two roads by which you can reach Leh-Ladakh. The other being the Srinagar - Leh highway.

Considering that we had just finished the grueling (slight exaggeration though) mountain biking expedition to Jalori Pass and the late night escapades in the markets at Mall road Manali, it was an early wake up call to visit Rohtang Pass. An early start is essential to beat the traffic and the chaos on the road considering that some parts of the road are so narrow that only a single row of vehicles are allowed to cross over and that too only in one direction.

How much I wished that house belonged to me :)

Sun kissed Himalayas

We woke at 3 AM and got ready to leave for Rohtang Pass. Got a call from reception at around 4 am informing us about that the car was ready. We deposited the luggage in the cloak room of the hotel and decided to take the souvenirs that we got custom made last night at Mall Road in Manali with us to Rohtang Pass. We met the taxi driver Mr. Lagan. We called him Laganji during the entire trip. We started the trip at around 4:30 am from close to the Manali depot. Laganji stopped at a shop some 1 km from Manali to rent warm clothing to wear while at Rohtang Pass. We also hired a skiing instructor to enjoy skiing. The skiing instructor was a young filmy guy named Anup. He shared a lot of trivia and facts with us during the trip, showing us shooting locations for Bollywood films like Jab We Met and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, etc. Anup was a native of the village named Nehru Kund after the late Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who would have water only from this kund (pond) while he stayed at Manali. The roads leading up to Rohtang Pass were winding through some lush green forests till the last village named Mothi. Beyond this village there is no human habitat as it gets really cold during winter with this region having snow nearly 10 months of the year and with no vegetation the place resembles a white desert. We could see a long queue from a distant as all the tourist vehicles lined up to go towards Rohtang. A very distinct fact that I noticed during the trip was that all the cars were white in color. It was a rarity to see a non white car. On the way we saw a lot of nomadic tribes with their flock of sheep, mules, horses, dogs, etc. walking through their way. Laganji told they belong to a community called "Giddh". It was amazing to witness nomadic life on the move in today's age of information technology, space and nuclear technology one really wonders what change will schemes like UID (Adhaar card) or NREGSS or mid-day meal programme  etc. bring about in their lives. Theirs is a small and contented life with all their materialistic belongings packed and on the move along with them.

Sunrise @ Rohtang Pass

After close to 3 hours we finally reached Rohtang Pass. It was the first time that I was seeing snow in my life. The view was awesome. The sun was up but it had no effect on the temperature. It was extremely chilly on the roads and freezing once we stepped on the snow. There were already a lot of people who had reached the place and enjoying in the ice. We got ready with the gear to start skiing. We entered the ice and Shyam was the first one to start skiing. He had a tough time trying to balance on ice and had a couple of falls. He finally decided to stop and Akhilesh was next to try. He also had a similar start but after a couple of falls picked up the tricks really well and started skiing at least with the help of the instructor. After about 15-20 minutes it was my turn to try out skiing. I had a similar fate as Akhilesh but had a smooth time skiing with Anup’s help. After about an hour of skiing we decided to eat something since we had not had a breakfast also. We stopped at one of the local makeshift shops on ice which were selling maggi and omelettes. We had maggi and tea. Akhilesh then had a second round of skiing while I got busy with photography.

Shyam ready to ski !!

Akhilesh ready to ski !!

Ready to ski !!

SAS - Pro Skiers !!

Maggi & Tea Break

Strike a pose !!

Anup with Akhilesh

After all the heavy duty skiing, we decided to do something childish now. What else could be more childish than snow fights and sliding on snow? We went up to the top of the ice covered hill and slide all the way down on our butt & back. It felt really amazing. By now it was 10:30 AM and we taught it would be better if we leave early and avoid the traffic. So, we called in Laganji and packed all the skiing gear in the car hood. We started our journey back at 11 AM and on the way did loads of photography on the snow capped mountains. Unfortunately we were stuck in a huge traffic jam which lasted for over 2 hours. It was really frustrating to sit in the car empty stomach for 2 hours. We finally moved out of the traffic and reached the point from there paragliding is conducted. We got a glimpse of the tourist's paragliding in the vast expanse of the sky with only the mountains for company. Paragliding along with river rafting is something that we really missed doing due to lack of time. If we had waited too long over here we would have been delayed and considering that we had to leave for Chandigarh in the evening was another reason to leave early. We earlier had plans to go to Amritsar to visit the Golden temple but had to drop the plan as the last bus to Amritsar from Manali was at 3 PM which we would not be able to catch on time.

Snow clad Himalayas

Tourists reveling @ Rohtang Pass

Yaks @ Rohtang Pass

Traffic @ Rohtang Pass

We dropped off Anup at the shop and took his contact details. Laganji dropped us at the Manali market near the Mall Road. We decided to book the tickets to Chandigarh and have lunch before we went back to the hotel. We went to the Manali depot and booked the AC bus to Chandigarh for 7:30 PM through HRTC. We then moved towards Mall road and had lunch at a local restaurant. We ordered Punjabi thali and unlike yesterday night at the dinner the lunch was good. Lesson learnt, always try local food when at a new place do not try a delicacy that they are not known for. When in Rome be like the Romans. Post lunch we had juice at Mall road and then kept the souvenirs at Manish’s shop. We then went back to the hotel to collect our luggage. We made the balance payment and got fresh in the restroom attached to the cloakroom. Since we had another couple of hours to go till our bus departure time, we waited in the hotel lobby for an hour. We left the hotel an hour before our bus timing, collected the souvenirs from Manish and bid them farewell. We had the famous aloo chaat at Mall road and then rounded up with juice again and then waited at the bus depot for the bus. 

Shyam, Laganji, Anup, Me & Akhilesh

Ready to leave !!

Choco chips ice cream with vanilla topping !!

Stuck in traffic !!

The bus was delayed and we were in for a surprise when we saw the 5 PM bus coming in at 7:30 PM; all thanks to the Manali traffic. Here, is when we met the last of the Karthik’s at the Manali depot. He was also going towards Chandigarh and was going to board a flight to Hyderabad from there the next day. We boarded the bus and started the trip to Chandigarh. We were so tired that we just dosed off and didn't even wake up for dinner !!

Shooting location for "Jab We Met"

Snow clad mountains with cloud cover

Snow clad mountains with cloud cover

Paragliding @ Rohtang Pass

This brought the curtains down on an excellent trip to the state of Himachal Pradesh with Rohtang Pass being the icing on the cake. Will surely hope to be back to Rohtang sometime someday very soon !!

Many more memoirs to share ……. Sachin