Leh Trip - Day 5 : Pangong Tso

This was one of the days i was looking forward to all my life. Somewhere, subconsciously, There was always a thought that i need to visit Pangong Tso. The place where my father took me 20 years back and it was awe inspiring from then on for me. I always wanted to be here when i am older, to remember the place till my last breadth, And today is the day.

It was a little over 130 kms from Leh and we started around 8.30. we started late since we were planning to camp by the lake. If it was to be a day trip, it is advisable to leave much earlier if you want to spend at least 2 hours in heaven. First stop, Karu military station for some breakfast. Next break was to be at Chang la, the Worlds third highest pass. The drive to Chang La was filled with snake like roads, thinner than a street. Ice had hardened on the road and had become dangerous to drive on. Reaching Chang La was an achievement in itself. With only a few Army guards bitting the cold, the place was surrounded with snow and the whisper of winds from the valleys below. A lot of things were running in my head and the most prominent was, 8 out of 10 people cant stand here and be normal. I was perfectly normal. Just like i was born here. That gave me a lot of confidence.

By now my better half was showing signs of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). As usual of her, she would not listen to me and stay awake. She does not listen, at least you try, never sleep when your head feels heavy and you feel like throwing up. Sleep is one way of taking over your body. After coming so far, it was a matter of another 2 hours to Pangong and why not try to reach their even if we could not stay overnight. Next stop, the last village before the chinese border, Tangste. It was a twin village with Durbuk covering the Last and most prominent Army Units to defend our nation.

We stopped for Tea and a smoke. Lush green valleys with Olive green of the Army ever where. My recent haircut left a lot of them in doubt about my shade of Olive green. The next on our map was Pagal Naala (Mad Stream). I could never really understand why would anyone give such a name to a stream.

The first glimpse of the sky blue lake between the hills was from not far away. As we crossed the Army camp that was right up at the beginning of the lake, time just stopped for a while. The Army camp had a souvenir shop and an army run canteen. They also had speed boats and multiple helipads. We were cruising at snail speed as their were no roads to our camp site.

The view of the lake was more than anything i could ever have asked for. I never spoke a word and just captured every inch of the lake in my mind. Their is no other lake in the word so blue. As you go closer to the lake, the colour disappears and becomes the most clear lake you would have ever seen. Wonder where the colour comes from. We parked our car at the camp. My better half was getting bad to worse with her AMS and she decided to sleep for a while. I saw my watch and it was 1.30PM. If we had to leave back to Leh, 2PM is the last option. It is not advisavle to start after that due to multiple reasons. One, "Pagal Naala" lives up to its name. Secondly, the snow on Chang La becomes a skaters paradise and the car does not run on blades.

This was the only place in the world where the lake was much more blue than the sky. I wish i had carried my 100-400 to capture the Bar-Headed Goose. There were plenty of them around. They are solitary hunters and prefer to be swimming alone in the shores of the salted lake.Patience is something that i would love to have had, but when the air around is a little below -10 degrees and there is a subtle breeze blowing across the silent shores of the lake, it is a little too much to ask for. Also, the failing condition of my better half kept my mind half present at the lake.

After spending a good one hour by the lake, i left heaven to get back to check on her condition. And she was not doing very well. I decided at 3.30PM to leave Pangong back to Leh. I am not sure if many people had the courage to take this decision. My driver, with all his experience, was hesitating to take us till Leh. But i convinced him that nothing would happen. A hot tea and we were on the way out of the most beautiful place in the world. 20 kms into our journey back to to Leh, we reached "Paagal Naala".

Now, i will tell you why the name. History says that during summer, after 2PM, one cannot cross the stream as it runs fast and deep. It was a bad strip of road with big rocks and a thin stream of water running over when we crossed around 1PM. By 4PM, the stream was a mini river with strong under currents and our vehicle was more like a canoe up for rafting. Fingers crossed, we were slowly maneuvering over the rocks and the fast stream of sub zero water. My mind was racing with many things. She is not keeping well, the air is getting colder, the sun is setting and the last few rays were visible on the top of mountains the water is getting faster by the minute and we have not even reached half way across the stream. As we reached the end of the stream, the mind, body and muscles relaxed. But i guess that was a bit too early since our prayers had stopped and the "Mental Lake" was not pleased by any chance. The rear right tyre found a sweet spot between two big rocks in the stream and we could not move either ways. My driver and I gave our best shot to try various things, with no luck. In this wilderness, we could not turn back or hope for help, that was the only thing running in my head at this minute. After spending 15 minutes, i heard a Yamaha RX100. At 14,500ft, the sound of an RX100 was pleasing and at the same time i thought i was running nuts. But then, it was really a YAM. The rider was a seasoned guy to these roads and offered a helping hand. We collected small rocks and dug out the large ones from around the tyre. Within minutes, my hands were harder than the stones around and i had lost all sensation in my hands. The water was well below sub zero and would freeze instantly when not in motion. After an hour of struggle, the car finally pulled out of the stream. The rocks settled into the hole and the stream covered the whole struggle up, as though nothing had happened. Paagal Naala, lived up to its name for us.We reached back home at around 8PM without any more problems. She was already feeling better as Leh was lower in altitude. I was feeling a bit upset about not being able to see the sun rising and no being able to go to Khardungla the next day. But i slept with the thought that, I will come one more day top see these places again. For now, it was her health that was of number one priority. The thing that kept me calm was the lovely view of crystal clear waters and the colour blue of the Lake.

I will be back one more day to see the Great Pangong Tso...