Leh Ladakh June 2017: Part 4

Leh – Pangong Tso Lake (night stay) – Leh

Above: Pangong Tso, looking towards China 

After a refreshing night’s sleep, we obtained our permit for Pangong from the SDM office in Leh. The pass to Nubra valley was closed due to inclement weather, else we would have preferred to go there first, intending to spend the night at Diskit or Hunder, and taking in Turtuk (with its apricot trees and double humped (Bactrian) camels).

We tanked up on fuel at Leh, and retraced 35 kilometers down the way we had come from Himachal through Baralacha La and Tanglang La. From the well-settled town of Karu, the road to Pangong begins with an upward cut from the main Leh highway. It is best to prepare for the drive ahead by lunching at Karu, which we did.

Above: the turn towards Chang La, for Pangong Lake

The pass ahead is called Chang La, and is a muddy, slushy road due to the snow that borders the track. We were glad to give a lift to a few local ladies till Shakti/Sakhti, about 10 kilometers uphill from Karu. The road worsened steadily, till we reached the top, where DRDO has its highest Research & Development Centre (update: India’s seed vault is also managed by DRDO at Chang La!). I got a lucky frame of a mountain dog (we used to call them ‘gaddee’ in Sanawar, I couldn’t find out the local names for these shaggy dogs) perched on the snow with the sun shining feebly through the snowy clouds.

Once we rounded the top of the pass marked by the DRDO facility (where you can rest and eat – but very basic facilities only), the snow stopped and we descended steadily, taking care to cross the river-inundated valley without damaging our cars. The road after Chang La is relatively good, reminiscent of the Roller Coaster Road before Tanglang La. Once the army camps start, you know you are at Tangste valley, home to Pangong Tso. We reached here at the ideal time of around 3:30 – 4 p.m.

We got our PERMIT checked at the ITBP-Army checkpost, and the 20-30 odd kilometers remaining between us and Pangong went by pretty smoothly, with a green, mossy swamp covering the middle of the valley through which the road runs. The last 5-8 kilometers are the usual mountain road – rocky, slippery but not too dangerous if you drive sensibly. Once you round the last mountain, the glimpse of the beginning of Pangong’s blue waters hits hard!

There was a broken down truck just beyond this last major turn, but we were fortunate to have space to just squeeze past it and descend to Pangong’s shores. From the beginning, the road runs along Pangong up to the border area of Chushul, about 30 kilometers ahead. We chose to stay near the brightly-lit and well-peopled (with tourists) eateries, and soon found a good tent with cots that could easily accommodate all four of us. The owner was from Leh, and with a hearty “Julley”, we settled in for the evening.

We were lucky to have a cloudless night. It was freezing cold (this is the second week of June, by the way – the hottest time of the year in most of India), but I took a couple of night time moonlit photos as we filled ourselves with food and drink. Around midnight, after watching the larger groups (mostly bikers on Royal Enfields and the like) gambol around the bonfires, we retired to our tent.

I woke up at 5:30 a.m. in the morning, and took a short time lapse of the sunrise over the mountains on the opposite shore of Pangong. It was windy and bitterly cold, so I crept back into our tent, under the quilt and arose again at breakfast time. Then we went down to the shore and I splashed around a bit – just face, hands and feet – the water is too cold, and combined with the wind, makes one feel frozen!

Now that we knew the lay of the land back to Leh like the back of our hands, we drove at a leisurely pace, enjoying the small hailstones that fell along the way up to Chang La. Our descent was muddy again, and there were significantly more tourists than yesterday. We had a late lunch at Karu, at the same place we had eaten before, and reached Leh by 4 in the afternoon. Thus, with time on our hands, we took in the famous Leh Palace and the Castle of Tsemo before returning to our hotel and indulging in some much-needed rest after so much of grueling mountain driving.

Update for the culmination of this trip coming soon: Leh – Lamayuru – Kargil – Zoji La – Srinagar – Pathankot – Amritsar – Delhi.

July 12, 2017January 19, 2019 by opendurbar

Leh Ladakh June 2017: Part 3

Baralacha La, Sarchu, Pang, Tanglang La, to Leh

[Prev: Manali – Rohtang – Jispa]

In the morning, we started towards Leh – our destination for the night. The check post at Darcha, just a few kilometers after Jispa, proved to be no problem as we had our permits on hand. We had filled up our fuel at Tandi (the last fuel station for 350-400 kilometers around, so pay heed, self-driven adventurers!) yesterday, so we embarked on the arduous (for the car) climb of the ice-packed Baralacha La. At a top height of 4830 meters above sea level, Baralacha La is the first of 4 passes before Ladakh valley, the others being Naki La, Lachung La and Tanglang La. Of these, Tanglang La is the last and highest, at 5360 meters. But we will get there at a steady pace.

After Sarchu (beyond Baralacha La), these are the landmarks

The road is broken and overrun by waterfalls – literally, there is a danger of being swept into the valley by the current of cascading water – which are difficult to negotiate if one is not careful. As for the moment, we climbed carefully through the packed ice that had formed walls on both sides of the road after being cut through. There is barely space for two cars to pass in most places. 

Once you have negotiated Baralacha La, you will come to the settlement of Sarchu. While many people aim to cover the stretch from Manali to Sarchu in one go, we strongly advise staying at Keylong or Jispa to make sure you have enough time to cross Tanglang La the same day as Baralacha La.
In all of Ladakh, which starts after Sarchu, the wind is cyclonic. We had a quick, simple meal of local ingredients with rice and lentils at Sarchu, and pushed on to cross the relatively easy passes of Naki La and Lachung La, and thus reached the next valley – with a small group of tents announcing itself Pang – marking the transition. Be warned about the upcoming stretch of very, very smooth, asphalt road –we named it Jumpy Roller Coaster Road due to its regular drops that made our cars jump into the air at speeds close to a 100 kilometers per hour!

After the fun drive that lasted about 20-30 odd kilometers, we turned upwards towards Tanglang La, which tops out at 5360 meters above sea level. As soon as we looked ahead into the upward valley, we could tell it was going to be stormy. True to nature, snow started falling just as we started our climb, at around half past five in the evening. It is not too long a pass, but driving in fresh snow is a devil in itself.

We kept up our spirits and soon saw an Audi Q5 that we had helped replace its burst tire (seriously!) earlier, catching up to us. We let it pass ahead and followed in its tire tracks, and caught up with a few trucks that were paving the way through the fresh snow accumulating ahead. After three hours of painstaking braking, slipping, sliding, wiper-jamming driving, we felt the snow weaken, and as we rode down the smooth road after Tanglang La, relief was the most prominent feeling in our minds!

From here on out, passing a few quaint towns like Sosoma and Upshi, we crossed Karu (the turn for Pangong Tso lake (coming up next) and reached Leh at 11 in the night, booking a great room but getting overcharged for bread omelets and tea. Nevertheless, it had been an exhilarating day, and we looked back at our photos and adventures late into the night.

NEXT: Pangong Tso (night stay) and back to Leh.

July 9, 2017February 6, 2019 by opendurbar