The last two days our trip to Ladakh would see us make a road trip to Pangong Lake, or Pangong Tso as it is called locally in Ladakh. The drive would follow a similar pattern as the drive to Nubra Valley, but in a different direction. This time we would be going over the Chang La pass, which is at 17,600 feet – lower than Khardung La but still the third highest motorable road in the world. Pangong is about 150 Kms from Leh, and it would take us 5 to 6 hours. Our journey to Nubra had acclimatized us quite well and we had a fair idea of the road conditions too. We figured out that it would be bad some distance before and after the Chang La pass but would be good for most part otherwise.
We left at around 9 am, and our first halt was just 5Kms away, the Shey Monastery. It was a long and steep climb from the highway to the top, and the place was already thronging with busloads of tourists. After we finished here, we told Dorje not to make any more halts, but to continue till Chang La. If there was any sightseeing to be done, we would do it tomorrow on our return leg. So we continued till we reached Chang La. Fortunately, the rest rooms here were quite clean. In fact the restroom was a simple shed with an Indian style ceramic toilet fixed to the floor which was open to the deep valley below. I don’t know about the environmental aspect of this arrangement, but it certainly kept the place clean, dry and stench free.
Because of its proximity to the borders, a visit to Pangong Lake requires some security permissions to be obtained in advance, which of course our tour operator had arranged. At Chang La, these permissions were checked and our details needed to be verified before we could proceed further. While Dorje was getting the paper work sorted out, we took our time to enjoy a cup of hot tea in the cold weather. The journey otherwise was quite similar to the journey to Nubra, except for a couple more halts to check the travel papers. Dorje handled all this, nobody asked us anything. Scattered villages, Army Establishments and a gorgeous landscape accompanied us all the way. It was clear and mildly sunny all through. On more than one occasion we came across huge Army Convoys, travelling along the route with supplies and personnel. When coming in the opposite direction, the other vehicles would stop and make way for them, as they slowly meandered down the winding roads. And of course there were biker groups too. We passed several of them, some coming some going.
And suddenly, lo and behold, you come upon your first sight of the Pangong Lake with its blue waters shimmering in the distance.
Pangong Lake is situated at a height of 14,000 feet and is the world’s highest salt water lake. It has a length close to 140 Kms, about two thirds of which runs through China. Surrounded by mountains, it’s staggering beauty is difficult to put into descriptive words. The clear blue water keeps changing colours in front of your eyes. It can be green, white, yellow or brown at times depending on the time of day and the direction you are looking at it from. It’s the reflection of the sunlight, the mountains and the moving clouds that cause this. Swimming is prohibited, but when has that ever deterred anybody from stepping in.
Some years ago, the film 3 Idiots was shot in this area, over a period of time. Ever since then, it has become a magnet for tourists. There are several Cafés named 3 Idiots, there’s a Rancho Restaurant somewhere near, and props from the movie – like the scooter which Karina Kapoor was driving or the well-recognised buttock shaped seats can be seen at many places. They provide good settings for photos too, so how could we not be a part of it, especially a filmy buff like me.
We drove along the lake to our Tent House, which was quite similar to the one at Hunder. It was very close to the banks of the lake. We had lunch and after resting for a while, we walked down to the lakeside. Admired its beauty and took lots of pictures. It was quite empty we were pretty much by ourselves. Safety was not a concern, but we were still startled when we heard a voice from around, asking us if we needed any help in taking pictures of the two of us together. Sure, we said and the guy took a couple of pictures of us. During all this, it suddenly struck me, this is the same guy who helped us take our pictures at Khardung La too. Yes, he said, that was him too. We got talking and he let us know that he was with a group of bikers, they were all here staying in tents in a camping ground not far from here. He was just 27, a doctor living in Pune, taking a short break. He and the other group members, they had all had their bikes sent by train to Chandigarh, while they had come in separately. They all got together there and started their bike trip from Chandigarh. From here they would head to Manali, and then back to Chandigarh where they would disperse. For a few moments I wished I had been younger, how I would have loved to do this too. But then I remembered, I have done my fair share of driving in Africa and in Europe, in fancy cars, sometimes with family, sometimes with friends. I should not be envious but grateful because I have already been through all this having had the opportunities elsewhere.
Lights going off by about 10pm was the norm here too, and we too were out like a shot once we hit the bed.
We woke up fairly early the next morning and walked up to the lake. We wanted to catch the sun rise as it came out from behind the mountains. This was the time when not only the lake keeps changing colors literally every minute, but even the mountains and the landscape around do the same.
Breakfast material for the hotel, like bread and eggs comes from Leh. In fact Dorje told us that he had brought a whole sackful of vegetables and other stuff from Leh for the hotel, along with us. Apparently they have some arrangement with this place and assist them for these kinds of things. I guess co-operation and mutual assistance is very important in these far flung places. In winter, when the tourist footfall reduces to zero, these places fold up their tents and stow them away and the staff go down to Delhi and the plains. Some of the hotels have branches elsewhere and try to deploy some of their Ladakh staff there during this period. But for others it is good bye, and see you next year, if at all.
As we started our journey, I told Dorje to head straight back, no more sightseeing on the return. Yet we couldn’t help stopping at this one spot which is something quite different to anything else. Just out of Pangong is an area which is inhabited by Marmots. Marmots are like large squirrels and live in burrows, they look quite friendly but can give quite a hard bite. We stopped and were rewarded by a glimpse of a whole herd of them frolicking playfully in the grass. We wanted to take pictures and it was almost as if they were giving us their best poses, like auditioning for a role. Maybe one of their cousins had done a cameo in Shah Rukh Khan’s movie ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ which was shot around these areas and which has a sign post proudly proclaiming this at the spot.
In fact the beauty of Ladakh has seen several movies being shot here. The difficulty of the terrain, the effort involved in getting there, and the fear of Mountain Sickness have kept visitors away. But the success of 3 Idiots and the large number of beautiful scenes shot here suddenly opened the place to tourists and movie buffs
Even as we approached Leh, we drove past a school. I cannot recall its name but I do recall the sign had ‘Rancho’s School’ written below. Apparently, it was in this school that Aamir Khan was shown teaching and a lot of the shooting of 3 Idiots was done here too. So now the school has this as its USP rather than the quality of its education. But here is a Post Script added on29th September 2018.
More pictures from our visit to Pangong are below. And please do watch the video at the end as a post script added later.
A post script to our trip is found in the video below Please watch it on You-Tube: