Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 11: Road to Pangong Tso

 19th July 2023. 6.30 AM to 2.00 PM

Terith - Agham - Durbuk - Tangtse - Chilam - Harong - Muglib - Spangmik

The next stop in a typical itinerary is the Pangong Tso lake. This high altitude lake, located at an altitude of around 14,000 feet (4250 metres), is a salt water lake that straddles the disputed territory between India and China. The lake is around 130 kilometres long, extending from Ladakh in the east to Tibet in the west. About a third of it is in India and the rest in Tibet. About 10% east of the LAC is the disputed territory. 

To reach this lake there are two options. You can drive from Leh (about 160 kms) on a day trip which is what most people who go to Nubra valley and return to Leh, usually do on the next day. The downside of a day trip is that you'll be able to spend only a couple of hours at the lake, during the hottest part of the day. The best time at Pangong Tso is around sunrise and sunset, when the lake goes through various shifting colours. To enjoy that, a night's stay is an absolute must. (I credit this idea to my friend Lijo, who travelled through Ladakh on a scooter!) So, a better option, if you are driving from Leh, is to stay over and return the next day. In any case, a one way trip itself takes about 5 to 6 hours over the Chang La pass, so if you are doing a day trip, you will be on the road all day.

The other option, for people who travel to Nubra valley from Leh, is to drive directly from Diskit or Terith, to Pangong. It is about the same distance and will also take about 6 hours. When you drive directly from Nubra valley, you save on taxi fare as the extra distance traveling back to Leh and then going to Pangong Tso next day, is avoided. Also an additional night stay at Leh can be reserved for a stay in Pangong. The only problem was that the usual road from Diskit was undergoing up-gradation, so we had to drive over a non-existent road literally.

Since this was our option, Tsewangji had told us that we'd have to leave early. Other drivers had told him about the road going underwater as the heat melted the snow faster as the day progressed. We knew then, that we were in for an exciting drive so we got breakfast packed and left our resort at 6.30 AM. A few kilometres after our resort, we got onto a track than ran on the opposite bank, parallel to the river. Instead of crossing the Shyok towards Khalsar, we took the road that ran along the northern bank of the river, towards Rongdu.

The day we were travelling, the rain seemed to be holding back. The only problem was that it would get really hot as we neared Pangong Tso. There were patches of exposed asphalt but in most places the road was covered in sand. We were in for a surprise though. Our  experience at the Hunder dunes  had been a tad disappointing. A little after, Tsati village, we found more dunes on the road edges! This time, they were totally undisturbed. 

Progress, on the road that was playing hide-and-seek with us, was relatively slow. The clouds were still hovering above us but the absence of rain was a relief. For now, the fear of being held up by the rising waters of the river was dissipating.

The landscape was awesome, reminding me of the Wild West in Clint Eastwood movies but without the Stetson clad cowboys. It was a real contrast to the greenery that we were used to at home. No trees were visible for miles. The only greenery being the short thorny shrubs, herbs and grass. It was only along the river banks, around small villages and hamlets that trees were seen growing. 

Eventually, just before Rongdu, the road split. The one going straight goes to Rongdu and the one going right, over the Shyok would reach Agham. Luckily there was a bridge across the Shyok so the crossing was easy. We had planned to stop near Agham for breakfast as a tea would be welcome after a long bumpy drive. The guys at the hotel were kind enough to let us use their furniture to eat breakfast. It was getting warm so we also got some cold drinks to carry on the rest of the journey.

After Agham the road disappeared altogether. It was only rubble. The work on the new road didn't spare the old one. It was dug up and in the process of being freshly laid. Luckily traffic wasn't heavy so while we were raising dust behind us, we were not made to eat other's dust!

                                   

 The muddy water's of the Shyok was flowing alongside of us towards the Nubra Valley. It was looking menacing and we didn't want to be stuck somewhere unable to cross it. As the sun warmed up the landscape, our imagination was also running wild. The waters of the Shyok seemed to be rising each passing minute!

The road was still winding along the river, matching its twists and turns till we reached an area where the two ranges of the mountains closed in around us. It was not the most comfortable experience with boulders strewn on either side. On our left, the walls of loose rock and sand threatened to come down any minute. This feeling was reinforced after we crossed the road gang of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) clearing up recently fallen rocks! 

Eventually, the road again crossed the river and moved to the opposite side. Here it was almost in the middle of the river so the threat of falling rock was not there anymore.

The joy, however, was short lived! The flowing water had done its worst. We had to make our own road because the asphalted road was nowhere to be seen. It was covered with tons of rock and flowing water!

It wasn't an easy drive but it certainly was one hell of an experience. We were glad that we had the fortune to hire Tsewangji's taxi. He was a really cool and unruffled character. He wouldn't go scrambling across the rocks hastily. He got off the car to inspect the track ahead before his tyres crossed that stretch. We realized the value of having a driver like him when we ran across a stranded car. It seemed that the driver, in an adventurous mood, decided to go over some submerged rocks without first checking if it was possible! His rear tyres were now floating without touching the ground as his car had dug its rear wheels among the slippery rocks, and had bottomed out.

Our car had a tow rope but we didn't have a 4 wheel drive so it was unlikely that we could get him out of his predicament. Unfortunately, the couple inside seemed to think it was a part of their package! While a few strangers were trying to help them in the blistering heat, they were cosily sitting inside. Only after they realized that their weight was adding to the problem, did they get out. Their stars, it seemed, were aligned perfectly. A group of motorcycle riders we crossed a little earlier, had a back up vehicle following them. It was a pick-up truck with 4 wheel drive. The stranded car was tied to the truck and it was happily dragged out. Tsewangji allowed him to hang on to the tow rope, just in case. He would collect it later.

We made it to Tangtse without further adventures, where we filled up on fuel for the car at what is claimed to be the highest petrol station in the world. Then, since we weren't hungry yet, we decided to take a short diversion to Harong through Chilam. I was hoping to land a few birds. It wasn't my day. The weather was not getting any better. It was too hot inside and outside the car and probably the birds agreed too. They weren't active even along the banks of the stream that was flowing towards the Shyok.

It was half past twelve so we decided to go towards Pangong Tso and lunch. We had to return to Tangtse and take the Pangong road that would pass through Muglib.The road on this final stretch to Pangong Tso is also undergoing widening. 

The river here had much less water than the Shyok. Along the way, grazing on the patches of green grass on the edges of a tributary of the Shyok were herds of Changthangi goats, the source of the wool used to make the highly prized Pashmina (Cashmere) fabric. 

We finally arrived at the western end of the lake around half past one and since our lunch wasn't arranged at our resort, decided to stop in Pangong for a meal. It appeared that our luck was running out. It was very hot by then but there were clouds that heralded rain. Our plans for a second round of Milky Way shooting seemed at risk. 

As we drove towards Spangmik, where we were supposed to halt for the night, the first of the hundreds of tents and cabins on the lake's shores came into view. There are a few hundred (or maybe even thousands) of such tented accommodation all along the lake road. I was told that a little bit of bargaining would bring the room rates down significantly; especially in the beginning and towards the end of the tourist season. We had booked into a place that had wooden cottages because someone had told us that the nights would be freezing cold due to the sub-zero temperatures and the windy nature of Pangong's shores. 

For a place located 14,000 feet above sea level, it was disappointingly warm. We hoped that Spangmik would be different. More of our Spangmik experience in the next post.

Link to the previous post is here

 

Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 10: Maitreya and Milky Way

 18th July 2023, Afternoon and Night

Khalsar - Diskit - Hunder - Terith

After the early lunch, our plan was to go to Diskit and Hunder, in the Nubra valley. We'd have to  backtrack towards Khalsar, cross the Shyok onto the road to Sumur and Siachen glacier, to reach Terith where our resort was. We were on our way to Diskit a little after 1.15 pm. The sun was beating down so mercilessly that it was hard to imagine that we were in a valley between the Himalayas and the Karakoram ranges. These are the two highest mountain ranges in the world but at that moment we felt like we were in Thar desert!

While this area with popular tourist spots is called the Nubra Valley, it is actually the Shyok valley. The river that runs south of Karakoram range is actually the Shyok, which eventually merges with the Indus in Pakistan near Skardu. The Nubra river itself flows south east through the valley and flows into the Shyok near Diskit. (Red arrow)

The road to Diskit and Hunder was being widened and repaired, as was the road from Khalsar to Pangong Tso. We made slow progress as we were occasionally forced to halt in the interest of safety, while the mountain sides were being ripped apart by earth moving equipment. The traffic build-up that was a consequence of this halt-and-go process ensured that looking at our watches was a futile exercise!

While doing my research for Ladakh, as I mentioned in my last post, I had been drawn towards a face. The face of Maitreya Buddha. He sits tall, below the Diskit Gompa, looking across the Shyok river and the mighty Karakoram mountains. I don't know what the magnetism it was, but though I hadn't been keen on exploring the monasteries in detail, Diskit was an exception. I had made a mental note to spend a few extra minutes here. 

We drove to the monastery first but the heat, with the very uncomfortable thermal wear inside, was unbearable. We were planning to check in at our resort only after going to the famous sand dunes of Hunder so getting out of the thermals was still a couple of hours away. We were hoping it would become colder as the sun disappeared behind the mountains on the west. So we abandoned the idea of a detailed exploration of the monastery and decided to go up to the Maitreya watching over the Shyok valley. 

The colossal statue of the Maitreya Buddha, 106 feet tall, can be seen from the monastery and is on a hillock across a small stream. Unfortunately, though the road goes to the base of the statue, vehicles were not permitted to go up when we went there. I wasn't about to allow the heat to stop me so I decided to walk it up. Maitreya had that effect on me. I had been reluctant to climb places that seemed to leave me breathless but it seemed that I was energised in his presence. 

A few minutes, sitting in contemplation before the serene Maitreya and I knew what I had to do with the rest of my life. I would have sat longer because I couldn't feel the heat any more but there were three people sitting in a baking car. So after a whispered prayer and a promise to be back, I walked back, spinning the many prayer drums as I descended. Something in me had clicked into place. I don't know what, but I felt that life was about to change sooner than later. 

We proceeded to the famous Hunder dunes hoping to see the double humped Bactrian camels. Sadly, the heat had got to them too. They weren't to be seen anywhere and the owner of a mobile food cart told us that they'd appear only after the sun went down. It was exhausting and the dunes weren't looking very inviting in the heat. Most of the wavy sand had been disturbed by the camels and tourists who had been there earlier. It didn't seem worthwhile to wait for a few hours till the camels appeared. 

For those staying in Diskit or Hunder, if you have the time, a two and a half hour (maybe more) drive will take you to Turtuk village, close to the line of control (LOC), on the border with Pakistan. Its fame is not only because it is the northernmost village on the Indian side of the LOC, but also because it is the largest producer of apricots in Ladakh.. Though many say it is a part of Pakistan, it was actually occupied by Pakistan after the 1948 Indo-Pak war, and later was wrested back from Pakistan by India in the 1971 war. Our itinerary didn't include Turtuk because of the limited number of days we had at our disposal. If you are intending to do everything possible around Diskit you might want to consider staying in Diskit / Hunder or even Turtuk for two nights. If you stay more than two days you can explore both sides of the Shyok, including Siachen. (More about Turtuk here)

All along the route there were talks of declining tourist footfall into Ladakh. The road access from Manali side was cut off due to floods, landslides and missing sections of the highway. Our trip itself was postponed by a fortnight and the weather in mid-July had us worried. There was talk about having to start the morning drive earlier than usual as the fast melting snow would flood the rivers by mid-day. In places where the rivers had to be crossed, the rising water could possibly block the already non-existent roads and tracks. 

The Milky Way was next on the priority list so we decided to go to the resort and check in. It had been a long warm day. and a little rest was welcome. At the Osay Khar resort we discovered that we were one of two families that had checked in. It was looking deserted. Terith, as I mentioned was on the opposite side of Diskit, across the Shyok. There was nothing else to do or see around the place. Siachen was too far for an evening drive. This property is on a private farm and has some 20 cottages, of which only two had occupants. It is totally cut off from civilization and meant for people who want some peace and quiet. The ATV rides, camel rides, go karting and zip line for the normal tourist is not on the road to Terith. So if you are that type of tourist better look for accommodation on the Khalsar - Hunder road, in or around Diskit.

Over a cup of tea and fresh pakoras, the manager told us about the resort and afterwards took us around. He, himself was from Himachal and was worried about his home and family there. During winter, when the resort closes for the season he returns to tend to his farm there. One of the reasons that Ladakh attracted me, besides Maitreya, were the birds. I could add so many new species to my life list, and Osay Khar was a good spot. Unfortunately we checked in in the evening and would be leaving by 6.30 am to avoid getting held up by a swollen Shyok. Birding in that area would have to wait for my next trip.

Dinner was served at 8, and having eaten, we went back to our cottage to set up for the Milky way. Fortunately, we wouldn't have to suffer light pollution. With only two cottages occupied the glare of artificial light interfering with our photography plans were reduced. Our postponed trip also turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The original dates for our trip fell during the week with a full moon day. A full moon would have spoilt our plans with its bright light. Our trip fell on a weekend when it was time for the new moon! We only had to worry about the clouds as the threat of rain still loomed. By the time the Milky Way made its spectacular display at half past 9, we were ready for it.

Of the top 10 locations in India to shoot the Milky Way in India, three are in Ladakh. Nubra Valley, where we were; Pangong Tso, to where we were going the next day and Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in the eastern side of Ladakh. We would miss the third location on this trip but that has been added to our bucket list! If you are keen on astrophotography yourself, plan your trip to coincide with the new moon day of that month.

The Milky Way was the icing on the cake for us. We had a long drive ahead of us the next day as the regular route to Pangong Tso was closed for widening. We'd be driving through the Shyok river bed for most of the route and didn't want to get caught in a flood. So we decided to pack up for the night and hit the bed. 

See you on the road to Pangong Tso!

Link to the previous post is here