Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 12: Night at Pangong Tso

19th July 2023, 3.00 to 10.30 PM  

After a rather uninspiring lunch at one of the many eateries at Pangong, we made our way to Spangmik where our resort was. It was past 3 PM when we checked in and by then the heat was intolerable. It would be another two hours before the sun dipped behind the mountain and the cloud cover wasn't sufficient to give us relief from the sun.

We thought it would be a great relief to take a nap after the bumpy nine hours and eagerly moved into our cottage at Misty Hills Cabins. Imagine our dismay when we discovered that inside the cottage was a furnace compared to the outside! To add to our woes, there was a transparent portion on the roof that let in the sunlight! Since we were at an elevation of 4258 metres (almost 14,000 feet) it would be foolish to expect an air conditioned cottage. Not only that, the resort ran on solar power during the day and on diesel generators late night. I chose to sit outside till the room cooled naturally. 

I was left wondering about the scary tales told by others before our trip. We were told that Pangong Tso being at a much higher altitude than Leh or Nubra valley, would be very cold. Not just that; very vivid descriptions of cold winds sweeping across the lake and shaking the tents so badly that it could fly off. It would be freezing in the tents, was what we were told, so we had made a wise choice and booked the wooden cabin. 

At the end of it we were left wondering if a furnace like cabin was better than a cool tent! Mercifully for me, I was kept busy by a few birds, just outside our cabin. A pair of black redstarts were busy gathering feed for a chick in their nest, hidden in a crevice, among the rocks that were used to build the wall. 

Another wagtail juvenile was calling for its food. It was the fag end of breeding season and the growing juvenile birds were keeping the parents very busy.

We caught up on sleep and while we slept the sun slipped behind the brooding clouds and allowed a quick drop in the temperature. Though we knew that our desire for a colourful evening was going to be unfulfilled, we decided to walk down to the edge of Pangong Tso. After all, the highlight was the lake. I carried my photography gear, just in case. We didn't want to trouble Tsewangji. He had been at the wheel since dawn, so we walked down to the lake shore. It was down the slope from our cabins and the walk didn't require any effort. With the clouds gathering over the mountain tops on either side of the lake our hopes for another Milky Way shoot was also fading.

The only consolation was a horned lark, so called because of the two tufts of feathers on its head that resembles two horns. Like its other feathered companions, it was also gathering food for some hungry chicks in its nest.

Night falls quite late here but the wind was picking up over the lake and it was getting a bit nippy. Our expectation of a colourful sunset was ruined by the clouds. It was more of browns and greys, than blues and shades of orange or pink. Since there wasn't much to do on the lake's edge, we decided to return to our cabin. I wasn't sure if I could make it back on foot. I had my heavy camera bag and the route to the resort was a gentle upward slope. I decided to call for the car. It was almost 7.00 pm anyway, though the skies were still bright.

 At a half past seven it was still bright. The Milky Way would appear only a little after 9.00 PM. 

Finally it became sufficiently dark by 8.00 PM so we decided to go across to the dining area for dinner. We were all set for another round of astrophotography.

By nine we realised the true meaning of teeth rattling cold. Despite the clouds that was obscuring the sky partially, we managed to get some shots of the Milky Way again, though it wasn't as good as the ones from Terith. Besides the clouds, the lights in the resort and surrounding buildings were  causing light pollution. 

The Milky Way over Pangong wasn't so impressive because of the ambient light and the cloudy sky but we could take pride that we had managed to shoot the galaxy from two of three locations in Ladakh.  It was a quarter past ten and the atmosphere outside the cabin was getting uncomfortably cold. It seemed a good idea to hit the bed. We had another drive the next day; to Tso Kar and the black necked cranes.

The Link to the previous post is here

Fire & Water

Summer is here and I've just been woken up from hibernating. Not too much woodcrawling except a small trip to Bandipur (more about that later).

The dry cold winds sucked the moisture from everything, living or dead. The reservoir, where only a couple of months ago, I had test driven a new car to see its off roading capability, was already dried up significantly.

News of wild fires were trickling in from everywhere and that is worrying to everyone. The forest department is worried about the devastation and effect on wildlife, conservationist worry about everything and owners of farms and estates (encroached or legitimate holdings) on the fringes are worried about the monetary loss.

It was a very different Malampuzha. The water levels had receded so much that we had to drive out to a considerable distance to reach the edges of the remaining water. Even there it was shallow enough to wade through. The shoes kept sinking into the mud so we didn't fancy testing the capability of the car, especially with no other human being in sight. It would be a long walk if I had to get a tow truck to dig us out of trouble!




There was still a tinge of green along the water's edge, the result of a minor thunderstorm that lashed Palakkad a week before, but there were also places which looked like it was part of some desert.

The little water that was still remaining meant that fish would be surfacing for air regularly. There weren't many birds around but the ones that were there were having a field day.





The Northern Pintail ducks were too busy exploring underwater to take notice of me. Most of the time I was around they were with their head underwater!

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

The few waders present were not in groups. I spied individuals of  a few of species. 

SANDPIPER

GREAT EGRET

GREY HERON

There were also a small group of black headed ibises and Asian openbills

BLACK HEADED IBIS

ASIAN OPENBILL STORKS

Cormorants were the only birds on large numbers and they were dive bombing in the shallows and finding great success.

LITTLE CORMORANTS

Other than the kites gliding overhead the only other birds were a lone wagtail and many pipits.

WHITE BROWED WAGTAIL

PADDY FIELD PIPIT 

It seemed that the birds were having a good time as the water disappeared. The unfortunate part was that the forest on the edges of the reservoir were passing through their worst crisis. The leaves that had been shed during the winter months with the dried grass form a deadly combination. A carelessly thrown cigarette or even a spark from a fire lit to clear the under bush can lead to disaster. 

It almost happened on the other shore a few weeks previously. The farm owner was allegedly clearing his property but things quickly went out of control.

It took a mere half  hour for the fire to spread but mercifully it died out before doing too much damage. The forest official whom we ran to inform could only watch helplessly. The nearest fire station was in Kanjikode, at least 10 kilometers from the scene of fire. The water in the reservoir was only about 100 meters away but there was no way to bring it to the fire. Perhaps God intervened!

Our Bandipur trip in late January too was spoilt by fire, but of a different sort. Watch this space for that story.