Gasping for breath – Pangong Tso

We thought it would only be a drive to the lake and back but it turned out to be a wildlife safari as well!!! And I am not complaining.

The day started pretty early. We left the resort at 6:15 and stooped after 40 kms to have some hot parathas or paranthas, as they call them here. From that point we took a left turn to get to the Changla Pass. The straight road leads to Manali.

Slowly and steadily the road climbed up and up. We could see the lines the road forms on the mountains and at a distance was the Changla Pass, all covered with snow. The temperature started dropping as the car kept climbing. At one point, on the mountain slopes, there suddenly appeared a bunch of rabbits. We slowed down to see all of them run away from us. The Himalayan pheasants (not sure what it is actually called), with an ash color body with a touch of red feathers kept crossing the road at regular intervals, reminding me of one of the great unanswered questions of all time, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”. We got to the Changla pass, which is the third highest motorable pass in the world. Ladakh afterall is the land of high passes. It was all covered with snow. Luckily for us some important military person had come then and the military folks gave all of us some tea. It was godsend in that weather.

We slowly started the climb down and the beaver like Himalayan Marmots started appearing. These cute guys are seen in high altitudes. As we progressed we started sighting them more frequently and kept stopping to take some snaps and videos. They were very shy and kept running into their burrows as soon as they sensed our presence. There was a stream running below and along the banks there were many more of them. The best sighting happened after we had traveled some more distance. And I royally screwed up a great photo-op.

What happened was that we came across this marmot which was standing on its legs and was very close to our car. My SLR was not with me and Gayathri passed on her Digicam to me. I was sitting next to the driver and had the best view of this fellow. In the movie called ‘Ghost and the Darkness’, Michael Douglas shouts at Van Kilmer for having used a new gun to combat a lion and failing. I understood what he meant. I rarely take pictures with the Digicam. In my urgency to get a good snap of the marmot, I zoomed on him, got him perfectly centered and then in my infinite wisdom, pressed the ‘Off’ button !!! So instead of the marmot freezing on the screen, it just disappeared. It took me a second to realize that the screen was now blank due to my blunder. Desperately I switched on the camera. The modern electronic devices need some time to get their brains in working condition and the camera was slowly booting up. As you could have guessed, the marmot waited till the camera was ready for action and then vanished before I should shoot. I gave the camera back to Gayathri, who took it with a ‘how-come-I got-to-marry-this-guy’ expression on her face.

Along with marmots, we kept sighting lot of different varieties of birds. We stopped at one place to take some pictures of the scenery around, when we saw a hare running at top speed. Until you have seen these animals running in the wild you do not get an idea of the speed they achieve. This guy just bounced around and was gone in a jiffy. Even our best athletes can’t match the speed nor the perseverance. We proceeded further and down in the valley below the driver spotted a ‘Kiang’, also known as the Himalayan Wild Ass. This looks like a cousin of the horse. They are supposed to be present in the Chungthang Plateau, which was not where we were. So initially, Ankur, our guide, challenged our driver and said it was either a horse or an ass. But the driver was a wise young guy and it turned out that he was correct. We were thrilled to see the Kiang and imagine our surprise when we saw a large bunch of them a few kms later. All these fellows were grazing and we could get down and have our fill of photographs. They stayed where they were and so I could now check the button and click the right one!!!

The landscape was typical Ladakh landscape. It was with great difficulty that we could move away from all the wildlife that we saw. Slowly the car was proceeding towards the lake. At one juncture we see a board which proclaims that you can get the glimpse of the lake from that point. We did see a spot of blue at a distance but nothing prepares you for what would hit you in the next 15 mins time.

We turned a bend and then gasped for breath. The high altitude of Ladakh had nothing to do with it. The Pangong Tso lake appeared in front us, bearing an indescribably beautiful blue color. It is as if someone up above decided to lay down a layer of turquoise on the earth and decided on this place. The blue spreads out like a huge carpet as far as your eye can see and you have to suppress your urge to walk on it, reminding yourself that it is indeed water. The lake’s blue is further accentuated by the brown mountains that surround it on all sides. A cloudless sky, bright sunshine and in the distance, snow capped peaks. The only thing you hear is the silence, the whole area enveloped in a calm which only nature can provide.

The beauty of the place hits you as soon as you take the turn. Involuntarily you gasp for breath and your mouth remains open. The only words that escape our lips simultaneously is, “Unbelievable”. I get down the car with the sense of wonder intact and only then realize that my mouth is still open. I close it, only to open it again and mutter, “Unbelievable”. I lost count of how many times how many of us used that word. It is said of Tajmahal that though it is the most photographed monument in the world, when you see it, you are filled with a sense of wonder. Multiply that effect with any number greater than 0xffff and you still would not get the magnitude of wonder right. Photographs do no justice to this lake. You need to be there, atleast once in your lifetime.

Pangong Tso lake is unique in the sense that ¼ of it lies in India and the rest lies in China !! Since this is the border area, no boat rides are allowed on the lake. So there is no unnecessary activity which spoils the beauty of this lake. We did see a border patrol boat on the lake.

There were lot of sea gull type birds in the lake and I had a ball capturing them on the camera as well as photographing the lake. Gayathri too kept muttering, “Unbelievable”. The kids were mightily thrilled. We were there for some time and then started towards a resort a couple of kms away along the lake. The lake kept changing color as we drove along its edge. You can probably see every shade between green and blue there. We saw some very rare type of ducks. White ducks with a dash of red. We had our packed lunch at the resort and after a cup of tea, left for Leh. We kept on looking at the lake till the last possible moment savoring its beauty. It was almost as if you were leaving behind a magical place.

On our way back, we saw the Kiang group at the same place we left them. The marmots kept appearing along the way. One additional animal we saw was a mountain goat, sitting on a ledge along with its kid, which was sitting on another ledge!! We arrived in Leh for our evening cup of tea.

This trip to Pangong Tso turned out to be the highlight of the Ladakh tour and I was happy that I had kept it towards the end. In this one day trip, nature reimbursed me all the money I spent on the trip and then gave some more. When you stand facing such mighty nature and great beauty, you do tend to question many of the material values we hold dear.

Pangong Tso, I will be back.