This was contributed by Suraj Jain for the September 2012 edition of our club newsletter.
"Window seat on the plane" is a request you must remember to make when
you check in for the flight to Leh. Not only will you get to see the great
mountains of the Himalayan range not too far below, but also the landing
itself is a sight not for the faint of heart! As the plane navigates through the
narrow gap among the mountains, with the wings almost touching the moun-
tain, your heart beats just a little bit faster and makes you admire the tal-
ented pilots who do this every day.
Leh, the moment you hear of it, some pictures quickly flashes through your
mind. The feeling of putting the first foot on the land of Leh, I don't know if
Neil Armstrong had felt any better, but for me it's like a dream coming true.
The aura of the place is Majestic.
This time we have decided to travel rucksack. Everyone else was being re-
ceived either by their tour agents(pick up and drop is included in packages)
or by some acquaintances. But we hunted for a cab and started for leh city.
The way we felt about journey to leh, that we weren't even settled in plane
after takeoff, it already time for landing, Similarly, we reached leh city, only 3
kms away from airport in 5 mins. Well that's the nearest place to any airport
I have known off. Now it's the time to find some place to stay.
We were on the lookout for some accommodation in form of paying guest or
guest houses on Changspa Lane (Popular for eating joints and guest
houses). Well that's most preferred way of staying, moreover it helps you to
understand the culture as well. For some time, we couldn't find one, as
many of them were already occupied, but we found some people good
enough to guide us on where to go and search. People there talk with such
simplicity & innocence and were so helping that we were astonsihed. Finally,
we could locate a place named Zanskar Guest house, on Changspa lane
adjacent to Hotel Gawaling International (Upper Tuchka road).
Well after taking a short break, we headed for market to get our first meal.
Some things really test you for your patience and getting food is one of them
here in Leh. Whatever your order might be it will take minimum of 30 mins
and the reason is they make everything fresh. We ordered some Chinese
and were surprised to see that, for the first time in life, the guy out there was
preparing fresh. No that doesn't mean that we get to eat old/rotten stuff eve-
rywhere else instead that he cut the first he prepared the filling the wrap
then into white flour and the boiled them.
After filling our empty bowls, we headed to DC office to get permits. This
was our second surprise of the day, first being at the restaurant, I had been
told that it will take 3-4 hours to get the job done. But believe me either the
system has improved or whatever I heard/read of is junk, but it took me only
20 minutes to get the permit for three of us. It already the lunch time, and I
don't know whether it is just the hunger for food, or our last sleepless night
being headed to leh, or the Oxygen factor alone, but we were really in bad
shape. we rushed to our rooms and asked Stenzin, the lady owner to cook
something for us. She was kind enough to prepare some meal for us and
have it delivered to our room as well. We woke up in evening and rushed to
market for getting the Royal Enfield, India's answer to Harley Davidson.
Luckily we got bikes with low mileage though we have to shell out some ex-
tra money.
The next morning, Sky was partially cloudy. We made a started steadily to-
wards the lake from Heaven, Pangong Lake. We reached Karu (40kms
from leh) in an hour. Here you have to stop to submit the permit. Having
passed Karu, there would be no fuel station left until Pangong Tso lake and
back again. There was 100km to go over rugged mountain terrain at high
altitude. The views back over the green crops of Shakti village were magnifi-
cent against the increasingly epic mountain backdrop.
The yellow rocks of the mountains contrasted stunningly with the emerald
crops of the villages in the valleys. Towards the 17,586 foot pass, the road
became extremely difficult and the biking became pretty much off road.
Freezing cold stream crossings were required with the icy spray covering
the arms and legs. Parts of the road were basically large rocks with no pav-
ing. It was also still cold from the night. The air was thin and we were both
feeling pretty drowsy by the time we got to the pass.
At Chang La, there was an army counter, offering complimentary Kaaba
(tea) to the tourists. I was almost numb and was shocked to see the color of
palm when removed the gloves, Blue/Black due to scarcity of oxygen and
Cold breeze. Here we have to take an almost hour break to regain the
strength to move ahead. I could feel the every drop of kaaba going down my
throat. That was a real life saver.
Descending into the opposite valley, however, was a wonderful uplifting ex-
perience. As we climbed down, the air got thicker so naturally we felt better
and the views became greener and grassier with flowers, wild horses and
goats. There was a daunting river crossing and these melt-water fords be-
come deeper as the day wears on.
Finally, we got a glimpse of Pangong, as were driving through the mountains
we could see lake from far. We pushed the gas more to reach our destina-
tion soon, as the eagerness to reach the place was just driving us crazy.
The moment first establishment for Pangong, its 120 km long. 40 km inside
India and 80 kms in China. It was like ocean, with dual shades blue/Green in
color, surrounded by mountains. Its a salt water lake, where there is no
aquatic life. water is so crystal clear that we could see the bottom. we were
all stunned to see the amazing beauty of dual shade (Blue/Green) of water.
So clear and so calm, we started feeling like as if we are in some different
world, some place that doesn't belong to planet earth.
We relaxed for some time here and then moved towards Spangmik, for our
night camping. Here we have some permanent Camping accommodation
during the summers. It was almost evening when we arrived at Spangmik.
We soon find a tent lakeside, as we have planned to sit beside lake post din-
ner. At night, it was a clear sky with all the twinkling stars. We lie down on
the soft sand lakeside until midnight, it was freezing out there, soon we real-
ized that to continue with our trip, without any disruptions, we need to move
back to our tents. We had a sound sleep that night. Though, I put the alarm
for just after 3 hrs, as I don't want to miss sunrise at any cost.
The Sunrise was one of the best of my life. The beauty was such that until
now you could have only read or have imagined about it. If seeing is believ-
ing, then I hope you will agree to it in the pic on the previous page.
After, this we had our breakfast and then started back for Leh. This time we
took the roadside route, though I won't call it a road as there was none. Only
sand and stones.
But the pleasure of driving through such a beautiful place was comparable
to none.
Finally after, 6-7 hrs of driving we reached back our starting point. And were
soon in warm and cozy beds to start for a new journey again tomorrow…...
