Its 5:00 AM, cold, absolutely chilly. Tashi is at the gate waiting for the pick up. We are ready but still rubbing our eyes. All packed up with heavy woolens we start our journey towards Pangong Tso. I have earlier seen its pictures and I knew what it looks like but still a lot of excitement about this lake.
Ok, I fell asleep.. Tashi wakes me up.. Sahab..Lets have some tea and breakfast. Some Aalo parathas and hot cup of tea and we are ready for the next leg of journey, some 3.5 hours. We go rounds and rounds and seeing some of the beautiful mountains one can never imagine. Landscape changing every other minute. Tashi stops.. I said why this stop.. He replies, "Diesel". These Nomads sell diesel at 10 INR less than what petrol pumps sell at. Now, how do nomads get the diesel that's another story which I think should not be disclosed. ;-)
Just as we started we saw a small lake, it was beautiful but Tashi said.. Its nothing in front of Pangong. We went on and in no time reached Lukung.
Lukung is a small village from where we one can see the Pangong as is seen here in this pic. As soon as you approach the sheer size of the lake grasps your attention. It starts getting bigger and bigger, with every meter. Finally, we are there. Though one can not define the beauty of this lake and my words are never going to justify its beauty so I shall refrain from that. I will only say that its so beautiful that it can not be described. One has to see it to believe it.
The lake is 134 KM long and situated at an altitude if
14,300 feet and extends from India to China. But to my dismay, lake is 60% in China and 40% in India. Had it been 100% in India, we would definitely have seen the other end as well.. Its still a dream to go to the other end and see how it appears from that part of the world. Its been around 4 months in all but I still can not forget the mesmerizing beauty of this lake. This First view of Pangong is for all of you to see and enjoy the view.
Till my next post.... Ki Ki So So Lhargyalo
Driving at an altitude of 18,380 feet can be really challenging, which one can never think of. My trip to Nubra Valley was disturbed by heavy snowfall and turbulent winds and it wasn't possible if our ever trained driver Tashi was not there. He was so trained, equipped and determined that one can ever imagine. So, We started our day around 8 AM and it was raining in Leh and as usual Tashi was on gate at time. He informed us that we should wait for another 30 mins and he will get the chains for tyres because he thought it might snow today at Khardungla top. We reached South Pullu in no time and drops were rain were converted to snow and the only one's enjoyinng out there were these yaks. Amidst all the snowfall and freezing breeze, these were the creatures standing as if its 20 degrees above zero. Now, We cleared the check post and saw a lot of people returning back because the drivers were not able to drive in snow. I myself saw the tyres skidding and the vehicle turning 90 degrees right. It was scary. Tashi got into the action and tied these huge chains on to the tyres and in no time we were moving up to a dream spot. The mighty Khardungla... We reached Khardungla in no time but alas!!! couldn't click over there due to heavy storm and snowfall. Indian Army didn't allow us to come out side of the car and they just shooed us away, ofcourse for our safety but we wanted to get down there. I requested and they agreed after much ado and we just enjoyed being on top and I didn't click just to enjoy the feeling and the moment. 
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