[Part 5] Pangong Tso Lake

Day 10: Leh

A long & tough ride to Leh had extracted most of the energy out of us, but the major inspiring factor was that our next destination Pangong Tso (which is now a days famous as 3 idiots lake). This motivation filled our spirits and we were all set to go.

Our destination for the day was 170 Kms away from Leh. For the first time in this trip we started our ride on time without any interruption. Started our ride around 6.30AM, since there was 33^rd Kalachakara function was going in Ladhak, there was slow moving traffic around the city. Traffic police deviated the traffic from out skirts of the city. To reach Karu which is 35Kms away from Leh it took more than 1 hour, we were supposed to fill fuel in Karu. By the time we reached Karu petrol bunk it was totally occupied by bikers…!!!

Filled fuel for our bike and it was time to fill our empty tummies too… 😃, had breakfast at Karu and we are all set for ride to Jannat... 😃

From Karu need to take left deviation to reach Pangong Tso, roads from Karu are descent only. Thank god didn’t come across any road blocking streams again…!!!

Reached Changla which is around 78 KMs from Leh, The Chang La is at altitude of 5,360 m or 17,688 feet high. It is the third highest motorable road in the world (As per the board mentioned out there).

Once we crossed Changla pass roads are not so good till we reach Tsoltak Military Camp.  There was a small stream (but not a road blocker) compare to streams which we crossed before it was not difficult to cross. 

Stopped for a quick break near Tsoltak Military Camp, relaxed for a while and again we were back on road towards dream destination. Again we got separated from group this time not because of bike issue, but because of photo session 😃. Guru, Sunil & me were left behind. Remaining team reached Tangtse and they were waiting for us almost 30 mins. Need to enter all our details in the check post at Tangtse no other permit is required here. 

In Tangtse searched for restaurant but didn’t find any restaurant since it was already 3.00PM no restaurant was open for lunch. We decided to continue our ride and we were only 35 Kms away from Lukung.

First view of World famous Pangong Tso Lake 😃

Roads are really good, thanks to BRO for their hard work in maintaining roads in good condition. Reached Lukung around 3.30 PM and there we are, in front of Pangon Lake.

Pangong Lake is the famous & most attractive sightseeing point at Ladakh. Splendid, wonderful, colourful lake beauty which is not describe in words. One third of the lake is in India while the remaining two thirds lies in China. Majority of the streams which fill the lake are located on the China side. The lake has become a star attraction after being featured in blockbuster movie ‘3 idiots’.

First we decided to fill our empty tummies and then go near lake. Funniest thing which I observed here was restaurant names, these guys were totally influenced by 3 idiots movie, most of the restaurants were named as movie characters (3-Idiots Restaurants, Rancho fast food, 3 Idiots cafe)…!!!   

Once we finished our lunch thought of making arrangement for stay. If you want to stay near the shores of the lake then tents are the only option. The choice of stay near and around Pangong Tso is limited. Basic accommodation is available in Lukung, Local households also offer accommodation but most of them have shared toilets or toilets outside the house. Better accommodation is available only in Tangtse which about 35 km before Pangong would be the ideal place.

Since it was getting late we thought of checking options to stay in Spangmik. Checked with couple of tents but they were too expensive, but finally we managed to get tent for 1K.  It’s totally depends on you how you will bargain. Rented 3 tents for 1K each that to in front of lake.

Now we didn’t waste any time, headed towards 3 idiots shooting spot. It’s in between Lukung and Spangmik. It’s not so easy to reach that point since you need to ride bikes on sand, somehow managed to reach the place. As we approached near it and no word was to explain its beauty. Crystal clear water reflecting the sky was amazing. No doubt journey was tiring but felt great being there.

Since we were bit late in reaching the place it was getting darker and didn’t get a chance to witness sunset. Time spent in this place was most memorable time of this trip... 😃

Came back to tents, by the time we were back to tents delicious food was waiting for us. After having nice dinner and tough ride throughout the day was feeling damn sleepy and decided to go to bed. Before that clicked couple of pics of our tents under light… 😃

Day 11:  Pangong Tso Lake

Since we missed sunset, I didn’t wanted to miss sunrise in morning, so woke up very early and was waiting for sunrise.

This place is a photographers’ delight and camping is the only option if you wish to see the sunset and the sunrise. By the time rest of our team woke up, me and Deepu went for a walk across the lake for photo session. 

Only one thing I can say about this place “Heaven on Earth”… 😃

It was time to say good bye to the wonderful place, before we started clicked couple of pics in front of our camp… 😃

Stopped again at Lukung for breakfast, ordered food in 3 idiot’s restaurant and again went near lake for photo session. One common thing with restaurants over here is, they will take minimum 30 mins to 45 mins to prepare food…!!! Instead of sitting and wasting time in restaurant, we decided to go near lake and spend some time… 😃

By the time we finished our photo session our breakfast was ready, had our breakfast and left from Lukung. Our plan was to stop near military camp and take pic in front of our national flag.

Started from Lukung military camp, our next stop was near Tsoltak for quick break. Once we started from Tsoltak didn’t take much breaks in-between and headed towards Leh. Our plan was to reach Leh by lunch time, now all the bikes were running without any issues and even roads were good compare to previous stretch, without much struggle headed towards Leh.  When we were nearing Karu stopped near one military camp for a break. These are the lines written on the military camp… 😃

While coming back from Pangong Lake visited one more Thiksey gompa monastery which we get 20Kms before Leh.  Though we travelled couple of times in front of this monastery didn’t get chance to stop near this monastery due to one or the other reasons...!!! 

Finally reached Leh around 4.00PM, had our lunch and picked all our luggage’s from hotel and headed towards Kargil. Since we had enough time to continue our ride without wasting much time started our ride towards Kargil. 

Kargil is around 210Kms from Leh, we thought of covering at least 100Kms for the day and stop somewhere on the way. 

Stopped near Magnetic Hill which is 30 Kms from Leh.  The “magnetic hill” is located on the Leh-Kargil national highway and is bordered by the Sindhu River. The hill is assumed to have magnetic properties strong enough to pull cars uphill. Ullas took his bike to test the power of Magnetic hill but he didn’t felt the effect…!!! Spent almost 45 mins to 1 hour in this place by seeing the circus done by the other people... 😃

Continued our ride on NH-1 on bands of Sindhu River… 😃

Ride on NH-1 was smooth and nice, as planned before managed to cover around 100Kms from Leh. Ended our ride at Khaltse, after long ride it was time to relax.

For more pics CLICK HERE