#2 Backpacking Through The High Altitude Deserts of Ladakh - Road Trip to Pangong Lake

Greetings Steemians! In the second part of this series, I will take you guys along with me to the world famous Pangong Lake in Ladakh situated at 14,270 feet above sea level!

Pangong Tso is Tibetan for "high grassland lake", also referred to as Pangong Lake, it is an endorheic lake in the Ladakh Himalayas situated at an altitude of about 4,350 m (14,270 ft). It is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from India to China. Approximately 60% of the length of the lake lies in China. The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. All together it covers 604 km2. During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water. It is one of the major attractions in Ladakh. The lake got famous after being featured in the Bollywood movie ‘3 idiots’ first and a few more movies since.

All of us had spent 2 days in the city of Leh, acclimatizing to the high altitude of 11,500 feet we were suddenly exposed to. We didn’t do much in the first two days apart from just roaming in the market and a few other nearby places. After spending 2 days in Leh, we were feeling strong enough at that altitude and it was time to continue on with our journey.

We were all eagerly waiting to visit the world famous and the ever beautiful Pangong Lake. We had only seen it in pictures until now. The journey of reaching Pangong Lake by itself is no easy task. It takes around 10 hours to reach, going through some rough but extremely scenic roads and crossing the second highest road in the world, Chang La pass situated at 17,688 feet.

We started our journey from Leh in a car at around 7am. It was a beautiful cold but sunny morning. We all were very excited to kick start our journey. The landscape throughout the journey is constantly changing, from huge valleys to tall mountains to grasslands and dry erred mountains.

The ascent towards Chang La Pass is a crazy one! The roads are very narrow with steep valley on one side and dry brown loose mountain on the other. With every turn, there is a new big mountain revealed. You can’t get your eyes off the roads! The road to the pass is very steep so one can feel the increased cold with every passing minute. Some of my friends started having a light headache because of the sudden increase in the altitude. We hit the snow line in just a few hours. There was surprisingly a lot of snow for July.

We were now over 16,000 feet of altitude and we could see the entire road from where the Ghat begins. It was one spectacular sight. Because of the snow, the roads here were horrible but we were never able to focus on the road conditions as the beauty around us kept us gripped.

As soon as we reached Chang La pass, we all got out of our cars and played around in the snow. Me being a mountaineer, I had seen a lot of snow in my life but it was the first time for some of my friends. They could not control their excitement. We took a few pictures and we were back in the vehicle as we still had a long journey ahead.

From the top of the pass, there is a steep descent of about 8000 feet into the Changthang Valley. We slept most of our way through the descent. Our driver woke us up at around 12pm for lunch. We had stopped at a small place in the middle of nowhere. We had some quick rice and tea. It was a very refreshing break. We were all feeling surprisingly tired. Maybe it was the altitude, bad roads and playing around at the pass had exhausted us.

Most of the road now was a bit flat with tall mountain ranges surrounding us from all sides. The mountains of Ladakh have such beautiful shades and colors to it, from red to green to yellow, everything mixed up on the dry erred desert mountains. Nature’s art at its best!

There comes a point, just before reaching, where you get the first glimpse of the lush blue lake. That sight gave us such a kick. We were finally there!

We got down and ran towards the lake. The water was crystal clear. We could see the stones under them. It was marvelous. I could not believe we were actually standing there!

I touched the water and it numbed my fingers instantly. It was incredibly cold. We were at 14,000 feet after all!

We couldn’t get enough of this beauty in front of us. We were clicking pictures in all possible angles very well aware of the fact that we won’t be able to capture the actual beauty and feel of standing at the edge of the lake when the breeze hits your face or the sound of the water. But we tried.

With every passing minute, the shades of the lake were changing due to sun rays and reflection of it from the mountains surrounding it. The place where we were staying at was another 5km from here on the bank of the lake itself. We got in our car and started heading towards it. The road ran parallel to the lake throughout and it was such a treat to drive alongside Pangong Lake.

The campsite we were staying at was right at the bank of the lake with semi luxurious tents type accommodation. It was a beautifully planned campsite with very charismatic staff.

We occupied our tents and had some tea and breakfast. There was a dinning tent set up where everyone could gather and eat together. The tent from inside was surprisingly warm. All of us cozied in. It was getting colder outside as the evening was progressing.

I decided to take my mat and go to the lake and do some meditation. The vibe and the energy here was of another level. I knew I could attain a good depth into my thoughts here. I went into a very deep meditative state with the sound of water rumbling on the shore, letting my thoughts flow to wherever it wanted to. I felt such sense of gratitude that day sitting at a place which is a dream destination for millions of people. I am blessed to be able to experience these beautiful places and I get a chance to come across some of the most electrifying souls on these journeys. I was so deep into meditation that I lost track of time or of the fact that it was dark and the temperature had plummeted to a staggering -10 degree. I did not even feel cold. The energy from the higher levels were keeping me warm but unfortunately a friend of mine came to me and told me that dinner was ready. I was still so lost in my thoughts that I did not realize for a second where I was or what time it was and when I realized that it was night and I was sitting at Pangong Lake with just one layer of clothes on, I got up quickly and walked back with him.

What an eventful day it had been. Pangong Lake had been a dream destination for a long time now and I was there today finally with some of the right bunch of people. The mediation session was much needed. I had a very good night’s sleep.

In the next blog, I will take you guys along with me to Nubra Valley, another place in Ladakh that had been a dream destination. If you liked this blog, please show some love and support by re-steeming and up-voting it. Cheers!