Towards the end of week 5, I met David, Dora and Nacho who had been backpacking across India for past several months and we happened to meet at the dinner table of our home-stay in Turtuk. Before the dinner was finished that night, we had decided that they would join me back in Hunder and we will travel back to Leh together. Few weeks later, quite unexpectedly, I met Dora again, but more on that later.
After spending a night in Hunder, four of us started towards Leh. We had hardly traveled for 15 kms, when David spotted another of their friend, Yu-Ni, waiting for a ride by the side of the road. Soon we were five of us in the car with their backpacks on the roof-rack and my fully loaded car started the ascent towards Khardung La. With few pit stops in between, we reached Leh and David and Nacho left us to catch their bus to Likir. Rest of us went to Pranav’s place where Dora and Yu-Ni had stayed before and Pranav was kind enough to offer me to stay at his place for the night. I don’t think he realized then that that his house would become my base in Leh for rest of my time in Ladakh. Pranav was an amazing host and I had a gala time every time I stayed at his place. We cooked elaborate meals, together with his other guests. Every plate of meal was truly international. My desi contribution was daal-ambal (traditional Jammu delicacy), halwa and poori. I must admit that Pranav’s culinary skills are way better than mine. He is a fabulous cook who liked to entertain his guests with a variety of lip-smacking dishes.
Next day, Pranav, Dora and Yu-Ni decided to come with me to Tso Miriri from where they would come back on their own and I would continue my adventure to Hanle and then to Chushul before returning to Leh again. On the way, we stopped to check-out Chumathang hot-springs where we didn’t do what most people do in hot-springs. Instead, we decided to boil eggs and potatoes there. The par-boiled potatoes were later used for the soup. The day had an amazing ending stored for us. We were 35 Kms short of Tso Miriri when we saw another lake (Kyagar Tso) and we decided to camp there. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was too surreal a place to miss. We made ourselves some delicious and filling soup which turned out to be a perfect dinner on that chilly evening. I settled for the night in my car and they pitched their tents bang on Kygar Tso. It was a true camping experience in the wilderness of higher Himalayas.
Next morning, we packed up and headed to Tsomiriri. The scenery en route was breathtakingly beautiful. Small glacial streams kept company for most of the remaining drive to Tsomiriri. We reached a spot from where two roads diverge, one was a beautiful paved road and the other was a dirt track. The lure of the paved road was difficult to resist. Navigation maps also suggested to take this road. We went on this road for almost 20 Kms, driving next to gorgeous Tsomiriri Lake only to be stopped at a security check-post where we were told to turn back. We realized we were to take the dirt-track at the last intersection. The 40 Kms round trip by no means was a waste for we had some amazing views all along. The dirt-road took us to village Korzok which is the village that has home-stays, restaurants and tented accommodation for tourists who come to see Tsomiriri Lake. We went couple of Kms ahead of the village to find the spot to camp. The spot that we found was on a small hill-top with amazing views of Tsomiriri Lake. Dinner for the night was again delicious soup, with slightly different ingredients this time!
Next day we left our camp spot early and decided to stop again at Kyagar Tso for breakfast for two reasons. One, it had a water hand pump which is helpful to do the dishes after breakfast and second, simply for the views of the Kyagar Tso lake. After finishing our breakfast, we came back to Mahe from where three of them hitch hiked back to Leh and I proceeded towards Hanle. The road stretch from Mahe to Mood was riddled with corrugations which made the progress very slow but once I crossed the bridge at Mood, the road turned nice and it continued the same way till Hanle. Hanle is famous for an observatory which is said to be the second highest observatory in the world.
Besides the observatory, Hanle also has a beautiful monastery perched on top of a small hill, just at the start of Hanle village. The panoramic views from the monastery were simply amazing! My stay in Hanle was in a home-stay where I had one of the best dinners of my entire trip, not so much for the taste of the food but for the love and the joy with which it was served. The host family was amazing and their attention to detail was immaculate.
I had originally planned to stay at Hanle for two nights, but there was nothing much to do in Hanle, except visiting the observatory and the gompa. So next day I started towards Chushul, a small village very close to Indo-China border. For Chushul, I had to travel 40 Kms back on the same road that I took yesterday and then take a right turn after crossing the bridge at Mood. At the police check post at Mood, I met three bikers from Mumbai who were going towards Tsomiriri from Hanle. The previous day they had come from Pangong Lake to Hanle taking the same route that I was planning to take today. Couple of them advised me to avoid the route because of its terrible condition and the water crossings. However, the third one sounded optimistic. I decided to give it a try as I had enough fuel to turn back and take the other route. The route was very desolate with very less traffic, mostly dirt road and few water crossings of which one was tricky in particular. I walked across it to gauze the softness of the surface and the depth of the water. Trusting the four-wheel drive system in the car, I crossed without much drama.
I reached Chushul little after noon and started looking for a place to stay. After I failed to spot any home-stay sign board, I parked the car by the side of the road and started exploring the map to decide the next course of action. I had originally planned to take the Chushul-Tangste road, but saw a road going to Pangong Lake from Chushul. This was the same road that the bikers had taken yesterday. After checking with a local, I came to know that the road via Pangong was a little longer, not worse than the other road that I was planning to take and it runs next to the lake for several Kms. The choice was easy. Considering I still had daylight left, I decided to reach Merak, a small village on the banks of Pangong Lake.
I had traveled hardly 10 Kms from Chushul that I started to see the turquoise coloured water of Lake Pangong. The progress slowed as I was stopping after every few hundred meters to absorb the spectacular natural beauty and to take pictures. I reached Merak just before sunset and got myself into a home-stay where I realized that my vehicle had lost its front license plate somewhere on the way to Merak.
In my Merak home-stay I met another traveler – Andy from Germany. He has been travelling to India and particularly to Ladakh since late 1980s. His zest for travel was unmatched and very inspiring. He had bought a Scorpio which he uses every year for his travels when he comes to Ladakh. The evening was spent chatting with him and showing off our vehicles and our camping set-ups to each other.
Next morning, I went for a stroll along the shore of the Pangong Lake. This was the non-touristy section of Pangong. No littering, no noise, no crowd, just pristine nature all around. Soon after breakfast, I left the home-stay and started with the aim of reaching Leh by evening. However, I had hardly covered 10 Kms that the lure of camping by the lake again stopped me. I parked the car next to the lake but slightly away from the direct sight from the main track. As I had reached this spot quite early in the day, the next challenge was to find ways to spend rest of the day productively. I decided to make myself egg biryani and spent rest of the day reading a book and using the acrylic colours I was carrying to hand paint car’s registration number. In the evening, I sent for a stroll where I met another traveler from Argentina, who was hitch-hiking across India for the past five months. When I met him, he was walking towards the next village (Spangmik) to find a place to stay. I offered him to stay in the tent that I was carrying in the car. The evening was spent chatting with a new friend and eating left over egg biryani.
Next day two of us started towards Leh. We stopped for breakfast before starting the ascent for Chang La, another high mountain pass. Rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, except that we decided to check out the famous Hemis monastery before going to Leh. Hemis monastery is little off the main Manali-Leh highway and is hidden behind a cliff. The monastery and the scenery around was spectacular and one must visit it if visiting Ladakh. After dropping my Argentinian friend at the Leh bus stand, I went again to Pranav’s place where delicious food was on menu again!
Up next, Zanskar Valley…
sushil.is.out.of.office 