Day 5: We left for Pangong at about 8:00am on Wednesday. Though the distance was only 36km, Chhetan said it would take us about two hours. This drive was the most pleasant so far, as the weather was calm and a little warmer. We crossed Muglib and a small lake – Chakartrale Tso. The land was all deserted and looked virgin. Finally we got a glimpse of the Lukung Lake about 2km away. One edge of this lake is in Lukung village and hence that part is called Lukung Lake. Pangong Lake itself is spread over 46 km (in length) and half of it is India and half is in China.
When we reached Pangong Lake (14256 ft) we were totally dumbstruck. It was a sight to be seen to be believed. I had never seen such beauty before! A huge lake surrounded by mountains all over – and everything almost untouched by man. Words can’t describe the beauty -- it was so beautiful!
We had brought the stove with us on which we prepared some instant noodles and had tea with it. We prepared noodles in the salty lake water, so didn’t need to add any salt to it. We walked around for about two hours. We also collected some shining stones from the lakeshores. I thought they were ores of some precious metals. But if it had been so, the place wouldn’t be so deserted, I reasoned. Chhetan told us that in winters, the army jawans drive their jeeps on the lake! And that this place had much less military activity now after the recent Indo-China agreements. We lost track of time, but we had to return. So we reluctantly started back for Tangtse.
Once again we thanked the Chering family for their hospitality. Their children looked so cute and unaffected by the harshness of life around them. The return journey from Tangtse to Leh proved to be quite relaxing and easy compared to our earlier drives. I guess we were getting used to the climate. We kept ourselves in good spirits by singing songs. I think in the six hours or so that it took us, we must have sung some 500 songs – and all without a single repetition! We reached Leh around 7:30pm and had dinner at the dhaba again before coming back to our guesthouse.
When we reached Pangong Lake (14256 ft) we were totally dumbstruck. It was a sight to be seen to be believed. I had never seen such beauty before! A huge lake surrounded by mountains all over – and everything almost untouched by man. Words can’t describe the beauty -- it was so beautiful!
We had brought the stove with us on which we prepared some instant noodles and had tea with it. We prepared noodles in the salty lake water, so didn’t need to add any salt to it. We walked around for about two hours. We also collected some shining stones from the lakeshores. I thought they were ores of some precious metals. But if it had been so, the place wouldn’t be so deserted, I reasoned. Chhetan told us that in winters, the army jawans drive their jeeps on the lake! And that this place had much less military activity now after the recent Indo-China agreements. We lost track of time, but we had to return. So we reluctantly started back for Tangtse.
Once again we thanked the Chering family for their hospitality. Their children looked so cute and unaffected by the harshness of life around them. The return journey from Tangtse to Leh proved to be quite relaxing and easy compared to our earlier drives. I guess we were getting used to the climate. We kept ourselves in good spirits by singing songs. I think in the six hours or so that it took us, we must have sung some 500 songs – and all without a single repetition! We reached Leh around 7:30pm and had dinner at the dhaba again before coming back to our guesthouse.
No comments:
Post a Comment