[deky]

No please continue as it is. IMO you doing a great job, and I have not felt as if the pics are repetitive or something, each pic you have posted stands apart. Also you have done a good job of reducing the pic size to around 100kb so it also does'nt take long to download them.

Also comparing 20 yrs back to the position now at Pangong Tso. I gather from your post that now there are some camps for civilians to stay around the Lake area? Is that true?

Twenty years back there were only 10 army men who were stationed there on a daily rotational basis. Forget civilians staying there, even army officers and families were not allowed to stay (well there was no accommodation).

The fresh water stream you mentioned if I remember it correctly is just next to the jetty where the boats are parked. I also distinctly remember fishes dying at the confluence. Thanks for getting the memories refreshed.

The number of sign boards at K-Top as mentioned by you are a bit too many. I dont remember seeing any signboards accept one mentioning that you have reached K-top that time. So much so that I have a pic of K-top from that time and I cant even remember if its actually K-top or no, had to confirm it from my Dad ..lol!!

[sudev]

Story telling at its best - Had my heart beating equally fast. That was a bit stupid thing to do if you ask me. High water makes the car "float" and raging torrents then sweep it away!!

[tsk1979]

Yes Deky, now there are eco huts to stay at the lake, and the number of singboards at the K Top are close to a Gazillion, with every govt agency and their maternal uncles telling you again and again that you are at the highest motorable road in the world.
However I will not call that thing a road. Its a dirt track from South Pullu to North Pullu

Sudev, the nallah is such that at the edge are boulders. As for floatation, I had swept the beams left and right to see if the water level is more than the boulders. If it had been so we would not have gone.
Even while going forward, I inched forward slowly and slow on low ratio(in safari you can actually crawl on 1st low).
From an off road difficulty point of view this section dry or wet is similar. but when water is more the problem is that you cannot see the bottom, so you do not know how big a rock you are climbing upon.
I think the daytime pics of the Nallah will make things clear. I will post them soon

[tsk1979]

Now, as I mentioned earlier, the road from Tangste to Lukung is good smooth tarmac. However there are places where it goes through some dry river bed kind of area. At many places the road vanishes for a few meters, to be replaced with a concrete dip, which acts a water channel when wet.
In the morning, it was all dry, now all of these channels were raging torrents.
Thankfully the deepest was 6-7 inches.
Looks like the difference in conditions between night and day is like the difference between night and day. Who would have thought of that!
It also signified another thing, that the days were unusually warm, leading to excess snow melt.

anyways, its past 9 when we are in Tangste, and our host lady, and her husband are having dinner.
Quickly their helpers prepare delicious food for us, and just like a family we sit in the traditional ladakhi sitting and have dinner with them.

The helper arvind, goes to Goa in winters, like countless others like him.
He tells the tales of film stars like Amir Khan and Kareena kapoor who had come to pangong, and also shows the pics when they were in the guest house;
due to lack of acco, in June the entire crew etc., along with stars were living in the same rooms, ofcourse one guest house was not enough for them.

I also ask them about the stacked stones at high passes. and they oblige me with the explanation.
Many budhists believe when people die, the spirits go to heaven(well in hindsight, all religious people believe that). While going upwards, the sprits pass through high places like passes, high monasteries, peaks etc.,
The journey can get long so these stones are the resting places. The sprits can dewel in these stones during transit for resting before continuing their journey heavenwards.
So mystery solved, though I remember, on TV once somebody said these are to trap evil spirits. Well anyways, I guess every custom has lots of stories attached

After lot of chit chat etc., its 11 before we notice.
Time to go to bed. Thankfully no AMS related headaches today. But a nice bed is always welcome on the night of the day you do Marismik La, and hang out full day at the enchanted lake.

Tomorrow we go to Leh... Leg 1 of the trip was ending, with north changthang done!

[lordofgondor]

Wonderful, amazing & beautiful pics mate and great writeup.

I feel kinda green for the boat ride, especially since I had turned down one.

Waiting for more...

[tsk1979]

Okay you turned down a boat ride...??? I agree that teh clutch went bust, but still!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tsk1979]

Its a lazy saturday morning. So we wake up late around 8ish.
Now I know late is normally 1pm for us, but its holiday time when early is 7, very early is 5 and late is 8-9
But Leh is just 5 hours away.

We have a heavy breakfast, true punjabi Aloo Paranthas, and pay the bills.
We are feeling fresh. Fully aclimitized, full of energy, and now its time to see if the white elephant is fine.
Well, we I start the engine, and grr grr grr first attempt, the white elephant is roaring away to glory. She knows there is no M.La today, hence no tantrums.

Warm up the car and enjoy the wonderful partially cloudy weather.
Light breeze, light clouds. A perfect day.

A day when we can get to leh around early afternoon, and then waste the whole lovely day in the cramped and congested bylanes.
Or we can choose not to do that.
We can simply go to Pangong Tso again.

No prizes for guessing how long it took for the decision to happen.
9:30am, we are headed eastwards, to that enchanted lake... Again!

CONT.................

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Okay you turned down a boat ride...??? I agree that teh clutch went bust, but still!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it was either the boat ride or a very angry wife! I guess the choice is pretty clear.

[mohang_j]

Originally Posted by deky

@Tanveer:- kindly post full details, like you already doing, as opposed to only pics as suggested by you. This is truly making of an epic of a travelogue and good pics + good narration= excellent results.

+1. we don't want to miss any details. Tanveer Please post as much as details you can. It will help everybody who plans to visit these places.

[rjstyles69]

Hey Tanveer I have been a silent reader of your travelogue all this while buddy. Reason being, I wanted you to complete it and then comment. Half way thru your travelogue has made me loose patience , darn your travelogue and the pictures is simply brilliant and out of this world.

Am sure in the recent times this is one of the best threads with excellent images doing justice to your getaway. Methinks 10 days is quite a long time to keep us lesser mortals waiting to see what the rest of the travelogue holds.

The pictures are simply mindblowing and honestly I never knew a polarizer could do such magic. Well what matters most if the eyes behind the viewfinder and you have proved it again. Great work there with the camera.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by mohang_j

+1. we don't want to miss any details. Tanveer Please post as much as details you can. It will help everybody who plans to visit these places.

Sure will post all details, and most of the pics

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Hey Tanveer I have been a silent reader of your travelogue all this while buddy. Reason being, I wanted you to complete it and then comment. Half way thru your travelogue has made me loose patience , darn your travelogue and the pictures is simply brilliant and out of this world.

Am sure in the recent times this is one of the best threads with excellent images doing justice to your getaway. Methinks 10 days is quite a long time to keep us lesser mortals waiting to see what the rest of the travelogue holds.

The pictures are simply mindblowing and honestly I never knew a polarizer could do such magic. Well what matters most if the eyes behind the viewfinder and you have proved it again. Great work there with the camera.

Thanks riju. Comments like yours keep me motivated to keep writing.
After Pangong episode is over, the travelogue will be 1/3rd done, so I don't think its possible to complete in 10 days, maybe little more.
I will try to be as fast as possible!

[tsk1979]

We are on the road to Pangong, and making good pace. Can't wait to get to the lake again. Clouds are building up too, and I am hoping for snowfall at the lake(I know fat chance, it will probably rain).
Soon we spot a vertical green patch on the mountain. On the green patch some white patches are there.
No nobody is growing cotton there. Its your sweaters buddies.
The best 4x4s in the world


I do not take out my zoom lens though. Time to get to the lake you see.
Around 10kms or so before the lake as we take a turn to come to a plains type are, I see a lot of commotion. Some 4-5 taxis have stopped and people have come out.
Its either a major accident, or there is a naked man running on the road.

We also stop, but its neither, its these guys







Apprently somebody gave them biscuits, something which should not be done. Animals can get dependent. From their behaviour it seems they are accustomed to travellers, and from their health, they have been eating a lot of biscuits lately






No wonder they are called Tibetian snow pigs too.
Here is one eating.


After spending a few minutes here, it was time to move on, the lake was waiting.

Also waiting was the nallah, which we reached around 10:30am.
The water was pretty high, higher than what we have crossed in the morning yesterday, but not as high as the night adventure.
However, the two sections were almost separate.
While crossing the nallah, we crossed the innova driver whom I had spoken to yesterday. He was pretty shocked!

Due to the angle, the water is appearing pretty tame, but believe me its not. The innova barely made it through, and I could clearly hear clang clang of the rocks on undercarriage as wheels spun.
Taxis have to do this in gung ho mode. If they slow down they can get stuck.
So its thump thump thump clang clang clang every time a taxi crosses. However I was gentle with the gentle giant.

And soon after the nallah, we were at our favorite lake.. Yay!


TO BE CONT...........

[Sha]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

He tells the tales of film stars like Amir Khan and Kareena kapoor who had come to pangong, and also shows the pics when they were in the guest house;
due to lack of acco, in June the entire crew etc., along with stars were living in the same rooms, ofcourse one guest house was not enough for them.

At the time of shooting we were there and i heard the same story. One of the visitor was threatened by personal security gaurd of kareena for taking her photos though he was far away but crazy guy he some how took the photos and showed us. Another story was last year Saif was hit by local in the face as he was protecting kareena itseems.

[tsk1979]

Pangong is always lovely. come rain, come sunshine
Today we were here before noon, and saw new colors



The white elephant. Again one of my fav pics



The waters change color every minute, and every location is similar

Another one

Dark clouds loom though, and it may start raining any time


Behind us, the rains have started, and clouds are dumping sleet on the tops


But we will make hay till the sun shines, eh?


Another one, the reflections are decent today, though winds are picking up as the clouds start making their appearance


Couple of more pics




To be CONT............

[Indizen08]

Interesting narration and good photographs.