Have to admit that although it was nice to sleep in a bed, and have loads of room to spread our things out; we missed being brought bed tea! We woke up feeling full of beans following the best night’s sleep in over a week. We even managed to complete all the little chores that had thwarted us the previous afternoon. Now it was time to organise some side trips for the rest of our time based in Leh. We already knew we wanted to go to Pangong Lake and since we’d been so happy with the service from Dreamland simply popped in and booked it.
That left us with the afternoon to fill; what could be better than a jeep ride up to Khardung La at 5600m on the world’s highest motor-able road? Well, so the Indians claim but the Bolivians seem to feel they win that prize too. On enquiring about prices we were asked if we had a permit. What, we need a permit to travel along a public road? Yes! Okay, can we get one today? No! But you could go tomorrow. No we can’t we’ve just booked and paid for a trip to Pangong Lake. So that little idea was promptly shelved.
In the end we had a lovely relaxing day pottering around Leh, drinking endless cups of coffee and people watching. It had to be brews as, even though it had been a dry day yesterday, all the Kingfisher Lager had disappeared. We’d already made the mistake of ordering Godfather once before and weren’t about to repeat that error! The people watching was interesting – for some reason all the trekker, backpacker types had been replaced with those who’d forgotten to go home. I presume they think they fit in with their ethnic, bohemian garb but frankly they stick out like sore thumbs and look plain daft. Just our opinion!!
Once we were awash with coffee we decided to have some focus to our wanderings and set off in the general direction of Sankar Gompa. The route took us down narrow, deserted, winding lanes and it was a very pleasant walk. It made us realise just how small Leh is, as we were very quickly into agricultural land. The Gompa itself isn’t anything special but nice enough and we managed to find a different path back to the centre of old Leh. We spent the rest of the afternoon buying presents and chortling at the ridiculous prices the jewellery shop owners came up with. An early bath; in preparation for our next little adventure.
Pangong Tso (Lake)
We knew that to get to this lake we would be going over Chang La at 5300m so weren’t too disappointed that we’d not been able to go up to Khardung La (5600m). Our first stop wasn’t all that far out of Leh when we visited Chemre Gompa. As with most of the other gompas we’d seen on our travels, this one was also perched on what looked like an inaccessible hill. Amazingly the road leading to the monastery twisted and turned its way up and round the hill until we reached the main entrance. It was a labyrinth of passage ways and doors and it’s impossible to know the best way to explore. However, they tend to be laid back places and the monks are happy to let you wander around at will. The building looked spectacular from a distance but was somewhat crumbling on closer inspection. From the top of the walls we got wonderful views of the surrounding valley and mountains. We’d only just finished our 10-day trekathon but were already missing it.
The road continued up the valley until it began the long, long climb up to Chang La. It’s incredible that they’ve managed to put in a road at all. In fact, if it wasn’t for the armed forces and border patrols, I don’t think they would have bothered. I really can’t think of any other reason for a road to have been built through this part of Ladakh. The road consisted of many a tight hairpin bend for our driver to deal with. Luckily the road was very quiet so it was rare we encountered anything approaching from the opposite direction. At one point we saw some monks sat on the edge of the road chanting prayers. Apparently a month before a jeep with 4 passengers and driver had careered off the side of the mountain and all on board were killed. I am very pleased to report that our driver (Saed) was very calm and steady. The jeep driver would have been well advised to pay more attention to the signs along the side of the road. There were many, but our favourites were; Speed Thrills But Kills, This is a Highway not a Runway, Be Mr Late Not Late Mr and the favourite was After Whiskey Driving Risky.
The road continued along its amazing, beautiful, spectacular and dramatic way all the way to Chang La. Obviously we didn’t just zip past – the camera had to put in appearance for start off! Besides which our driver needed a well earned break after concentrating on the poor road conditions for so long. The troops up there are all hardy, friendly Sikhs and they keep the place ship shape. Everything was so very clean and tidy and they even have a tea hut dishing up free cuppas. I think it’s a great way to persuade drivers to pull over to take a vital break before tackling the descent. It was amazing to think that we were stood on a road at 5300m when the year before we’d spent days hiking to that elevation on Kilimanjaro.
As we descended from the pass, the steeply sided mountains gave way to more gently sloped hills. The vegetation became increasingly sparse and we found ourselves travelling over a high dessert plateau. Although we did see some sheep and horses the domestic beast of choice is the very robust yak. We stopped for lunch in the village of Tangste - just as well as the provided packed lunch was bobbins! Chapatti and dhal was always going to win over; mayonnaise sarnies, boiled egg and a banana. To be honest it would be better if the trip included a stop in one of Tangste’s tea houses as a matter of course.
After lunch we realised that we’d descended about as far as we were going to and the landscape was at its most harsh, dry and desolate. The only plants managing to survive were clinging to the river banks. That didn’t stop our friends the marmots surviving out there and we saw quiet a number as we trundled along. A few that live near a campsite have got so used to people they will actually take food from your hand. I don’t think the guides and drivers should be encouraged to feed them biscuits, but I suppose it’s better than munching on low grade grass all your life.
An elderly man was hitching so we stopped to pick him up. It turned out he’d spent the morning tucking into the local beverage, chang, and was pretty tipsy! Our driver was not impressed and made him wind the window down. Obviously we couldn’t follow their conversation but it’s fairly safe to say our driver gave him a good old scolding. When we dropped him off he almost got run over by the vehicle behind us! He managed to meander across the road in what was presumably the general direction of his home. At one point he suddenly stopped, put his hands on his hips and looked like he’d either forgotten which was his house or was about to keel over. A most entertaining way to round off a fantastic journey.
Not much further on, we reached the shores of the lake, where we spent another half hour or so bouncing along the track to our accommodation. Due to the worsening weather we didn’t get to see the lake’s ‘distinctive and beautiful shades of blue’ that we’d read about. We weren’t too worried about that as we were going to be cosy in our tent on the edge of the lake. That’s when things started to disintegrate! We were shown into a dump of a guesthouse with nowhere to sit and admire the view. The place was inexplicably surrounded by a wall and a fence and was thoroughly depressing. Our spirits plummeted even further on being shown a filthy room with a view of the toilet block. As I have said the weather wasn’t very good so we only went for a couple of short strolls along the edge of the lake. We went to bed feeling totally ripped off.
It was such a shame to feel so let down at the end of the journey. We’d never visited anywhere so remote, isolated and desolate and yet with such dramatic and beautiful scenery. The journey back to Leh was uneventful with the highlight being; it was snowing a little at the top of Chang La. Once back in Leh we decided to tuck into some Tibetan food – tasty but not very exciting was the conclusion. There was still no Kingfisher Lager to be had, but that didn’t matter, as we had to retire early in order to be up at 4am to start our next adventure. A two day bus journey from Leh to Manali.
