mytravelnama

Prologue

The aura of the overnight camping at Pangong had a long lasting impression on all of us. Although we had comfortable sleeping bags and heavy blankets at our disposal, but with the lights being put off for the night, severe cold wave surrounded the camp completely.

Pangong Tso…Amazing Morningscape…

Hassan ji later informed us that that night the mercury was touching almost -9⁰ C in and around Pangong.

Sunrise in Camp Pangong

We were at the mercy of the harsh nature outside. The frightful shrieks of the wild gale had a toll on our spirits before we were all immersed in deep sleep; thanks to the day long road trip from Nubra to Pangong.

A new day..Camp View…Pangong Tso

The Sunrise

We were late to rise from bed and the Sun was already on its way out to mark the beginning of a new day. We were literally freezing outside. May be the temperature was still way below the 0⁰ C mark. The crazy cold winds were biting hard at our skin. Yet it was hard to ignore the visual treat that lay around us.

Early in the morning at our camp

A Beautiful Morning at Camp Pangong

Bright rays of warm daylight started pouring into the valley as the Sun blazed its way up from the mountains lying on the other side of Pangong.  All of a sudden the dull grey mountains started looking magnificent adoring their multi shades of grey as if they too were awakened by the day break.

Camp Pangong….early in the morning

“Uncle Ji”

Seeing us all outside, “Uncle Ji” (proprietor of the camp) asked us to wait for 10 minutes for hot water, as all of the water stored in the washroom tanks had long frozen into ice.

A selfi with Uncle Ji

The Camp Kitchen

At the early hours of the morning the camp kitchen was a scene of busy activities with both Uncle Ji and his son being busy boiling hot water for their guests. Seeing us he asked his son to prepare black tea which was much needed at this hour.

A selfi at our Camp Kitchen..Uncle and Hassan Ji were also there

A selfi moment outside the kitchen

Hassan Ji soon joined us. We discussed our plan of journey back to Leh. It was decided that we needed to leave early by 9 am so that we could manage local sightseeing at Thiksey Monastery and village Shey near Leh.

Getting ready for the morning stroll

The memorable morning stroll

We had almost one and half hour free time before breakfast was ready and decided to use this for exploring the near abouts of our camp. We decided to walk towards the North East bank of the lake taking the Spangmik road.

The campscape…Lake Pangong

The sight was just breath taking. With the vicinity of the camp disappearing way behind, it was just the Pangong Tso, the mountains, the limitless blue sky and we left all alone in this paradise.

We were almost a kilometer away from the camp

We were almost a kilometer away from the camp. The lake had taken a semi-circular curve moving in towards the mountains resembling a bay. The waters of Pangong adored a pervasive velvety blue. Its top surface was smeared by cascading ripples of several tiny waves softly touching the pebbled shores.

The waters of Pangong adored a pervasive velvety blue

The Lake’s top surface was smeared by cascading ripples of several tiny waves

Pangong Tso..morning scapes..

We moved out through a turn in the road and found another camp consisting of a dozen log houses. To our surprise the camp was absolutely desolated; not even the trace of the owner could be found.

The other camp

Lake Pangong…from the other camp

Blueness unlimited..Pangong Tso

After strolling more than a kilometer we needed to have a break and finding some comfortable arm chairs on the lobby of the camp was more than anything we had expected. It was an absolute treat to enjoy the morning sun in its full blaze and breathe the pure air around us.

Panorama shot at the other camp…Pangong Tso

It was nice to see that the seagulls had returned to the lake’s shore after their overnight dose. Many of them were gliding and hovering over the water surface looking for a prey. It was surprising to see that other than these inquisitive sea gulls no birds were around, not even the crows. Probably the shaping of an early winter had made them to take refuge in warmer parts of Ladakh.

Another wonderful moment Pangong Tso…

Pangong Lake to our surprise looked as if it had no end. It was an ocean of its own. It expanded far far away in the North East direction way into China. Surprisingly only one third of the lake was in India and the rest were in China.

The Spangmik Road, Pangong Tso

Thousands of years might have had passed ever since this lake was naturally made by feeding glaciers. The nature had hardly left anything to simply beautify this adorable haven with the pure blueness of the lake and the perpetual grey shades of the mighty Ladakhi Mountains.

Hassan Ji’s arrival to pick us back to the camp

On our way back

Our trance was broken by a loud honk coming from our left. It was none other than Hassan Ji. He had driven all the way from our camp to pick us up. With the breakfast ready it was time to pack things up and bid adieu to Pangong.

Epilogue

The magical words of William Wordsworth’s immortal creation “Daffodils” were bouncing back from my memory.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze…..

Pangong Tso..a lifelong memory

The aura of Pangong Lake this morning was nothing less than what Wordsworth had visualized in his magical verses. We had to admit that the love for nature is pure and truly eternal. Every earthly soul needed to feel this love by surrendering completely to the divine beauty of Mother Earth.

The aura of Pangong Tso..can’t be faded out…

We had to admit that the aura of this eventful morning at Pangong had created a lifelong impression in our minds and soul.

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