The sometimes emerald-green and sometimes midnight-blue pool of water, with shores covered in foliage that one could spend hours exploring, is girdled by soaring peaks as high as 6,500m. You have to cross the Chang La (Pass) at a height of 5,599m to get to the lake. Be prepared for a ‘not exactly smooth’ journey as some stretches are rather backbreaking. You will cross the villages of Durbuk, and Tangste that has a small temple. You could stay at the campsite in Mugleb. Situated at a distance of about 150km from Leh, Spangmic is the last village you are allowed to touch according to the guidelines of the permit. You could try your hand at riding a yak at one of the villages and pretend to be a highland bloke.

Past the Thanglang La (Pass) and a soak in the hot springs of Chhumathang, you arrive at the salty Tso Kar or the ‘White Lake’, so named perhaps because of the parched salt that cakes the shores of the lake. Tso Kar is at a distance of 155km from Leh. You can camp at the nearby Thukje village and also visit the monastery of Thukje. Further along the road are the hot springs at Puga. The road finally cuts through the Rupsu Valley to meet the 27km long and 8km wide Tso Moriri, or Mountain Lake that touches a hamlet with the same name. The lake looks up to an endless sea of mountains. The region is home to the nomadic tribe called Khampas who can be seen in the summer months with their large herds. The area also boasts of an impressive range of wildlife and is one of the better places where you could try and spot marmots, foxes and the Tibetan wild ass.

Pangong Lake

Pangong Lake in Kashmir is the world’s highest brackish lake at 14,256 feet above sea level.  A few years back the government decided to open it to tourists though the lake and its surrounding is under army surveillance.  The tourism department intends to develop the infrastructure and facilitate the route leading to the lake.

A place too easily arrived at is scarcely worth traveling to at all.  Consider the ‘tired tourist’ who simply seeks solace in much talked about destinations, where he tends to relax and stroll the evenings away, buy a few souvenirs and sample the cuisine from the endless menu.  And there’s the ‘tireless traveler’ - the learning by living person who opts for a destination in order to explore and experience the unknown.

The 160 km trip to Pangong Lake from Leh is one such experience.  It begins with Thiksey village famous for its huge monasteries covering an entire mountain ridge.  Beyond this remote village there is nothing but the extreme mountain ridge.  Beyond this remote village there is nothing but the extreme mountain ranges for company.

The topography throughout the journey shoots up so abruptly that they throw off all calculations of distance - what looked to be a ten-minute crossing easily required an hour or more.  At times, it appeared as if so many of nature’s forces were warning us away at the steep slopes and uneasy bends and not to forget the great chunks of ice appearing static and frozen in time.  At Darbuk village near Tangste Valley stood a chain of war memorials with Regimental Insignias in commemoration of the soldiers who lost their lives during the Indo-Chinese war of 1962.  Some of the army bunkers and trenches are still in use.  Villagers can be seen here along with their large herds of Pashmina sheep and long tailed yaks.

The placid Pangong Lake is not just a tourists paradise but a geologist’s domain too and if one is to brush up with political history, the place is a melting pot of confusion and for sure it in no fun for the army in the biting cold to take care of the strategic landscape.
Travelers enjoy the solitude for a day or two, zoom their cameras to shoot the black necked Siberian  crane around the Mahe marshes which are the only breeding ground for these migratory birds.  At times they are seen swarming in the cool colourful water of the lake.  If one has boating in mind, one is heading for disappointment.  Very few boats are available and they belong to the army who may consider your request but won’t allow you to go beyond half a kilometer though one third of the 150 km lake belongs to India.  The remaining 100 km stretch of water belongs to China.  The lake was once divided between Ladakh and Tibet as early as 1684 under the Treaty of Tingmosgang signed between the king of Ladakh, Deldan Namgyal, and the Regent of Tibet.  As of today it is shared by India and China.