CategoriesTravel By Harry11

Paradise Pangong-lake

I had the opportunity to visit Ladakh with the Nomadic Monk team in September of 2018. Hands down, one of my favorite places in Ladakh was Pangong Lake (no surprise there)! In this blog, I’ll try to do justice to beautiful lake (empathizes on ‘try’ – nothing can really do justice to the lake – you have experience it to believe it).

I’m sure, by now, you’ve heard about the famous Pangong Tso (Lake) or you have that one friend who just won’t stop talking about their trip to Ladakh. Nevertheless, I’ll fill you on some details about the gorgeous lake.

The most common (and direct) route to Pangong is from Leh. A little over 6 hours, the journey itself is quite charming. The road takes you through Chang La, Ladakh’s third highest mountain pass at 5,360 meters. From Chang La, the road to Pangong continues to Durbuk, Tangste and Spangmik. From Spangmik, it’s straight to Pangong.

Now, trust me when I say this – nothing will prepare you for that first glimpse of Pangong Lake.  You may have read all there is to about the lake and seen countless pictures and videos. But, that’s nothing compared to when you catch the first glimpse of Pangong. It will leave you speechless. Our group reached Pangong late in the evening – just in time to catch the sunset, and what a sight it was! The sky was filled with hues of amber as the sun dipped behind the mountains and the lake shimmered in the dwindling twilight. It was quite a scene to behold – peaceful and humbling.

We made our way to the campsite and spent some time unwinding from the trip. The day was not over yet…the night was still young and held some surprises. The stars shone so brightly, I couldn’t (didn’t) want to take my eyes off them! As the night went on, you could clearly make out the mesmerizing Milky Way. A bunch of us gathered under the night sky to see the Milky Way. We were astonished when we saw not one, not two, not three – but TEN shooting stars! Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘thank my lucky stars’! It’s a night that’s clearly etched in my memory, I mean, would you be able to forget a night like this?

Nobody wasted time in the morning dilly dallying as they were all restless to walk down to the shores of Pangong. As I made my way down to Pangong with the others, I couldn’t help but feel lucky. It’s not everyday that you get witness magical sites such as Pangong. Pangong Lake looked even more beautiful in the day! The lake stretched for miles and you could make out the different colours of the lake – shades of blue, green and turquoise.

Surrounded by snow capped mountains, the lake proudly glistened under the morning Sun. Some areas of the lake were more crowded than the others. There are a few spots at the lake which offer you photo opportunities where you can re-enact famous scenes from ‘3 Idiots’ and ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’. I suggest that you spend more time taking in the view of the lake. I walked down as far as I could, away from the crowd to really enjoy the sight that Pangong lake had to offer. Standing in front of this vast gorgeous lake got me thinking how some things in life are just trivial – cliché I know, but what’s life without a few clichés? It really does put a few things in perspective. Pangong Lake is nothing short of an exceptional sight and to witness it in person is a different high altogether.

Pangong Lake is one of those sights you need to put on your bucket list, if you haven’t already (you can thank me later). I’ve heard stories from people who’ve visited Ladakh multiple times and one thing they can all agree on is that they never get tired of seeing the lake. The beauty never fails to surprise them. One of India’s spectacular attractions, you need to visit it at least once. A phenomenon in its own way, Pangong Lake is not only a treat to the eyes – but the soul as well.

What are some of your favorite places in Ladakh? Let us know in the comments below!

To see our trips to Ladakh, click here. 

To see our fixed departures to Ladakh, click here.

CategoriesUncategorized By Harry11

​The Unexplored Realm of Himachal – Spiti Valley

Located in between India and Tibet is this beautiful dessert mountain valley – Spiti which quite literally
translates to “The Middle Land”. The valley lies in the North Eastern section of the Indian state Himachal
Pradesh, and forms part of the Lahaul and Spiti district. The sub-divisional headquarters (capital) is Kaza,
Himachal Pradesh which is situated along the Spiti River at an elevation of about 12,500 feet (3,800 m)
above mean sea level. Situated in the lap yards of the gigantic and blissful Himalayas, Spiti Valley lets
you experience the wilderness of nature and magical snow clad mountains.

All the picturesque landscapes and scenic views you must have seen in movies come to life here and yes
it is quite a surreal feeling. The accessibility to this hidden valley in the Himalayas is what makes the
journey adventurous and enthralling. We drove to Kinnaur valley via Shimla, a long drive of about 400
kms, but it doesn’t seem that long when you are surrounded by valleys one side and beautifully snow
clad mountains on the other.

The breath taking views on this journey is what will make you want to come back to this place time and
again. We reached Sangla in Kinnaur valley after sunset and the view at night was something you
would’ve never imagined of witnessing. We were under a sky that had a million stars alongside snow
clad mountains greyed out in the bright moonlight falling on them.

This was just the beginning and it was only going to get better from here on as we moved upwards
towards the main Spiti Valley. We drove through Chitkul (the last inhibited village of Himachal Pradesh)
on the banks of the Baspa River a few kms away from the Indo-China border. This small village also had
so much to offer, we were lucky enough to catch a view comprising of the sun, moon, mountains and
river all in one frame!

Also Read:  Spiti Valley – A Perfect Wanderlust

Our next stop was Nako, largest village at an elevation of about 3,600 metres with the backdrop of Reo
Purgyal, the highest mountain in Himachal Pradesh. This was our stop for the night before starting our
journey to Kaza the following day.

On the way to Kaza we stopped at Tabo to get a feel of the ancient and beautiful Tabo Monastery. It is
one of the oldest monasteries in Spiti Valley. The monastery depicts the various periods in Buddhism
and has a large number of frescoes displayed on its walls that depict tales from the Buddhist pantheon.
After spending some peaceful time at the monastery, we started towards Dhankar. We decided to do
the Dhankar Lake trek to discover the untouched beauty of the high altitude lake.

The tiring trek was one of the most rewarding things of the trip. Moving slowly upwards allowed us to
get a breathtaking panoramic view of the high mountains and valleys. The view of the crystal clear lake
was definitely worth all the effort. The lake surrounded by snow clad hills is a site that is hard to forget,
no amount of time spent at the bank of that lake would ever be enough. After a long and tiring but
eventful day we reached Kaza.

The following day was the one we all had been looking forward to, having read about Hikkim, Langza &
Komic, we couldn’t wait to get there. These are 3 small towns which are basically the heart of Spiti
Valley. Covered in wilted snow and snow clad mountains on all sides, the drive from one town to
another was an unforgettable one. The humongous golden Buddha statue in Langza, The world’s highest
post office in Hikkim, Komic, the highest motor able village in Asia and the Ki Monastery are places you
cannot miss when in Spiti.

Kalpa was the last stop over of our trip and without a doubt as the saying goes we saved the best for the
last! Kalpa is a small town in the Sutlej River overlooking the vast range of mountains giving a panoramic
view of the Himalayan ranges that light up beautifully under the bright moonlight.
Visiting Spiti will make you realize that the mountains & valleys have a certain kind of magic in them and
quite ironically, they will instill a certain kind of calmness and storm in you all at once!