Pangong Blues

Welcome to the Blues

A difficult name to pronounce – excluding the Changpa Nomads who reside here, every visiting tourist may use his local dialect to give it his choicest pronunciations such as “Pyongyang” or “Pangong” or “Pangyong” It reached its fame in the concluding scene of the movie “3 Idiots” and the local Changpas are grateful to the film Producer and Staff as it has improved their financial status – a Plaque outside one such hotel says it all. Its distant cousin the “Tsomoriri” is some distance away and is equally mesmerizing known also for its Sulphur mines

Situated at an extreme end of Ladakh, the drive from the city center may take you almost 5 hours encompassing some of the most scenic views enroute.  Despite having a Tavera at our disposal one of our colleagues chose the more adventurous “Royal Enfield” drive as he wanted this to be a memorable page in his life. So you can easily hire a bike of your choice (or Cycle?) from Leh and brave out the dry scorching 6 hour bumpy ride amidst small rivulets, steep slopes and pebbled roads. And we took an additional hour to reach our destination to let our Bullet rider catch up with us.

 

Enroute, a small stopover for a wildlife enthusiast would be the Open grasslands which is the abode of a small rabbit like furry species known as the Marmot who live in burrows. They look cuddlesome and cute, but a signboard on the roadside warns you against feeding them as a few of them have succumbed to food poisoning, our driver casually mentioned that some migrant workers who were involved in a road building exercise nearby some time back, hunted and barbecued them which depleted their numbers further. Despite this, they have no protection and you can approach them for a closeup photograph. If you are lucky you may also sight the rare “Himalayan Wild Ass” 

A Marmot in the Grassland

The Himalayan Wild Ass

Situated at a height of about 13,900 feet,” Pangong” means a long, narrow, enchanted lake. A small part of the lake is in India and the major part in China. The right time to visit would be around 12.30pm when the Sun is at its peak and the sharp blue tinge of the lake is noticeable.

The weather near the shores of the lake is chilly during daytime and night times are freezing, so you would be in trouble if not carrying sufficient warm clothing or a Bottle of Liquor. There are plenty of accommodations options starting from Home stay to a luxurious 3 star Tents, the more adventurous sort can also pitch his tent bang near the shore.

Accommodations like these are few but of good standard

To enjoy the aura of the lake you can carry a Pint of beer and watch the hues of the lake changing as the sun goes down. There are a few curio shops close-by and one of them is run by the Indian Army.

The best way to chill out at the lake during evening

During winter time the lake freezes completely. The salt water lake does not support any form of vegetation. However, it does have a lot of migratory birds like Brahmani Ducks, Rare black necked cranes and Seagulls.

Migratory Birds

One little known aspect of this lake is its Mineral rich soil, and for a Mineralogist it could be a heaven. The region abounds in sparkling Mica, Malachite and Quartz specimens and you could easily gather an armful of “Garnets” on a small hillock nearby which is known as “Garnet Hill”. The Garnet is a semiprecious stone, red in color and in high demand, you could even buy some good specimens from the staff of an eatery close-by.

On Garnet Hill - searching for Minerals