PangongTso II some more angles

brown and black headed gulls are present during summers

A full moon over a lake is a delight!

PangongTso

Some of the best landscapes we saw

Crossing Changla took me quite long as expected. Crossing high passes keeps getting tougher with every metre of climb. The downhill there after was initially tough due to the snow-ice forming on the road. But crossing Changla after 3 has its advantages. There are no vehicles moving in my direction and the ones opposing also reduce in numbers leaving a great downhill to enjoy with thrill or just sit on the saddle and feel the serene valley. I was involved in both and many times looking down below at the valley did resemble like flying in a chopper but that thrill I tried to avoid on downhills least the reality and the dream coincide!
After a night halt at Tangtse, I moved off early to the nearby lake of Pangong. Any body coming from Leh will take their time to cross Changla and anybody at Pangong would not be willing to leave the place in the morning. My prediction was right again and I got the deserted road with occasional visitors like spectacular birds, wild asses, Yaks, goats and the BRO. The rides in these regions were one of the best I ever had.
The Pangong has a rich dark blue colour while under the sun. The colours vary quite a lot with time and it is fun to watch the variations especially from an elevation. Climbing on to hills, I was fortunate to have the perfect view (well one of many).

One of the perfect Pangong view

Bird watchers would be delighted at the number of Siberian visitors and other locals.

 

Eastern Ladakh II : ChangLa

ChangLa was the second big pass (5000m+) that challenged me. It was a slightly longer uphill than the one at Khardung La. I started from a slightly higher altitude (Karu base) as compared to Leh market and the slopes were also more challenging on this route. Aware of the old controversies over the altitude of KhardungLa, I had measured them with my GPS. So did I repeat the procedure at ChangLa, resulting in ChangLa being the heighest Indian motorable road and fortunately with lesser traffic(due to lack of the title KhardungLa possesses) and better roads(so far all comparisions made with KhardungLa). I was expected to be acclimatised and so was I but honestly, the head still ached terribly. The slightly uncomfortable bumps seemed dangerous. It wasn't as bad as KhardungLa where I had to stop a lot more just to stay safe but here too I wanted to cross over early. No matter how fast I coevered the initial 75% of the mammoth uphill, the latter 25% (last 12kms) took more time than the earlier. And if one digs into details, it so happens that last 3 kms took over an hour! It kept getting tough as the roads further got bumpy. It is on these kinds of upslopes that the rear tyre skids and instinctly I tried to pedal harder.
Reaching the top felt like an achievement. The army offers free tea to all the tourists and takes good care. I was the special guest at that moment being welcomed, cheered, encouraged and well fed :)
The high passes usually have a tough downhill around 10kms on either sides(an exeption of TanglangLa- see future posts). This was no exception. The melting ice had made the road into pebbled rivers and the freezing fingers had to be kept alive.There after it was a neat speed and scenic ride till Tangtse. The sense of complete freedom was relished the most in eastern Ladakh though a man is never completely free. I had the borders and military restrictions at many places for my own good. The place had more of endangered species of animals than the least concern homo sapiens.

The heighest road under my consideration: Great Job BRO

Yaks feasting on whatever little icy grass they can manage

Eastern Ladakh I

Leh has a lot of cultural display regarding Ladakh, but due to commercialization, it is bound to change. The prosperity has led to modern buildings. To have a look at 'not so modern' Ladakh, one has to move away to Karu or Upshi or even further to Rumtse. Eastern Ladakh starts showing of variations in terrain as well with more vast open spaces and a higher elevation. After crossing over Khardungla on my return, I ended up in Karu and perched around near by villages. This was the longest stay as I had to wait for the fantastic Leh Manali route to open up. Meanwhile, I explored Pangong Tso and Chushul regions. Eastern Ladakh stays the best part of the journey with lots of scenic moments and good tough experiences. The heighest passes were fought in this region. 7 out of 10 times I crossed 5000m altitude mark on the bike. While some say it was the man not the machine to achieve such feats, I would have to agree. If it weren't for Mr. Cannondale, 12000cc of thighs would not have scaled the heights so efficiently and quickly!

Solar Cooker. 2 houses: an old and a new one

On the way to Pangong Tso

Chemrey Gompa cluster on the hill

Tsoltak: snowed on ChangLa

529mbar of pressure on Changla! almost half of that at sealevel! Killer...

Wildlife near Khardungla

On my return, as I struggled up to North Pulu, the ride had lots of surprises in the form of wildlife. That was the most active day in the complete regarding wildlife. But one has to ensure that the animals are not scared away by the motor sounds and what I missed while I hurried down the slope was mainly due to speed and sunset. Some of them find their way to this blog while animals like ibex are too common to find on the ridges high up during mornings and evenings.

Wind on mountains

Some times wind on mountains provide for a much fascinating view. After some show, I decided to take this video

Nubra and Shyok Valleys

 The Nubra and Shyok Valleys are almost adjacent and split a little distance from Khalsar. Though both together are also called Nubra valley usually. Nubra means flowers. There are a lot of wild flowers which had not bloomed while I was there but did manage to see some of them. There are just too many oasis in this desert and riding along the river is a treat for the eyeballs. Going along the Shyok river, one comes across the sand dunes at Hunder and farm lands there after for quite some time.  The double hump camel is the landmark in this region. While crossing the sand dunes, I was actually caught up in the dust storm but it was a thrilling experience. The prologue of the dust storm was what I could record.

After the storm: A relief

The frequent landslides and other harsh factors contribute to erosion but one can even see the formation of sedimentary rocks. Playing with them, one can realize the diverse toughness of these rocks which could be attributed to their age or method of formation.
The dogs in this region are known to have killed Humans at times. Some of them managed to chase me from under the bridge while I was riding over it and did not give up even after we were on different sides of the river. Reaching the last Indian village of Tyakshi and then returning on the same route also seemed interesting. Got a lot of time to hang around with the lazy camels. Most of them are domesticated by the villagers of Hunder and the only work they have is to showcase themselves. (tourism icons)
At this point of time most of them were shedding their fur as summer approached