Ladakh – Bike Ride from Leh to Pangong Tso via Chang La – II
Even when the heavy bike troubled me a great deal, I manage to keep my eyes open to the sights around me as we drove past Chang La.
Leaving Karu Village after a breakfast of Alu Parathas, we rode past the village of Shakti before the climb to Chang La began. If there is a village anywhere in Ladakh, there has to be monastery perched high on a crag somewhere nearby. Sure enough, there was Chemrey Monastery visible far away on the mountain slopes.
We climbed steadily keeping a deep valley and Shakthi Village to the left and the mountains to the right. Tall jagged snow-peaks of Zanskar Ranges showed up beyond the Indus Valley when I stopped at an army check-post before Chang La and looked back at the valley we had left behind.
At 17,360 feet, Chang La was cold but the shining sun and absence of wind kept us in comfortable. Nevertheless, the thin mountain air and the struggles with the bike had tired me out and I was looking forward to the descent and better roads ahead. The landscape changed considerably after the pass. The valleys were wider and the slopes were gentle. There was a burst of green grass on the earth, which was a remarkable change from the arid slopes on the other side. There was more life too. Himalayan Marmots ran around playfully in the grass and wrestled with each other as we rode past them. Wild rabbits disappeared into their holes when they saw us. Where the slope was gentle, the grass was so thick and green that it completely hid the brown colour of the soil.
All this was great, but the greatest moment on the road came when we stumbled upon an open area with a deep blue waterbody in the middle of it. A stream that flowed from down from Chang La spread open on a grassy expanse and its blue waters reflected the mountains surrounding it. Tiny yellow and white flowers spread densely in small patches amidst the green grass. Occasional clouds that passed above the mountains reflected in the lake, creating distraction in the blue plane. The water was so clear that we could see the pebbles at the bottom as clearly as if there wasn’t any water. In the arid landscape of Ladakh, this was the first time I was seeing a natural lake so attractive that its serenity made the journey feel complete much before the destination was reached.
Nevertheless, the destination—Pangong Tso—still had to be reached and we were to find out soon that it involved a lot of struggle!