The Chronicles of Ladakh - Part 12 - Tso Kar , a Slice of Heaven

Previous: The Magical Tso Moriri

Day 12, 19th September, 2012

Tso Moriri > Namashang La > Sumdo > Polakongka La > Tso Kar (96 Km)

Adieu to Tso Moriri

The plan was actually to head up towards Sarchu and stay overnight there but we eneded up in Tso Kar eventually.

We bade farewell to Tso Moriri as planned at around 8 in the morning after breakfast. Similarly like Pangong, the resort is at western bank of the Tso, so we could not click the snap of the morning light being reflected on the lake. Never mind, we still managed some good ones I guess. Here they are. The peaks looked whiter because of the snowfall previous night.

Shades Again

On Our Way

The Sting of the Scorpio – the adventure begins

As we were driving through the remote lands and approaching Tso Kiagar, Rigzin announced that the clutch was not working. The news seemed like a bomb had fallen on our car. The car stopped, it wouldn’t go. Rigzin said not to worry as he had his own clutch kit which he can install. We got down, I was the helping hand while Rigzin did all he could. The area was so remote we could not see any cars passing us from any direction – we were praying that some car should come and check it out and the car would get fixed. Suddenly one car came, it stopped as well. The car was heading towards Tso Moriri. Without offering any assistance it went away. I was irritated to see people clicking photos of our hapless situation!! That must be a heck of a snap of one car stranded in the middle of nowhere.

A couple of hours passed and we started pondering over the fact whether we should start working towards Tso Moriri when Rigzin said we could start now as he had installed the new clutch kit. We were ecstatic, but our ecstasy did not last long as the clutch was still not working. We had to push it from behind so that Rigzin could start it on neutral gear. Changing the gear was all but an imagination now.

However the car started on neutral and downhill was no problem – we passed Tso Kiagar and then the ascent started for Namashang La – the car stopped. Rigzin, I don’t know how, kept on pressing the clutch and managed to change the gear to second. The car started again, it feels like we were going in a slow-motion like in movies. However, it was around 2.30 pm when we reached Sumdo – we crossed the journey in around 6 hours which should take not more than a couple of hours!

We had some lunch – Maggi again – at Sumdo. It was pretty evident that we could not make it to Sarchu today. So we were thinking whether we should stay at Sumdo itself or head towards Tso Kar. Rigzin, still trying to fix the car for the second time, suggested Tso Kar. I was doubtful whether we can even make it to Tso Kar, but he said he would do his best. Hat’s off to his driving skill, patience and the smile – he must have acquired these skills during his days with the Army! Slowly but surely we started once again. To add insult to injury, the road beyond Sumdo was like hell as we were climing another pass Polakongka La. It was all ‘follow tyre marks on the pebbled road’. The car did all sort of tricks – it skidded, went backwards, it stopped multiple times at places, but we made it finally when we saw tarred road after the mountain pass. From then on it was a straight forward drive – for us at around 30 kmph only on 2^nd gear – to Tso Kar. For this whole stretch, naturally, neither we had the morale to click photos nor the courage to stop the car for any reason.

Tso Kar, a glimpse of happiness

When we managed to descend from Polakongka La, we got a glimpse of a blue lake lying at least 5 kms ahead – Tso Kar as Rigzin announced. Finally! It was around 4.30 pm. As we drove ahead, the lake seemed bigger and bigger and eventually we could identify that there were a couple of adjacent lakes instead of one – they must have been a single lake at ancient times.

Tso Kar, the first view

Can you spot the Kiangs?

Like Tso Kiagar, Tso Kar was also surrounded by snowcapped mountains – Rigzin here mentioned that those mountains are shelter of Ibex and Snow Leopards and in winter they come to lowlands. Under the setting sun, Tso Kar was glimmering. The heavenly beauty indeed lifted our spirits. We could even see the Tso Kar village at a distance.

Tso Kar Wetland Reserve

Wetland Reserve of Tso Kar

Approaching Tso Kar Village

At around 5.15pm we reached Tso Kar village and managed to get a great room at a great deal at the Tso Kar Resort, courtesy Rigzin. The resort was amazingly located – a bit far from both the lake and the village which enhanced the calmness surrounding the resort. The staffs were too cordial and instantaneously we felt at home and our dampened morale got somewhat rejuvenated. Rigzin mentioned, since there was no mechanic until he reaches Leh, he would manage a separate car from Leh which would drop us at Manali. He went away to make phone calls from the resort and we started roaming around.

The place looked like a huge open ground surrounded by yellow mountains from all directions. The setting sunrays made the whole place look like molten gold. And it was too cold because of the emptiness and close proximity to the snow ranges. In our opinion it was the coldest place so far during this journey (little did we know what we still had to face), The staff mentioned that the owner of the resort was actually a guide, working part-time with the National Geographic and CNN photographers, as many of them frequently come here to shoot the snow leopard and the ibexes. In addition to that the Tso Kar Wetland Reserve houses thousands of migratory birds every year.

 

First Hut of the Tso Kar Village

Tents of Tso Kar Camp and Resort

 

Tso Kar Resort Building

Vast emptiness all over

Tso Kar Village - under the setting sun

Tso Kar Resort and Camp - a fantastically located heavenly haven

The cold was become unbearable slowly as the dark prevailed soon. We watched the TV at the dining hall and chatted with the friendly staffs. India was playing Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup, and all of us watched the TV together and were cheering for India. I realized, though we all were from different social and cultural background and belonged to different ethnicity we were bonded by one common thread – we were Indians. I realized the meaning of unity in diversity once more. I salute Ladakh to make me truly feel the essence of these phrases.

We had a great food and India won the match – a perfectly satisfactory combination to sleep in peace. Moreover, Rigzin now was the bearer of some good news as he intimated us that he managed to get hold of a car returning to Manali, which we pick us up from Debring (at Manali-Leh highway) and drop us at Manali with a night halt at Jispa in between. The day finally ended thus on a good note.

To be Continued...

Next: On Manali Leh Highway - the Real Adventure Begins

The Chronicles of Ladakh - Part 11 - The Magical Tso Moriri

Previous: The Remoteness of Hanle

Day 11, 18th September, 2012

Hanle > Nyoma > Loma > Mahe > Sumdo > Namashang La > Tso Kiagar > Korzok (161 Km)

The Journey

Next morning, leaving the cosiness behind proved to be more difficult than we anticipated. We aimed to start at 8 in the morning but we could manage to set out at 9.15 am!! The room was so comfortable and the breakfast so alluring that we just couldn’t get up on time and went on stuffing ourselves shamelessly.

Anyway, Rigzin advised to skip the visit to the Hanle Monastery as the journey to Tso Moriri would take time and there would be nothing new at the Monastery. We obeyed his wisely advises and thus made up for some of the lost time.

Rigzin as usual started his humorous anecdotes and the never ending list of his stories. This is because of this quality of him, all the journeys seemed so smooth and easy – his smile never leaves his face. On top of that the day was bright and sunny which lifted our spirit. The Hanle Monastery seemed like no less than some world famous Roman or Greek architecture as it shined on top of the hillock which we visited yesterday from a distance.

Hanle Monastery at the Hilltop

Through the incredible meadows – it seemed more unearthly under broad daylight – we drove on. As I mentioned earlier we would need to backtrack till Mahe. And towards Mahe the landscapes were again fascinated us. Colourful and occasional patches of green served as a great contrast under the barren landscapes. Hordes of Kiangs were grazing on the valleys around. Nomads sometimes pitched their tents in and around these green valleys – we just were thrilled imagining how their lives could be. Perhaps we could never have so much guts to take on the adventure.

The Curious Kiang Family

We reached Mahe from where we took a diversion through a small wooden bridge towards Tso Moriri. The roads were sometimes good, sometimes ok and sometimes horrible but always remote. We reached Sumdo village at around 1.30 pm where we had our ‘luxurious’ lunch with a bowl of Maggi noodles – in my honest opinion noodles should be considered as one of the most useful inventions of mankind as you can get it anywhere and everywhere. From Sumdo another road actually bifurcated towards Tso Kar, which in turn will converge into the Manali Leh Highway.

Sumdo Village

We started from Sumdo and within no time the roads started going uphill as we were approaching another pass – Namashang La. Soon enough we were on top of it. We didn’t spend much time at the top.

Tso Kiagar

We were ecstatic to see a glimpse of a lake but Rigzin mentioned it is just a small lake called Tso Kiagar, and Tso Moriri is still around 1.5 hours from there. But the location of Tso Kiagar was fantastic. Surrounded by snow capped mountains from a couple of sides, Tso Kiagar was glittering with its part bluish – part greenish water. That was really a splendid scenery to watch. And the drive besides Tso Kiagar was an added bonus.

 

 

 

 

 

A Day with Tso Moriri

As soon as we left Tso Kiagar, the tarred road disappeared completely and it was all ‘make-your-own-road-or-follow-the-tyre-marks’ drive. We did both. Suddenly Rigzin stopped his car. We were inquisitive to know the reason. He pointed his finger towards the front, we followed. We now could catch the first view of Tso Moriri!

Make your own way or follow the tyre marks

Remoteness

Tso Moriri - the first glimpse

We drove towards the horrible roads towards our planned destination for the day and slowly, very slowly Tso Moriri appeared in front of us with all its vastness. After Pangong Tso we didn’t actually expect Tso Moriri to be this vast. It was also spread over an enormous area I guess. There were prominent shades of different blue-green colours of water. We drove past the lake towards the Korzok village after submitting our permits at the entrance check post as we had to search for an accommodation first.

 

Shades of Tso Moriri

Korzok village was now visible in front of us. It was like a stair, built as various steps in the mountains. The weather was chilled and the gutsy wind actually brought down the temperature even more. We were shivering – Tso Moriri was at higher altitude even than that of Pangong.

Korzok Village

Rigzin, as usual, did all the hard bargaining and got us a great room with a great view at the Nomadic Life Camp and Resort, needless to say with a great bargain again. We got freshened up quickly and devoured some Maggi once again. We felt to have regained our enthusiasm to spend some time at the shore of the lake. So we started roaming around.

Unlike Pangong, Tso Moriri is a fresh water lake and hence it houses many species of birds and flora. Though we were not fortunate enough to see any birds but we could see the shores of the lake were fully covered by various kinds of grasses and perhaps orchids, giving birth to many combination of natural colours. At one side fencing was present to prevent trespassers to enter the conserved area of the Tso Moriri Wetland Reserve. Rest of the area is open to tourists.

The lake was truly beautiful. It was surrounded by mountains from all directions, some of them covered by snow. The lake generated their reflection on its still water. Blue sky, white patches of clouds, barren yellowish mountains and blue and green water was a perfect combination for the nature lovers and photography enthusiasts. But it didn’t last very long as suddenly the cloud engulfed the whole place and we could see the mountain peaks getting whiter as snow was falling rapidly. Not good when you have a camera to protect and you have nothing to protect it. So we had to return to our resorts.

 

 

 

 

That was the pnly aviator we saw

Magical colours of Tso Moriri

 

 

Tso Moriri Weteland Reserve

Photography Enthusiasts were plenty

Within no time, dark set in. And when it was dark, there was nothing to do apart from the chitchats with the hotel staffs or fellow travellers. We did the same with occasional hot tea. Outside it was cold like hell. The hotel manager mentioned it was close to zero degree Celsius because of the wind.

Dinner was great with lots of options and quantity was enough for 3 persons. Now it was time to go under the quilts which we religiously did and prepared ourselves for another long journey the next day. As per the plan, as we were nearing the end of our journey, we would take the Leh- Manali highway via Tso Kar and reach Sarchu. But, man proposes God disposes. We shall see what happened to the plan in the next post – it was all adventure which we wished for.

To Be Continued...

Next: Towards Tso Kar - A Slice of Heaven