Ladakh Ride Day 14 – Pangong Lake to Leh

I woke up before 06:00 AM and went to the washroom. I saw frozen water everywhere except for the bucket. It was freezing cold outside and windy. I met Sarat Uncle, a guy from Pune. He is 64 years old, I have never seen a man of this age active like him. He came along with 10 more people and all are above 60 years old.
We both were roaming. At the backside of the camp, we found a small water body, half-frozen. We were capturing pictures and suddenly the sun came out. It was like a pleasant surprise. we witnessed the sunlight started to fall on snow-capped mountains. So, calm surroundings.
I forgot to mention, last day we called our parents from one telephone booth near to our camp, they charge Rs.5 per minute. Only BSNL postpaid occasionally works here, although no reliability.
After we came to camp, the hotel staff gave us a bucket of hot water. After freshened up, we had breakfast and decided to start a little late. We all wanted to touch Pangong Lake, so we all went to the bank and spent more than an hour.
Finally, around 09:00 AM we came back to camp and packed everything. Sarat uncle and his friends left around 09:15 AM, all of them were kind enough to wish us a happy journey, even they shared some hand made dry food with us. We left for Pangong to Leh around 09:45 AM. Pangong was looking majestic, it was bluer than last day and as we move ahead, shades were changing. We stopped to click pictures near 3 idiot point.
The return journey on the same route left nothing to describe again. But somehow I was missing the beauty of Pangong. We tried to cover kilometers fast because we had to cross Changla Pass (one of the most unpredictable passes en route Pangong to Leh).
Just 10-12 Kilometers before, we saw many riders gathered for something. We stopped and found, one couple had a puncture in the rear tire. They stopped others. Local drivers stopped and tried to fix the puncture but due to the unavailability of a proper puncture repair kit for the tube, they were failing. I gave my spare tube and within 10 minutes they changed it.
They tried to compensate with money but it was our gift to them. making someone trouble free made us happy, why we need money to help someone. We were sharing road condition details and after some time we blessed each other and moved ahead.
We had to share the token number to Tangtse check-post. We were taking short breaks until we crossed Changla Pass. Road condition changed after Durbuk, it was snow all around. On some stretches, roads were slippery due to the snow melted mud. Somehow, I was more scared than Khardungla, because of stiff climb in turns, lack of oxygen and slippery road condition, motorcycle started to feel out of breathing although it managed to reach the top without any hiccups. Nothing to describe here in words rather, below pictures will tell everything for me.
We stopped at the cafeteria, ordered coffee to get warmth. Spend approximately 30 minutes and started to decent. Till some odd kilometers, snow was there on road. After that most of the roads till Karu were either broken or under construction. We literally managing to balance sometimes, although it was very adventurous for us.
10-15 Kilometers before Karu we got network connectivity and immediately our phone rang. It was our parents, asking for our status. Quickly conveyed them, we are okay and will call once we reach Karu. We were glad to get a fresh tarmac of 4-5 Kilometers to Karu, speeded a little bit to have the feel.
Karu is a junction from where Pangong and Manali route diverts. A lot of restaurants were there. We had some parantha and tea. When I called my mom, I came to know that the Leh-Manali highway is still closed due to heavy snowfall & landslides. More than thousands of visitors were stuck. We thanked God for not going towards Tso Moriri, locals can manage drive in heavy snow but we cant.
Within an hour we reached Leh, I straight towards Tashi Bullet Workshop to get my motorcycle checked. Once done, we came back to the same hotel, Hotel Ladakh Heaven. Pangong to Leh’s journey was definitely adventurous.
OMG, they kept all our luggage in the same room we stayed days back. We again met the families we bid on Day 12. They were happy for us and asked to share our journey. Mr. Kuldeep Sharma, gave me Rs. 101 as a blessing. So, kind of them. We were truly amazed to see someone, caring so much for us.
We had dinner and set an alarm, put everything on the charge. Last day in Leh.
Due to heavy snowfall, we did not cover Tso Moriri, Leh-Manali route, and a few other places, but this is an opportunity for us to come back again. The most important point was, we were safe all the time. Thank you, God.
You may also like to check our Pangong to Leh Ride video below. This our first series of Moto-Vlog videos. Share your feedback to improve us.
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Conclusion
Being a remote place, a lot of preparation needed before Leh Ladakh Tour, be it mentally or physically. Don’t forget the weather in the Ladakh region is extreme and most of us are not accustomed to it.
So, be prepared and everything in your Leh Ladakh tour will definitely go well. You may also check out below generic posts to make your Leh Ladakh trip successful and memorable. I am sure you will love it.
If you are doing a road trip to Ladakh, you may find my Kolkata – Ladakh – Kolkata on a Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 journey helpful.
Lastly, get Leh’ed soon.
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