The enchanted lake in Ladakh:
At an altitude of 14,270 feet Pangong Tso is one of the world’s highest altitude lakes and a spectacular one at that. The long lake winds its way through spectacular mountains and while doing so, its water changes colors, according to the time and mood of the sky ahead, shifting between shades of dazzling blue to emerald green.
This virtuoso play of colors continues throughout the year except for winter when the entire lake freezes over, pulling up a coat of icy white.
Truly Pangong Tso stands for its Tibetan meaning -i.e. “long, narrow, enchanted lake.”
Getting there:
After you fly in (or drive in) to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, take a 5 hour and about 180 km drive towards the Indo-China border. The road itself is laced with important geo-political implications on one hand and stunning mountainscape on the other. Its brief history of time goes back to the aftermaths of the 1962 war between the Asian neighbors, India and China. And so on the way you will cross a number of army check-posts, a host of the strangest the road-signs in the world, as well as some out of the world landscapes of monasteries and oasis, yak herds, horses running through dream mountainscapes and some snow (or lots of it, depending upon the time of the year)
Being there:
The pristine lake shot to the imagination and consequently to the travel bucket list of the Indian tourists after a couple of Bollywood blockbusters were filmed here. So for good or bad, when you reach the pristine lake you are likely to be fronted by a group of techinicolored tourists there – gaily posing for photo-ops or noisily gulping down the food from the parachute-made tents on the bank of the lake, even as the army boats keep patrolling in the lake. Fortunately the weather is too harsh for the average tourist with humongous appetite for photo-ops to stay there after mid-day. So a quick advise would be to pull up your stuff, brave the chill in the wind and camp out here for a night. All the silence, wind, chill and stunning beauty of the lake and the superlative mountains around it will be yours.
Photo Credits
All Photographs Are © Apratim Kundu
Apratim Kundu Photographer Bio
A senior digital marketing professional in an IT company by profession, Apratim’s passion is traveling and trekking to the Himalayas and documenting them through writing and photography. His travels in the Himalayas has taken him to quite a few places – from the enchanting living root bridges of Meghalaya to Stok Kangri world’s highest trekking summit in the superlative and surreal mountainscape of Ladakh. The writing and photographs by Apratim aims to capture the essences of these great mountains.
That aside Apratim takes the time out to wander along off-the-beaten track destinations whenever possible. The idea is to portray these places and glean out the stories, as and when possible.
Blog / Website: Spacing Places
Apratim can be contacted at kundu.apratim@gmail.com or 810-653-4063
Please Share Your Thoughts - Leave A Comment!