Adieu Pangong Tso

Below given is the second part of Pangong Tso series.

https://thehaflonggirl.blogspot.com/2019/06/ek-mulakat-pangong-tso-se.html?m=1

...and here is the last part of Pangong Tso series.

As is well known amongst the travel fraternity, the thought of bidding adieu to a beautiful place is never easy. As someone rightly remarked, "How can you say goodbye to a beautiful and magical place when your heart still wants to stay...!" 

It was the morning of 30 September  2017. Waking up early morning for a non-morning person like me is a huge task. Though I must also mention that this non-morning person, yours truly, becomes a morning person mostly during her travels.😁 I have absolutely no clue, how!
I woke up quite early since I had to look for public transport or any other mode of transport available to go back to Leh town. After the quick morning rituals, I packed my stuff, cleaned the bed, and had home-cooked breakfast at the family traditional kitchen of the Sasoma homestay.

morning breakfast being prepared

After the wholesome morning breakfast, I informed the lady I would go out to look for vehicles. I didn't take my luggage with me, instead kept it at the homestay while I went out to search for public vehicles to go to Leh town since the govt. local bus was not available for that morning.

frozen water as seen early morning

I proceeded to the same restaurant where I chatted with the restaurant guys and a few locals the previous evening. As I peered into the empty hall, I saw one of the friendly locals. On seeing me, he already understood the reason. He called up someone on his cell and talked for a few minutes. I couldn't understand because they were talking in the local dialect. After the call ended, he informed me that he had a talk with one of the drivers of a tourist cab who had come the previous evening with a family. He told me to wait and informed me further that the driver was on the way to the restaurant. After about 15 minutes, the driver arrived. He asked me to come along with him to a private tourist camps nearby where the Bengali family, he brought the previous evening, were staying. It took 5 minutes to reach the private tourist camp. The driver told me that the family were having breakfast inside the dining tent and asked me to go and talk to them. After all, the tourist cab was hired by the Bengali family and it was important on my part to go and request wether they would be willing I travel in their cab. I went in and told them what I had to tell. They immediately agreed. Thankfully!😊 I hurriedly came back to the homestay to take my small backpack and bid adieu to the lady.

It was 8:30 a.m. when the tourist cab started. The Bengali family comprising of the husband, wife, and their young son sat in the back seat. While I sat in the front seat next to the cab driver. In the course of the conversation, I learned the Bengali family had come from Kolkatta to spend their Durga Puja vacation in Ladakh. They further informed me that they couldn't bear the extreme cold and chill of Spangmik village and hence leaving quickly instead of staying for another day.

The cabbie decided to take us to a particular spot near Pangong Tso one last time. He had to manoeuvre the car from the main road as it went through a gravel path to come to an open big clearing near the blue lake. We spend around half an hour here.

tourist cabs at Pangong Tso flanked by bare and snow-covered peaks 

crystal clear blue water of Pangong Tso shimmering in the early morning rays

one last look at the blue lake

With a heavy heart got into the cab and the cab started as it did an uphill climb to get to the main road. In the meantime I was making a desperate attempt to click some more pictures of the beautiful blue lake while sitting snugly inside the car. Below are a few of the last pictures of Pangong Tso:

the blue lake Pangong Tso flanked by barren mountains  

it is our utmost duty as responsible citizens to keep Pangong Tso clean

as the cab drives on the black tarmac road 

The tourist cab continued its solitary journey on the main road. The cabbie put on some Hindi songs, but I wasn't interested in listening to the songs. I was more interested and engrossed with the stunning landscape unfolding before my travel thirsty eyes all around. Somewhere between Pangong Tso and Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, our cabbie suddenly stopped the car on the side of the road. He motioned to us to get out of the car. We did as we were told. He then showed us by pointing his finger towards some brown-coloured furry animal. Our eager eyes looked at the direction his finger was pointing at. And what did we see? Any guesses? These were Himalayan Marmots. They belong to the squirrel family. Some of them hurriedly scurried over to their burrows when they saw us approaching. Some of the brave ones decided to strike a pose for our cameras.😃 Let's give them their few moments of "lights camera action". I am sure they have become used to the sight of the tourists on this particular route.
It is advisable not to feed these mammals with biscuits and fruits. Never, ever!
The cabbie informed us that these mammals are harmless. But the Bengali family and I decided not to touch or pat them. We spent around 15 minutes here before leaving and continuing with the journey.

Himalayan Marmot standing erect

Himalayan Marmots sniffing the ground 

Himalayan Marmots 

We came across this inspirational sign somewhere on the way after manoeuvring a sharp bend.

"never give up" sign enroute

I dozed off for sometime, and when the cab came to a sudden stop I woke up. I scanned the surroundings and realised we arrived at Chang La Pass. It was 11:30 a.m. The Bengali lady and I walked over to the ladies washroom. I was happy seeing the clean washroom and the maintenance of the place in general.👍
Ladakh has many high altitude passes and Chang La Pass is one of them. It is infact believed to be the second highest motorable road in the world. Literally the name means "Northern Pass" (Chang = North, La = Pass). The barren mountain ranges were covered in snow during our visit. It was very very cold. Freezing, to be honest. The chilly wind didn't help either. If this was the condition at the end of September, it can be anyone's wild guess what would it be like during the winters. FROZEN!!!
This place is manned by the Indian Army round the year inspite of the harsh living condition and an extremely difficult terrain. Salute to the bravehearts! Jai Hind!

one for the memories at Chang La Pass 

Chang La Pass 

snow-covered mountains in Chang La Pass 

Escaping from the cold temperature outside as I sit in the cozy warm cab, I became conscious of the fact that a beautiful place can be cold, harsh, and brutal. With a bitter-sweet thought and one last glance of the place, the cab left the place leaving behind dirt tire marks on the road.

The cab stopped at Karu for a late lunch. We were obviously hungry after traversing half of the day through a difficult road.
It must have been around 3:30 p.m. when we arrived at the taxi stand of Leh town. I got down here. Said my final goodbye to the Bengali family. I gave 300 bucks (INR) to the cabbie for bringing me safely from Spangmik village to Leh town. I took my backpack and immediately proceeded to the hotel in Upper Changspa where I will be staying.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my Pangong Tso series write up as I enjoyed recalling this trip while jotting down the trip memories.

Thank you for stopping by!
Happy travelling feet!

Travelled on: 30 September 2017