Pangong Lake - A Mirage in the high altitude desert...
Day 6
14-8-08
Leh
And so the day came. We all were up and ready by 5:30! (5:30 AM boss!! 5:30 AM!!!!) Even I was finding it difficult to believe it. Thanks to all of us and Sanjay who woke up early and started the day's journey. But soon we started getting a burning smell in the car. We had sensed it in the previous days also. Sanjay said something about the Tyre and that its perfectly OK. The smell will go away soon. We believed him and once again we were on our way.
Our plan was to cover the 178 km within 5 hrs i.e, reaching Pangong lake at around 10:30 AM, enjoy the beauty for 2 or 3 hrs, take a dip if possible and start the return around 2. That way we will be back in Leh by 6-7 PM. We can also enjoy our last evening in LEH!
Unfortunately.. it was not meant to be that way!
As soon as we were getting out of the Leh city, someone asked whether we had taken the ILP (permits) to visit the Pangong Lake?
Oh no! We had left it in the hotel! We turned back. Our return to the hotel cost us around 20 minutes. Anyways at 6:00 AM we were once again out of Leh. Then came the next problem.
We need fuel! No problem, we had seen 2 or 3 petrol pumps on the way to Karu. So that shouldn't be an issue.
In the dark and hurry, we missed the first filling station. We reached the second one. It was still dark and no one was available there. Should we go ahead and checkout the third one or should we go back to the first one we missed on the way? Or should we wait here itself? In the meanwhile someone went to checkout the rooms and found that one of the sales guy was sleeping there. We tried to wake him up but nothing worked. We shouted and shouted. But nothing woke him up. After some 10 mins, 2 more cars came there and they also joined us in the 'Mission Impossible' task of waking up the sales guy! Atlast 'he' heard us. The guy woke up, said something in some language neither he nor us understood.. and slowly came out. On his way, he knocked down one or two bottles (no wonder we couldn't wake him easily :-))
After filling the tank, by 6:30 AM, once again we were on the road to Pangong Lake!
It is better to book in advance during season.
After crossing the ChangLa pass, the road starts to descend. The next village ahead is Tanksey (60 km away). On the way we started to feel hungry and we decided to checkout the next restraunt.. (sorry... Tea shop)
Varun, waiting for his Tea and maggi
Shoyeb, after trying to shoot the Mountain Rat or Rabbits
We crossed Tanksey around 9:00 am, were still descending, when the smell of something burning started to increase.We asked Sanjay to stop and have a look. We got down to stretch our limbs and enjoy the scenery. We were some 18-20 km before the Pangong Lake and the scenery was awesome. There was a small stream running near by, mountain on both sides, clear sky what else do you need. We started taking snaps and playing around giving Sanjay time to check the problem.
Initial checks..
In the meanwhile...
After some 15 min when we came back we had a shocking news waiting. Some oil tube has burnt very badly and it needs to be changed.
"Ok no problem.. we'll change it in the next village or Pangong." I said.
"No. Its not that simple." Gokul, Shoyeb and Rajesh were looking concerned. They knew the seriousness of problem.
"What is the problem? We are just some 20 km before the Pangong Lake. We will surely get someone to repair this over there..."
"No Praveen, you are not understanding... Without that tube the break system in the car is NIL. That means there is no break in the car and we have to travel some 20 kms till the next village or settlement where someone can help us." (That also we are not sure)
I don't know anything about a car other than to sit in inside and enjoy the view. (Oh yeah.. I can open the window, door, close the door and lock it) That is as far as I know about any four wheeler. So I was finding it very hard to understand when the others who had the knowledge opposed my idea of carrying on. They tried to make it clear but I was not in a mood to believe them. They were saying that we cannot go any further until this thing is repaired.
I was hoping Sanjay would do something and make the car running and we'll carry on. But 9:30 became 10:00, then 10:30 still no use. In between many cars passed by and some of them stopped to help us.
Each time someone stopped by, I hoped he'll be our savior and he'll do the magic.Unfortunately they too didn't have the magic wand.. well... in our case the oil tube. From the drivers the only information we got was..
"You'll not get this tube anywhere else other than Leh city.."
Suddenly they are not our saviors any more.. They all were devil in disguise trying everything to stop us from visiting Pangong Lake.
Going back to Leh means - 3 n half - 4 hrs to get to Leh and buy the tube and come back in another 4 hrs. So Total 8 hrs. That means 5-6 PM in the evening. After that, repair and return to Leh..
"Ok Thanks bhayya.. Chalo.. dekthe hein khya hota hey" (Thanks brother.. Lets see what happens)
We waited for some more time until another savior comes along.. Unfortunately none was coming that day and by 11:00, Shoyeb decided we have no other go. There was an Army truck going towards Leh and he and Sanjay left in that.
Varun and Rahul trying to make fire with stones...
Blurred by anger and disbelief...
At first I was not willing to believe our bad luck. I was hoping something will happen and in 1 or 2 hours we all will be in Pangong. Shoyeb and Sanjay will come back with someone who could help us. But as minutes and hours passed, my disbelief turned into anger and I showed it by arguing with others who were there. After some time I felt so miserable I decided to walk as far as I can. I started walking towards Pangong. Since it was a descent, I was able to walk fast and I covered 2 km. I hoped somewhere there will be a view point from where I can see downhill. I prayed to GOD at least to fulfill this wish for me. But even after 2 more km there was no view point or tea shop; not even another human being. At that time I decided to quit.
After walking 4 km...
Walking back to the car proved to be a tough task. It was easy walking down the hill but at such high altitude, ascending was very difficult. On top of that the sun was also very cruel to me. There was no trees to give me a shelter from the sun and I started feeling thirsty. Great!!! now this too!
Covering each km felt taking eternity. At last after walking 3 km I could see the car. At last when I reached the car I saw them inside taking shelter from the sun!
While I was walking toward Pangong, Gokul and Rajesh had walked in the opposite direction to a tea shop 2 km away. From there they bought Maggi, some snacks and juice. I was so hungry and thirsty, I ate it and I also joined them.
We talked about our situation and every discussion ended on poor Sanjay. "If only he had been alert.. if only he had been more experienced.. if only he had checked earlier.. if only..."
We even joked about being lost in the hills as in the plot of some "Hills have Eyes" or some Zombie movies.
At times we became sad that our trip is ending in this manner. We discussed whether we could postpone our return trip by one more day so that we could visit Pangong tomorrow. But alas..
Around 4-30 PM a truck was coming from Pangong side and it stopped near our car. There was a driver and a cleaner and they looked at our car curiously. We had seen the look in so many faces since morning and we had lost all hope. However this person came to use and asked in a demanding voice.
"Khya hua gaddi ko?? Meine subahe jaathe waqt hi thum logon ko deka tha.. Meine socha kuch chota mota gadbad hoga" (What happend to the car? I saw you while going this way in the morning itself. I thought its some minor issue)
Gokul explained the details and before he finished.. the driver was down inspecting the oil tube beneath the car. He stood up, looked at us and said..
"Arey isske liye thum log itna time waste kiya..? Yeh toh ithna chota kaam hey.. Kaun hey thumara driver? Yeh bhi nahi aathahe thume??" (For this, you wasted this much time? This is such a small matter.. Who is the driver? Don't you know even this??)
He went on scolding us for wasting the whole day and he said its very dangerous being in this place after dark (Not the "Hills have Eyes" sort of danger.. but the climate conditions!) He asked his friend to get some tools and then told us what needs to be done. He said he will have to cut the pipe and remove the burnt part. Give connection... etc etc.. (Its Automobile Engineering and I didn't understand anything he said) But I knew one thing.. He is our SAVIOR!
Seeing our apprehensive look, (and my confused look) he pulled out his purse and took his ID and said "Don't worry I am a Maruti Authorized Service Engineer and I know very well what I am doing. Dont worry." We saw that his name was Bilal.
We said its ok, and he started his work. In 10 minutes he was done! He fixed the wheels in 5 minutes and asked someone to start car and try the brake. Gokul tried and it was working!!!
God!!!!!!!! You are such an ---. Why didn't you send this man to us earlier? (Maybe he'd be smiling: "I sent him in the morning itself.. but you missed!)
Then he said "abhi thum gaddi mere peeche peeche chalao. Mein bhi dheere chalatha hun.. Kuch nahi hoga" (Now you drive the car behind my truck. I'll also drive slowly. Nothing will happen)
Gokul looked at us for any objection and we didn't have any. So at around 5:00 PM we started back to Leh. Yet there was no sign of Shoyeb and Sanjay and there was no signal. We decided we'll call Shoyeb as soon as we get to some coverage area.
Bilal 'Bhai' was true to his word and he went slowly for our sake. At times he would even stop and wait for us where ever the road was risky. But Gokul also proved to be a good driver and he was enjoying the thrill of driving on one of world's highest roads!
When we got signal, we called Shoyeb and informed him that we are coming down and no need for him to come up. However, he informed us that Sanjay had already started and he will meet us on the way. So we looked out for any vehicle coming up hill. At last we met him halfway and he took over the wheel and gave Gokul some rest!
When we reached the plains, Bilal Bhai was waiting and he informed us that he will fix the problem once and for all when we reached his place which was on the way to Leh. At Sakthi, he stopped to meet some of his driver friends in a Dhaba and offered us some refreshments. After spending some time there, we again continued our journey and reached his place. Once there, he repaired the problem with proper tools and we were good to go.
We thanked him sincerely and he denied to take any money from us. (Even we felt odd while offering to pay) He just said money is of no use if something had happened to us in the hills in the night. He just wanted to help someone in need and he did it. That's all! He even gave his contact number in Kargil and asked us to call him any time if we need any help in Kargil.
Once again we thanked him and taking a group photo of the rescued ones with the rescuer and we started towards LEH.
Bhilal Bhai (third from right) and his friend (second from left)
14-8-08
Leh
And so the day came. We all were up and ready by 5:30! (5:30 AM boss!! 5:30 AM!!!!) Even I was finding it difficult to believe it. Thanks to all of us and Sanjay who woke up early and started the day's journey. But soon we started getting a burning smell in the car. We had sensed it in the previous days also. Sanjay said something about the Tyre and that its perfectly OK. The smell will go away soon. We believed him and once again we were on our way.
Our plan was to cover the 178 km within 5 hrs i.e, reaching Pangong lake at around 10:30 AM, enjoy the beauty for 2 or 3 hrs, take a dip if possible and start the return around 2. That way we will be back in Leh by 6-7 PM. We can also enjoy our last evening in LEH!
Unfortunately.. it was not meant to be that way!
As soon as we were getting out of the Leh city, someone asked whether we had taken the ILP (permits) to visit the Pangong Lake?
Oh no! We had left it in the hotel! We turned back. Our return to the hotel cost us around 20 minutes. Anyways at 6:00 AM we were once again out of Leh. Then came the next problem.
We need fuel! No problem, we had seen 2 or 3 petrol pumps on the way to Karu. So that shouldn't be an issue.
In the dark and hurry, we missed the first filling station. We reached the second one. It was still dark and no one was available there. Should we go ahead and checkout the third one or should we go back to the first one we missed on the way? Or should we wait here itself? In the meanwhile someone went to checkout the rooms and found that one of the sales guy was sleeping there. We tried to wake him up but nothing worked. We shouted and shouted. But nothing woke him up. After some 10 mins, 2 more cars came there and they also joined us in the 'Mission Impossible' task of waking up the sales guy! Atlast 'he' heard us. The guy woke up, said something in some language neither he nor us understood.. and slowly came out. On his way, he knocked down one or two bottles (no wonder we couldn't wake him easily :-))
After filling the tank, by 6:30 AM, once again we were on the road to Pangong Lake!
Now a bit of information about Pangong Tso. It is a breath-taking high altitude lake (13930 ft above sea level) in the Indo-China border in LEH. The Indian side is only 1/4th and 3/4th of the lake lies in China. It has different colours in different parts and is awesome to watch on a clear sunny day! Due to security reasons visitors are not allowed to camp near the lake. However there are some Camps run by private Tourist Operators.
Resort Pangong Tso (contact Chha - 9419179907)
Wanderland Tourist Camp (contact Sonam Agling 9419343651)
It is better to book in advance during season.
After crossing the villages Karu, Sakthi, the road starts ascend. The roads are maintained well and they are thousand times better than some of our city roads. Only a few km are damaged and that is mainly caused due to the snow and other climatic factors. We reached ChangLa. There was a small Army outpost in there and they checked our permits and the car. After taking some snaps we carried on further.
At ChangLa second highest pass in LEH
Rahul doing some community service (for the snap)
After crossing the ChangLa pass, the road starts to descend. The next village ahead is Tanksey (60 km away). On the way we started to feel hungry and we decided to checkout the next restraunt.. (sorry... Tea shop)
Varun, waiting for his Tea and maggi
Shoyeb, after trying to shoot the Mountain Rat or Rabbits
We crossed Tanksey around 9:00 am, were still descending, when the smell of something burning started to increase.We asked Sanjay to stop and have a look. We got down to stretch our limbs and enjoy the scenery. We were some 18-20 km before the Pangong Lake and the scenery was awesome. There was a small stream running near by, mountain on both sides, clear sky what else do you need. We started taking snaps and playing around giving Sanjay time to check the problem.
Initial checks..
In the meanwhile...
After some 15 min when we came back we had a shocking news waiting. Some oil tube has burnt very badly and it needs to be changed.
"Ok no problem.. we'll change it in the next village or Pangong." I said.
"No. Its not that simple." Gokul, Shoyeb and Rajesh were looking concerned. They knew the seriousness of problem.
"What is the problem? We are just some 20 km before the Pangong Lake. We will surely get someone to repair this over there..."
"No Praveen, you are not understanding... Without that tube the break system in the car is NIL. That means there is no break in the car and we have to travel some 20 kms till the next village or settlement where someone can help us." (That also we are not sure)
I don't know anything about a car other than to sit in inside and enjoy the view. (Oh yeah.. I can open the window, door, close the door and lock it) That is as far as I know about any four wheeler. So I was finding it very hard to understand when the others who had the knowledge opposed my idea of carrying on. They tried to make it clear but I was not in a mood to believe them. They were saying that we cannot go any further until this thing is repaired.
I was hoping Sanjay would do something and make the car running and we'll carry on. But 9:30 became 10:00, then 10:30 still no use. In between many cars passed by and some of them stopped to help us.
Each time someone stopped by, I hoped he'll be our savior and he'll do the magic.Unfortunately they too didn't have the magic wand.. well... in our case the oil tube. From the drivers the only information we got was..
"You'll not get this tube anywhere else other than Leh city.."
Suddenly they are not our saviors any more.. They all were devil in disguise trying everything to stop us from visiting Pangong Lake.
Going back to Leh means - 3 n half - 4 hrs to get to Leh and buy the tube and come back in another 4 hrs. So Total 8 hrs. That means 5-6 PM in the evening. After that, repair and return to Leh..
"Ok Thanks bhayya.. Chalo.. dekthe hein khya hota hey" (Thanks brother.. Lets see what happens)
We waited for some more time until another savior comes along.. Unfortunately none was coming that day and by 11:00, Shoyeb decided we have no other go. There was an Army truck going towards Leh and he and Sanjay left in that.
Varun and Rahul trying to make fire with stones...
Blurred by anger and disbelief...
At first I was not willing to believe our bad luck. I was hoping something will happen and in 1 or 2 hours we all will be in Pangong. Shoyeb and Sanjay will come back with someone who could help us. But as minutes and hours passed, my disbelief turned into anger and I showed it by arguing with others who were there. After some time I felt so miserable I decided to walk as far as I can. I started walking towards Pangong. Since it was a descent, I was able to walk fast and I covered 2 km. I hoped somewhere there will be a view point from where I can see downhill. I prayed to GOD at least to fulfill this wish for me. But even after 2 more km there was no view point or tea shop; not even another human being. At that time I decided to quit.
After walking 4 km...
Walking back...
Walking back to the car proved to be a tough task. It was easy walking down the hill but at such high altitude, ascending was very difficult. On top of that the sun was also very cruel to me. There was no trees to give me a shelter from the sun and I started feeling thirsty. Great!!! now this too!
Covering each km felt taking eternity. At last after walking 3 km I could see the car. At last when I reached the car I saw them inside taking shelter from the sun!
While I was walking toward Pangong, Gokul and Rajesh had walked in the opposite direction to a tea shop 2 km away. From there they bought Maggi, some snacks and juice. I was so hungry and thirsty, I ate it and I also joined them.
We talked about our situation and every discussion ended on poor Sanjay. "If only he had been alert.. if only he had been more experienced.. if only he had checked earlier.. if only..."
We even joked about being lost in the hills as in the plot of some "Hills have Eyes" or some Zombie movies.
At times we became sad that our trip is ending in this manner. We discussed whether we could postpone our return trip by one more day so that we could visit Pangong tomorrow. But alas..
Around 4-30 PM a truck was coming from Pangong side and it stopped near our car. There was a driver and a cleaner and they looked at our car curiously. We had seen the look in so many faces since morning and we had lost all hope. However this person came to use and asked in a demanding voice.
"Khya hua gaddi ko?? Meine subahe jaathe waqt hi thum logon ko deka tha.. Meine socha kuch chota mota gadbad hoga" (What happend to the car? I saw you while going this way in the morning itself. I thought its some minor issue)
Gokul explained the details and before he finished.. the driver was down inspecting the oil tube beneath the car. He stood up, looked at us and said..
"Arey isske liye thum log itna time waste kiya..? Yeh toh ithna chota kaam hey.. Kaun hey thumara driver? Yeh bhi nahi aathahe thume??" (For this, you wasted this much time? This is such a small matter.. Who is the driver? Don't you know even this??)
He went on scolding us for wasting the whole day and he said its very dangerous being in this place after dark (Not the "Hills have Eyes" sort of danger.. but the climate conditions!) He asked his friend to get some tools and then told us what needs to be done. He said he will have to cut the pipe and remove the burnt part. Give connection... etc etc.. (Its Automobile Engineering and I didn't understand anything he said) But I knew one thing.. He is our SAVIOR!
Seeing our apprehensive look, (and my confused look) he pulled out his purse and took his ID and said "Don't worry I am a Maruti Authorized Service Engineer and I know very well what I am doing. Dont worry." We saw that his name was Bilal.
We said its ok, and he started his work. In 10 minutes he was done! He fixed the wheels in 5 minutes and asked someone to start car and try the brake. Gokul tried and it was working!!!
God!!!!!!!! You are such an ---. Why didn't you send this man to us earlier? (Maybe he'd be smiling: "I sent him in the morning itself.. but you missed!)
Then he said "abhi thum gaddi mere peeche peeche chalao. Mein bhi dheere chalatha hun.. Kuch nahi hoga" (Now you drive the car behind my truck. I'll also drive slowly. Nothing will happen)
Gokul looked at us for any objection and we didn't have any. So at around 5:00 PM we started back to Leh. Yet there was no sign of Shoyeb and Sanjay and there was no signal. We decided we'll call Shoyeb as soon as we get to some coverage area.
Bilal 'Bhai' was true to his word and he went slowly for our sake. At times he would even stop and wait for us where ever the road was risky. But Gokul also proved to be a good driver and he was enjoying the thrill of driving on one of world's highest roads!
When we got signal, we called Shoyeb and informed him that we are coming down and no need for him to come up. However, he informed us that Sanjay had already started and he will meet us on the way. So we looked out for any vehicle coming up hill. At last we met him halfway and he took over the wheel and gave Gokul some rest!
When we reached the plains, Bilal Bhai was waiting and he informed us that he will fix the problem once and for all when we reached his place which was on the way to Leh. At Sakthi, he stopped to meet some of his driver friends in a Dhaba and offered us some refreshments. After spending some time there, we again continued our journey and reached his place. Once there, he repaired the problem with proper tools and we were good to go.
We thanked him sincerely and he denied to take any money from us. (Even we felt odd while offering to pay) He just said money is of no use if something had happened to us in the hills in the night. He just wanted to help someone in need and he did it. That's all! He even gave his contact number in Kargil and asked us to call him any time if we need any help in Kargil.
Once again we thanked him and taking a group photo of the rescued ones with the rescuer and we started towards LEH.
Bhilal Bhai (third from right) and his friend (second from left)
We reached Leh around 9:30 PM. Everyone were in some level of sadness. I wanted to take a walk in the Leh market for the last time and Gokul and Rahul came with me. All the shops were shut with only some of the restraunts still open. We had a light dinner there and walked back to the Hotel. After enquireing the next day's plan, we tried to fall asleep and forget the day's bad experience!
P.S:
But today (after almost 8 months) while writing this post I dont feel any sadness or bitterness about that day. Many times whenever we are together we even laugh about our situation and the things that could have happened hadn't Bilal Bhai came our way...
If there is one thing that, if given a chance I could erase from that day.. it would be the silly arguments I had with my friends.
If we had reached Pangong and came back, it woould have been just another trip and just another destination (may be somewhat awesome destination) But our experience that day was equally awesome.
P.S:
But today (after almost 8 months) while writing this post I dont feel any sadness or bitterness about that day. Many times whenever we are together we even laugh about our situation and the things that could have happened hadn't Bilal Bhai came our way...
If there is one thing that, if given a chance I could erase from that day.. it would be the silly arguments I had with my friends.
If we had reached Pangong and came back, it woould have been just another trip and just another destination (may be somewhat awesome destination) But our experience that day was equally awesome.
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