Ladakh: Four Idiots & One XUV500: Part-5. (Merak/Pangong Tso to Karzok/ Tso Moriri)

At night, Owner, his two kid and his caretaker joined us for dinner. We spent more than two hours talking with them. I discussed the road status of Merak to Korzok with the owner. He gave me some useful tips for next day's drive. We had some amazing time with totally strange people.

We had amazing food and retired to our separate rooms.

We were at Merak On Pangong Lake. That was an amazing feeling.

Day 7 (18/05/2018): Merak (Pangong Tso) to Korzok

(Merak-Chusul-Tsaga La-Loma-Nyoma-Mahe-Sumdo-Tso Kiagar-Korzok)

Merak was very cold but our rooms were warm. Each of us enjoyed separate rooms and had sound sleep. We woke up at 6.30. Home-stay owner packed breakfast for us. We got freshened up, had some tea and got ready to hit the road once again. I checked our Vehicle, after Merak, there wouldn't be any mechanic for more than 600kms. I wanted XUV to remain in its best possible condition.

I checked fuel status. The owner helped me to empty a 10ltr can in the tank. ( we had one 10ltr and one 20 ltr fuel can). I gifted that empty can to homestay caretaker.

The entire family came to say goodbye to us. I went to homestay owner and promised him that I"ll come again. He asked me to come during winter to see white Pangong. We bid farewell to those amazing people and started driving towards Chusul.

The owner briefed me that after Merak there is no road till Chusul. There would be only Tyre marks. He also told me that those Tyre marks would be confusing at many points. There"ll b many Tyre marks and choosing right Tyre marks to follow would be a hard task. Moreover, We won't get any human being on this road to ask for directions.

Before starting this trip, I downloaded offline maps on Gmap. Ok, we all have our issues and complains about Gmap but that was the only available option for us. I put Merak to Chusul in my phone's Gmap and started driving.

After Merak, we stopped at a very interesting sigh board.

It says... "No Visitors allowed beyond this Point". We were getting into the Indo-China border area. It means that area belongs to ITBP (Indo- Tibetian Border Police).

We were driving parallel to Pangong Lake.

We kept moving.

There wasn't any road. There were only Tyre marks. In fact, plenty of Tyre marks of Army (ITBP) supply trucks. I made a mental note for a particular pattern of Tyre mark and kept driving on it.

Pangong was just next to us. We spent two big days with Pangong, still, we kept stopping at the lake.

We drove more than 14kms with Pangong Lake.

It was time to bid a farewell to Pangong Lake and turn towards Chusul village.

We bid farewell to Pangong lake with heavy hearts. There was a group of Kiangs staring at us and asking to get out of their territory. We moved ahead.

We bid farewell to Pangong Lake and turned towards Chusul.

We were approaching Chusul Village. We noticed a small village kind of settlement on a small hill. As far as I knew there wasn't any village (that big) between Merak to Chusul. Those small houses didn't have the green roof ( Identification of army constructions). I was confused. I tried to recall each and every writing of tsk1979 and ADC. None of them ever talked about a big village between Merak and Chusul.

We stopped. Rest of the three idiots were looking at me. I didn't have anything to tell them. I told others that, I think we are on a wrong route. All of them were socked. Earlier during our briefing session, I told them that we cant afford to drive on a wrong route in this regions. If we do so, we could end up in China.

I didn't have any clue what to do. Even, offline map in Gmap was confused and showing re-routing. I got off the car and started observing that village by my telephoto lens. It was well-organised village without any traditional Ladakhi House. It raised an alarm in my mind..."are we In China?".

I zoomed in and noticed an Army truck. I like those sturdy Indian Army trucks. I am able to recognize those truck from any distance. Finally, I got a clear picture in my mind. It was an Army Camp. Why didn't it have the green rooftop? Well, It was an ITBP camp. I got back in the car and informed other that we are on a right route. It was a funny incident. We all laughed on it (and on me) that entire day.

I wanted to meet that army truck driver. I tried to drive fast but the road was bad. I couldn't catch him.

We kept moving ahead. We had some last glimpse of Pangong Lake from a small hill.

BTW, did you know that Chinese Eat Kiangs. So if you approach them on foot they run away, but with vehicles, they are more welcoming. Many who have migrated to safer India, now do not go back towards China.

We spotted two kiangs staring at our Vehicle. I got out of the car and ran behind them. It was true, they were not scared of our vehicle but scared of me (me on my foot).

After seeing me on my foot, Some more kiangs ran away from us. They were at the other side of the car and running crazily. I thought they"ll bang with our vehicle.

Kiangs and some more Kiangs. Some Kiangs crossed the road in front of the XUV. This time we were in our car. I was not running behind them.

One lonely (and I think angry) horse was watching our games. We ignored him and kept moving ahead.

We were approaching Chusul.

After a while, we reached Chusul. Where we met first tarred road of the day.

PS: Unfortunately, we don't have any photographs of Chusul. We do have some Videos from my dashcam.

We entered Chusul.

It was a medium-sized village with a post office and PHC(Primary Health Centre). Close to Rezang La and Pangong Lake, Chushul is a small town and a valley by the same name in the Ladakh region. People travelling to Pangong Tso from Tso Moriri pass through Chushul valley. It is a vast stretch of the mostly barren valley where Kiangs roam.

We entered in Chusul village. We were searching for ITBP check post at Chusul village. There wasn't a single soul whom we could ask about directions. We kept going in Chusul village.

We crossed Chusul.

We didn't find ITBP check post. We didn't find any signboard or milestone, which could guide us to turn towards Loma-Nyoma-Mahe route. We kept moving and took a wrong turn to Chusul -Tansgte road.

Tip: Please observe my Video named the wrong turn. The turn we took in this Video was a wrong turn. Also observe below image carefully. Chusull- Tangste road is used by locals to reach Leh in short period.

We took a wrong turn. We kept driving on it more than 3kms.

We were searching for an ITBP check post. It wasn't there. I was getting skeptical. We drove more than 4 km. We didn't come across any check post. There wasn't any single human being whom we can ask about ITBP check post.

We asked for directions to a local lady. She was not able to understand our Hindi. We asked specifically for ITBP check post. She guided us.

We took a U-turn and moved back towards Chusul. Fortunately, we met a truck driver. We asked him about the directions. He Guided us perfectly.

Finally, we reached ITBP CP, Chusul.

We showed our permit to ITBP guy and inquired about Kaksang La- Hor La- Yaye Tso- Mirapal Tso- Mahe route. He told us, civilians are not allowed on that route. After reading tsk1979, I wanted to cover that route. We met their CP in charge. He also denied us to go towards Kaksang La. We finished registration formalities and moved ahead.

In Chusul, we faced three ITBP CP. We got out of the Chusul town.

We stopped at Chusul War Memorial. It was locked. There was an ITBP guy posted on a small bunker on a nearby hill. I climbed that hill( it was tough) and asked him that we want to visit the War Memorial but its locked. He didn't know anything about the keys. He asked us to climb the wall and get inside. It was strange but we didn't want that army guy to leave his post and search the key for us. We thanked him, climbed the wall and got inside the War Memorial.

We left Chusul war memorial and moved ahead.

We were on Tsaga road approaching Tsaga La and Tasga Village.

The road on this route is almost non-existent. We had to drive slowly and carefully to ensure that we remain on the right track. This entire area is highly sensitive. There was absolutely no one in sight to ask for help or directions except for the army guys.

After a short drive, we reached Rezang La War Memorial.

It was closed (not locked). There was an army post but it was deserted. We opened the gate of the memorial and paid our respects.

We started from Rezang La.

Our next destination was Tsaga Village.

We kept moving. There wasn't any road. We were following a dirt track made by ITBP supply trucks. We spotted a Lake. I don't even know the name of Lake. I never read anything about this lake. It was first time in our trip that we didn't stop for a Lake.

We kept moving and reached Tsaga Village.

It was a small village. We stopped at Tsaga for much-needed Lunch. Vicky and Dilesh wanted some proper food but all they had at small dhaba was Maggi and tea. Dilesh went to the kitchen with the owner and gave tips to make Maggi spicier. We ended up with Maggi mixed with some eggs and Rajma.

Before Tsaga village we were hungry. Our Photography stops were decreased.

At Tasga we got our fuel(Tea and Maggi) and all of us came back in our mood.

After Tsaga, we got some tarred road which was half broken. It was tough to maintain some steady speed on it. We stopped for some photographs.

After a while, we reached Loma.

We ignored it and kept moving ahead. Now we had a broken tarred road to drive on.

We kept moving ahead.

We encountered an Om Mani Padme hum carved Stone. We also noticed a road roller. It meant we were approaching one more Village.

We reached Nyoma.

Nyoma is a small village in the district of Leh. The most appealing feature of the village is that lies on the banks of the Indus river. The town has an advanced landing ground for the Indian air-force which is proposed to be active. There is a small Buddhist monastery.

We reached Nyoma at 1515. We were more than 70km far from our destination Korzok. We were 40km far from Sumdo, which is a turn towards Korzok Village. We were not able to maintain a steady speed. We had to make it fast by decreasing our photo stops. I instructed others, no more stops till Sumdo.

We started from Nyoma. 

We were in hurry. We zipped through Mahe check post and reached Sumdo Village in 30 minutes.

Sumdo is located in Rupshu valley in Changthang Plateau. The villages here are nomadic ChangPa people who rear their precious pashmina goats in the high altitude grassland slopes of the mountains surrounding them.

From Sumdo one road goes towards Tso Moriri (Korzok) and another road goes to Tso Kar. We turned towards Korzok village and noticed a very strange notice. Korzok village is a dry(no Liquor) village. Lately, I came to know, monks at Korzok Monastery appealed locals to stop smoking and boozing

Fortunately, we were not carrying any liquor with us (Normally, we do). 

We started on the road to Tso Moriri. The road was tarred but broken. In fact, it was broken at many places with big potholes. It was a nightmare to drive on that broken road.

I heard(read) many praises about a small lake before Tso Moriri. 

We were driving towards Korzok. I was waiting for Tso Kiagar. After a while, we came across the first view of Tso Kiagar. It was beautiful.

We reached Tso Kiagar. 

We stopped on the road. I tried to get out of the XUV but there were lots of flies. I got back in the car.

I got back in the car. We were about to move and I thought, we came this far, how could some flies stop us?. I turned the car towards the Lake. Others guys choose to remain in the car. I got out, touched the water, clicked some photographs and rushed back to the car. Those flies were fierce.

After a quick photo session, we moved ahead. 

Korzok was 10km far from us.

We stopped for a while at Chumur turn, where we got the first view of Tso Moriri.

We reached Tso Moriri. 

It was beautiful.

Tso Moriri is the largest high altitude lake in the Trans-Himalayan region. The lake water is fed by springs and snow-melt from the mountains in the Changthang plateau. Tso Moriri lake is encompassed by snow-capped mountain ranges from all the sides. This beautiful blue pallet lake is about 7 KM wide at its broadest point and about 19 KM long. A large number of flora and fauna is found in the region.

Tso Moriri is situated at more than 4500m altitude. We stopped at the end of the Lake. It was cold at the lake. We were shivering due to the fierce cold. We spent more than an hour at the Lake.

Ladakh: Four Idiots & One Xuv500: Part-4. (Leh To Merak/Pangong Tso)

Ladakh: Four Idiots & One XUV500: Part-6. (Tso Moriri to Pang)