Pangong: Experience Heaven.

Three buddies met finally! I bet if anyone could forget the beauty of location where Farhan and Raju meet Rancho, Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots movie. Well, the location was Pangong Lake in Ladakh.

We started our journey to Pangong Lake from Ladakh. The journey was long, yet pleasant. We didn't know how five hours just went by. Fine roads made the journey comfortable and sand peaks surrounded in the peace of an environment under blue sky was indeed a pleasure to watch and rejoice.
  
The journey starts with plain roads, then up the hill and again down to the plains, in a dramatic way like a sine-wave 'I am an engineer after all'! We crossed some villages named Shey among the others to reach ChangLe Pass. Facts state, ChangeLe as world's third highest pass. Being completely covered by snow, it is termed locally as India’s Swiss. We had lot of fun playing in snow. I don’t remember the number of times I fell down wearing large snow boots that were heavier than me, but I do remember the snowman we made. J

As we were driven down the hill, sand dunes were back to surround us, crossing the river called Pagal Naala ‘Crazy Stream’. A complete desert is how it looked like. It is astonishing to see how the journey went on from playing in snow to desert like surroundings. Then, there came a point where a sneak-peak of the lake was visible. And, the anxiety to reach the lake starts off! 

Pangong Lake is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It is well guarded by the Himalayas, extending from India to Tibet. It means ‘long, narrow, enchanted lake’ in Tibetan. Talking facts, it is situated at a height of about 14,270 ft; about 5 km wide at its broadest point, freezes completely during winter and 60% of the lake lies in China. 

The lakeside is open during the tourist season, from May to September and an Inner Line Permit is required to visit the lake as it lies on the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control. 

Facts also report that there are no fish or other aquatic life in the lake, but we get to watch and feed ducks and birds. I could say it was a magical experience all together. Sheer beauty is how one could complement the Lake. Clear blue waters of the lake, snow covered peaks at a distance and chill winds blowing you off, a coat or two would really be a necessity. 

An unusual yet charming aspect about the Lake was the colour of the lake water. It wasn’t an even colour all throughout, but three layers like division- pale blue of pure transparent water initially at your feet, then sky blue coloured water, and dark blue near the peaks. Picture perfect scenery was worth billion clicks.

That was my travel experience to most beautiful place I have ever visited. I should say, I have visited good number of places, never got myself to actually write a travelogue. It’s the beauty of this place that made me pen down my experience! Do visit and experience heaven! J