Destination Ladakh, Photo journal
One third of Pangnong Tso Lake is in India and remaining is in China.
After traversing the highest motorable road to Khardung La, another surprise awaited us. The biggest lake in Asia: Pangong Lake…
Refreshing ‘shikanji’ flavoured water: Pangong Tso Lake
That’s Pangong Tso-a lake known for its calm, clear and unending expanse. It is the biggest lake in Asia with its area falling under both India and China. One third of it is in India and remaining in China. It is 130 km long and 7 km wide.
Pangong Tso-a lake is located on the Changtang plateau in eastern Ladakh, around 140 km South-east of Leh, at an altitude of over 14000 feet.
Pangong Tso is also known as hollow lake. It is a clear symbol of nature’s craftsmanship. Its brackish water plays with sun light to produce different colour effects. And the taste of its water reminded me of shikannji! I even got two pet bottles filled with it which I drank after reaching home.
Hello there :-)
Typical Ladakhi women out with their goats. Simply wave them and they will greet you with ‘julley’ which means hello.
Patthar Sahab Gurdwara: built by Lamas
Patthar Sahib gurudwara was built by Buddhist Lamas nearly five centuries ago to commemorate the visit of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, to Ladakh.
Legend has it that many centuries ago a demon had terrorized the people of Leh. Baba Guru Nanak, who visited the region around 1516 A.D, came to know about the problem and decided to bless them with his sermons. Locals welcomed him with open arms. His growing popularity angered the demon and in a fit of rage, he decided to kill Guru Nanak with a large boulder. The boulder, however, turned into wax as soon as it touched Guru Nanak.
"Thinking the Sikh Guru must have got killed by the boulder, the demon appeared only to be shocked to find Guru Nanak Dev meditating. He pushed the boulder with his right foot, but as it had already melted into wax, his foot got embedded in it. Realising, Guru's enormous powers, the demon fell at his feet and sought forgiveness," said Rajender Singh, the caretaker of the gurudwara. Since then, resident Lamas revere the boulder and offer prayers to it. In 1948, the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib's maintenance was taken over by the Army.
Lamas in the making :-)
They are no usual kids. They are Lamas...young ones. These kids stay at monasteries and undergo studies there only. Ladakhi people send one of their kids to the monasteries as a ritual after which their son turns into a Lama.
Ladakhi films
Ladakh also has a film industry. This film title roughly translates into Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. And locals told me that the film script was almost the same as that of its Hindi namesake.
Yaks at work
These are yaks doing what they are best at – tilling the earth.
Indus River in Ladakh
Amazing expanse of the Indus River. Just awesome is the word for the view.
Ice, ice beauty…
Such natural beauty! That’s Viti, my wife appreciating a natural ice sculpture.
Snow-capped mountains and frozen lakes
Now that’s what snow capped mountains and frozen lakes look like, and this is in summer!
Shyok River, Ladakh
And that’s the Shyok River flowing towards Pakistan. And that dark cast on the mountain is actually a cloud’s shadow. Yes we were that high!
More on Ladakh
Travel guide – Ladakh
map
Ladakh is just a two hour flight from Delhi :-)
[Photo credit: Nishant]
