Scribbles of a Lazy Geek

After the river rafting adventure, we were back to our normal schedule. 26th July, Friday - we leave for Nubra Valley today. The plan was to leave around 9, go to Panamik ,visit the Monastery in Sumur, then see the sand dunes of Hunder and the Bactrian camels and then retire for the day at the guest house. The drive to Nubra valley started almost on time. We will be passing through the highest motorable road (apparently its not, nonetheless at an altitude close to 18,000 ft it is high, very high!) at Khardung La today. The approach till Khardung La is quite good, with road widening work going on at some places. The first stoppage was at South Pullu for permits. Signboard at South Pullu - It was amazing to see such signboards at numerous places. At such high altitudes, where even breathing is a luxury, these guys (BRO) make roads and make life easier for the travellers. And, to top that - they provide a Road Complaint register too :) And, I am more than a 100% sure, there w...

A shortened trip to the Pangong had meant we had an extra day. We could either have spent this day doing some local sight seeing or could have added one more place to our itinerary. Sikander, now acting as a sort of trip advisor to us - gave us some ideas. We could have hired cycles, and do some cycling. The other idea he gave us was River Rafting in the Zanskar. We were all tired after the long to and fro journey of Pangong, and did not want to travel the next day. So, we finally zeroed in on River Rafting. A deal was stuck with him. He gave us pa package where the car will pick us from our guest house, take us to the start point of the Rafting, then Lunch when the rafting is finished and finally drop us off back at our guest house. Since, we were not going any place far today - we woke up leisurely at around 7:30 - 8 AM for a change. Had our breakfast at the Guest house and waited for the Rafting guy to pick us up. Finally a Traveller was there to pick us up. All of us packed ours...

On Day 4, after returning the bikes, we had to plan for the next day. Day 5 and 6 were supposed to be Pangong and beyond. I was inclined to camp for the night at Pangong. With 22nd July being a full moon night (if I remember the date correctly), a near full moon on 24th would have meant the beautiful Pangong turning absolutely majestic. We were probably at the right place, at almost the right time. The initial plan was to leave on the morning of 24th, and return by the evening of 25th to Leh. The night of 24th was supposed to be spent at the lakeside. But, a straight forward NO by Arun to staying in tents, meant end of discussion. And, I guess others supported him too. I was probably the only one who wanted to spend the night at Pangong, so protesting wasn't really an option and leaving early towards Pangong, and returning by the night was decided. Car booked, and off to sleep we went with a early morning start of around 6 AM planned. It was an early start on Day 5. We got up, g...