Pangong Tso

Pangong Tso is a long, narrow lake at over four thousand metres in eastern Ladakh, held between bare brown ridges with almost no vegetation on its shores. The water is intensely blue and changes through the day, turning turquoise in flat light and deep indigo when clouds pass, and although its water is saline, the lake freezes over in winter. The drive from Leh crosses the Chang La pass and takes most of a morning through empty high desert. The lake runs east for well over a hundred kilometres, with most of its length lying outside India. Camps and guesthouses cluster at Spangmik and neighbouring villages along the accessible western shore.

History

Historically the name Pangong Tso applied only to the westernmost of the lake's five sub-lakes, in Ladakh, and the whole group is called Tsomo Nganglha Ringpo in Tibetan. The Government of Ladakh gives the meaning of Pangong Tso as "high grassland lake", while other sources read Pangong as "hollow" (Wikipedia, Pangong Tso).

What's there

• The changing colour of the water - blue to turquoise to grey as the light shifts.
• Bare ridges around the shore - treeless brown and ochre slopes dropping straight into the lake.
• The Chang La crossing - the high pass on the road in from Leh.
• The Spangmik shoreline - the village strip where most of the camps and viewpoints sit.

When to go

The road is usually open from May to September; snow closes the passes for much of the rest of the year. Light is best early and late, when the ridges take on colour and the wind drops. Middays are harsh and often windy. Spend at least two nights acclimatising in Leh before coming up, and carry the required inner line permit.

What to expect

The altitude is serious, and people who drive straight up from Leh without acclimatising often spend the night with a headache and no sleep. Accommodation is tented camps with limited water and power, and the shoreline has become crowded and littered in places, with generators and photo props at the popular spots. It is cold and windy even in summer.

Nearby

The Nubra valley and its dunes lie north over another high pass.

Key facts