Day-X (23rd July ‘09)
This was the day of the trip. There were many excitements including taking a wrong turn, riding alone without seeing anybody, riding in sand, riding on burger size boulders and finally reaching at Tso-moriri.
We were supposed to start early because I was aware of the non existence of road in last 25 kilometer stretch to the lake/village Korzok. But we started at around 9.30 AM. Got the tank full at Choglamsar and again at Karu. And also got 2 liters of extra fuel for emergency. After Karu we followed a wrong road sign and went some 40+ kms towards Pangong. Pangong was not in our list so nothing was in mind about the route. Though we enquired at Shakti but everyone directed us towards Pangong, later I came to know that lake means they (local people) understand Pangong
. Anyways finally one army personnel guided us the proper route but we had to return some 30+ kms. This is how we wasted 2 precious riding hours.
But before this we already had skipped Shey Palace and Aalchi Monastery due to lack of time. And I was little upset for this too.
The proper route to Tso-moriri is bear to your right on Leh-Manali highway after Karu until you get a bridge to cross the river. Don’t cross the bridge and bear to left, after a few hundred meters there is a police check post and you need to deposit a copy of your permit.
The ride was mainly monotonous till Chumathang, here you need to deposit a copy of your permit and the lake is 60 kilometers from here. The guard also told that there is no road for last 20-25 kms and one need to follow the Jeep track to reach the lake. But after riding few kilometers and seeing the road condition I was unable to believe that there is no road. The road was newly constructed and butter smooth. But it was hard to ride because of the cross winds. But at a point suddenly the road ended and I had to believe that there is really no road. And we were the alone there and it was going to dark so the only option was to practice off-roading with a pillion. After 14-16 kms we got the first view of a lake and it was not Tso-moriri as there was no symbol and the track was also leading further. After 5 kilometers we got the first glimpse of the lake and it was amazing but the sky was fully covered with clouds. After reaching at Lake we found co symbol of civilization expect few boards describing not to camp at the lake side. What the hell is this!! Where is village Korzok then!! There was no one to whom we can ask about the road or village. It was the festival time in the Korzok monastery but there was no symbol of it. But the jeep track was going somewhere along with the lake and we decided to follow that. After 5 kilometers we got in to Korzok village which was hidden by the hills. It was a relief.
There was a camp site at the first lot of the settlement, and they charge 3K per night. We went a kilometer ahead to the Korzok village and there are plenty options to stay including tents, camp sites and home stays. We opted for a home stay with a nice view of the lake. It was almost dark by then and it was quite windy and cold at 15000+ feet. And Om got a bad headache so we decided to take rest at the home stay after having roti n omelet, as our initial plan was to stay a day or two to capture the sunrise and sunset and also to see the festival at Korzok monastery.
Route – Leh-Karu-Chumathang-Korzok (Tso moriri)
Total distance covered - 266 Kilometers
Road condition – Overall good, but the last 25 kms road does not exist but a perfect stretch for off-roading.
Event of the day – Riding towards Pangong instead of Tso-moriri, 25 kilometers of off roading with pillion.
Important places - Karu (last petrol pump)
Tourist interest points – Tso-moriri
Precautions – Carry fuel if you are planning to explore more and returning via Pang, Less habited areas, No power/network at Korzok so do save some life in your camera.
This was the day of the trip. There were many excitements including taking a wrong turn, riding alone without seeing anybody, riding in sand, riding on burger size boulders and finally reaching at Tso-moriri.
We were supposed to start early because I was aware of the non existence of road in last 25 kilometer stretch to the lake/village Korzok. But we started at around 9.30 AM. Got the tank full at Choglamsar and again at Karu. And also got 2 liters of extra fuel for emergency. After Karu we followed a wrong road sign and went some 40+ kms towards Pangong. Pangong was not in our list so nothing was in mind about the route. Though we enquired at Shakti but everyone directed us towards Pangong, later I came to know that lake means they (local people) understand Pangong
. Anyways finally one army personnel guided us the proper route but we had to return some 30+ kms. This is how we wasted 2 precious riding hours.But before this we already had skipped Shey Palace and Aalchi Monastery due to lack of time. And I was little upset for this too.
The proper route to Tso-moriri is bear to your right on Leh-Manali highway after Karu until you get a bridge to cross the river. Don’t cross the bridge and bear to left, after a few hundred meters there is a police check post and you need to deposit a copy of your permit.
The ride was mainly monotonous till Chumathang, here you need to deposit a copy of your permit and the lake is 60 kilometers from here. The guard also told that there is no road for last 20-25 kms and one need to follow the Jeep track to reach the lake. But after riding few kilometers and seeing the road condition I was unable to believe that there is no road. The road was newly constructed and butter smooth. But it was hard to ride because of the cross winds. But at a point suddenly the road ended and I had to believe that there is really no road. And we were the alone there and it was going to dark so the only option was to practice off-roading with a pillion. After 14-16 kms we got the first view of a lake and it was not Tso-moriri as there was no symbol and the track was also leading further. After 5 kilometers we got the first glimpse of the lake and it was amazing but the sky was fully covered with clouds. After reaching at Lake we found co symbol of civilization expect few boards describing not to camp at the lake side. What the hell is this!! Where is village Korzok then!! There was no one to whom we can ask about the road or village. It was the festival time in the Korzok monastery but there was no symbol of it. But the jeep track was going somewhere along with the lake and we decided to follow that. After 5 kilometers we got in to Korzok village which was hidden by the hills. It was a relief.
There was a camp site at the first lot of the settlement, and they charge 3K per night. We went a kilometer ahead to the Korzok village and there are plenty options to stay including tents, camp sites and home stays. We opted for a home stay with a nice view of the lake. It was almost dark by then and it was quite windy and cold at 15000+ feet. And Om got a bad headache so we decided to take rest at the home stay after having roti n omelet, as our initial plan was to stay a day or two to capture the sunrise and sunset and also to see the festival at Korzok monastery.
Route – Leh-Karu-Chumathang-Korzok (Tso moriri)
Total distance covered - 266 Kilometers
Road condition – Overall good, but the last 25 kms road does not exist but a perfect stretch for off-roading.
Event of the day – Riding towards Pangong instead of Tso-moriri, 25 kilometers of off roading with pillion.
Important places - Karu (last petrol pump)
Tourist interest points – Tso-moriri
Precautions – Carry fuel if you are planning to explore more and returning via Pang, Less habited areas, No power/network at Korzok so do save some life in your camera.
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