20 July 2010

Ajit gave the first surprise. Well not a total surprise but it was somewhat unexpected. He decided to skip Pangong and start the return journey one day early. He had to reach his office positively by 24th July. The seven of the rest started the steep ascent of ChangLa. It is steeper than all the other passes. The Bullets were having a tough time climbing. The gears had to be changed frequently. The 2nd gear did not have enough power to climb throughout and the first was too low. When the offroading started, many times we had to 'paddle-push while on full throttle' the bikes. Lets call this method as PPFT. It would be used many times in the future.
And moving, crawling we made it to the top of ChangLa, the third highest pass of the world. We missed the sign where it said "Free Tea provided by the Army" The mirror reflection theory was true again. The descent was mighty steep. Another pagalnullah was to be crossed. This one was even more treacherous as the stones were sharper and quite large in size. All our bikes crossed safely. When the offroading ended, smooth tarmac welcomed us. But even here, you cant go at high speed as the gradient is still high. 3rd gear was at its limit but I could not switch to fourth gear. Hence, frequent braking. This road has been much improved from what I last remember. All courtesy the 3 Idiots. The road now was clearly marked throughout. The greenery has also much increased. While nearing Tangtse, we saw some familiar faces. This was the group that was earlier mentioned as taking the Rohtang bypass towards Spiti. I asked if they did it and they confirmed. Man, real heroes. These guys had been continuously riding the time we had spent idling and still fresh enough to visit Pangong Lake. Thats spirited.
We stopped at Tangtse checkpoint for registering. A couple of cabfuls of girls were waiting. They asked if they could take our photograph. Some funny dialogue passed between me and Vihans over this. We are a shy group of people, you know.
For the unknown, there is a small water body right before Pangong. Gyan and I were leading and decided to have some fun. We waved our arms signaling that we had reached Pangong and slowed down. Vihans was stumped. He had been expecting a grand, blue spectacle. This was a small, grey pond. Gyan cited the clouds as the reason for the grey shade. We then told the guys that we are heading towards MarsimekLa. All were quiet until we reached the signboard, "First View of World Famous Pangong Lake". Vihans jumped with joy. Gyan and I laughed to no end.
The road forked into two. As it never fails to happen in such situations, we took the wrong turn and really started to head towards MarsimekLa. We corrected ourselves quickly and were soon parked in the ideal parking spot, inside the lake. It was breezy. Ajit had warned us before leaving that it would not be possible to put up our tents in those high winds. But first, came the time for photographs, with timer. I had a good exercise of setting the timer and then running towards the Bullet. The photographs truly make up for it. We went some distance ahead to look for a place to put up the tents. Although there was a vast amount of space available, we needed somewhere closer to food source. The dhabas at the start were the only sources. So, we returned. By now, it was drizzling and the clouds overhead were dark and sinister. If they burst, we were in for trouble. Our tents were simply not durable enough. We asked at the already setup tents there. They were all booked. We were in trouble. All of us sat down in one of the dhabas and discussed on the next course of action. Then the guardian angel spoke. The dhaba owner took us to the shed besides the dhaba and opened it to reveal neatly arranged beds and blankets, enough space for us. Vihans was so ecstatic that he gave a tight hug to the man. Then the angel turned even more divine. RUM was available. That too Contessa, imported straight from the military. Ignore the high price of Rs 350. It was nectar from the Gods. Our night couldn't have been better.
First we went to the lakeside for more photographs. There was little light but it was enough. We returned to the shed and had everything. Rum, coke, snacks. I really wish we could record one of those sessions sometime. They are hilarious. We laughed about the initial joke about the fake Pangong Lake.
For dinner, we went back to the dhaba. The food was hot and tasty. The sleep was very peaceful.