TRAVEL DIARIES – LADAKH 2026 Day 7

TRAVEL DIARIES – LADAKH 2026

Day 7 | Leh to Pangong Lake and back | 300+ km

PANGONG. BEAUTY, MEMORIES AND A LITTLE DISAPPOINTMENT.

Started early today from the ITBP Officers’ Mess.

The target was Pangong Lake.

My friends in Ladakh had actually advised me not to attempt Pangong immediately after reaching Leh. But I had a different thought.

We had already travelled through Gurez, Kargil and Aryan Valley, crossing high passes and spending several days on the road. I felt we were reasonably acclimatised.

So I decided, why wait?

Pangong it was.

It is around 160 km from Leh, and we had to return the same day.

After driving nearly 1,800 km so far, I finally accepted that even I need a break from the steering wheel! 😄

So this time I booked a cab for the journey.

I have been to Pangong several times.

But this was the first Pangong trip for my girl gang, and their excitement was quite infectious. For them, it was a completely new experience.

The journey itself was fairly uneventful, except for crossing Chang La, one of the famous high passes on this route, at around 17,500 feet.

Surprisingly, today Chang La was calm and smooth.

What wasn't smooth was the weather.

It was hot.

Dry.

Almost uncomfortable.

Ladakh seems to be changing, and the weather here certainly feels different from what I remember from my earlier journeys.

We reached Pangong around 12 noon.

And then came a mixed feeling.

I was happy seeing the girls' excitement, but honestly, I was a little disappointed too.

The Pangong I remembered was quiet, raw and almost magical.

Today, the first few kilometres have become heavily commercialised.

Cottages and huts have mushroomed along the lake, many of them poorly maintained. There is visible waste and inadequate disposal in places. And then there are the hundreds of yellow scooters, Royal Enfields, drums, photo setups and, of course, the famous “3 Idiots” chairs.

Everything is there.

Perhaps that's what tourists want.

But somewhere in all this, I felt that something was missing.

The silence.

The solitude.

The old Pangong.

We stayed there for barely half an hour, clicked a few pictures and moved further towards Man village, where the surroundings were much quieter and felt far more pristine.

And that was the Pangong I had come looking for.

We stayed there till around 3 PM.

Sitting beside that enormous blue lake, I had the same thought I have every time I visit Pangong.

“Kaash yeh waqt thoda aur lamba ho jaye.”

But mountains teach you one thing very well.

No matter how beautiful the moment is, you eventually have to leave.

And so did we.

There was one more thing I was particularly looking forward to on this trip.

Marmots.

On my earlier visits, these little fellows were almost part of the Pangong experience. They were friendly, came close to tourists and happily posed for photographs in exchange for a little something to eat.

But today, there wasn't a single one in sight.

And I couldn't help wondering what happened to them.

Tourists have been feeding them biscuits and other processed food for years, even though that isn't their natural diet. Over time, there have been concerns about their health and dependence on human food.

Maybe today they were simply hiding.

Maybe the increased tourist activity has pushed them away.

Whatever the reason, their absence was noticeable.

And somehow, it made me a little sad.

We often love nature so much that we end up changing it.

We feed the animals because we want them to come closer.

We build cottages because tourists need a place to stay.

We create photo spots because everyone wants that perfect picture.

And slowly, the very thing we came to see begins to disappear.

A little philosophical for a travel diary, I know! 😄

But sitting beside Pangong today, I couldn't help thinking about it.

The girl gang, of course, had a completely different opinion.

They were busy posing in their Kareena Kapoor/3 Idiots style and were absolutely thrilled. 😂

They got their pictures.

I got my memories.

And I got a little nostalgic about the Pangong I had known years ago.

That's life, I suppose.

Places change.

People change.

And sometimes even the way we travel changes.

But thankfully, the lake is still there.

Still enormous.

Still beautiful.

Still capable of making you sit quietly for a few minutes and forget everything else.

We started our return journey and covered more than 300 km today.

Tomorrow, another adventure begins.

Nubra Valley is waiting.

And with it, Turtuk and Siachen Base Camp.

Let's see what tomorrow has in store.

Day 7 done. ❤️🏔️

Stay tuned.