"To The Ladakh lakes: Pangong Tso, Tso-moriri and Tsokar"

Region : Ladakh, Chanthang, Lahoul, Total days : 14, tour days : 10, Highest evevation : 5'300 mtrs Changla.

Sengge- Chu or Lion river originates in Tibet, north of the lake Mansarover and, as the myth goes straight from a Lions mouth. It enters <<Little Tibet>>, as Ladakh near Damchok and after 700 km. Sojourn leaves Ladakh to meet the Shyok near Skardu in Baltistan. The two lakes Tso moriri and Pangong Tso, face each other from the opposite sides of the Indus River. They have the mighty Ladakh range in between. Getting to Ladakh and Pangong-Tso through Manali means crossing each of these lofty ranges and five high passes; Rohtang-la on Pir Panjal, Baralacha-la on the Great Himalayan range, Lachulang-la and the Taglang-la on the Zanskar and Chang-la on the Ladakh ranges.

Manali-Leh: The 474 km. Stretch from Manali to Leh in 4 days, crossing one pass in a day.

Leh Onwards : From Leh the journey to Pangong-Tso involves negotiating the 5305 m. high Chang-la, 78 km. From Leh. The ascent to the pass begins from Sakti, a huge settlement next only to Leh in size; its prosperity can be traced to its strategic location on the erstwhile feeders to the silk routes linking Sinkiang.Enroute Tanze, after crossing the Chang-la, the first view of the jogged Karakoram Range is had with its razor sharp peaks towering into the skies.

Muglib is the last settlement till the Pangong-Tso. Pangong-Tso is known to the Tibetan as "Chomo Gna Laring Tso" which literally means <<A long slender female like lake>>. The sheer size of the lake and the lime Stone Mountain around add to the seven hues of the blue and green water. Exploring around the lake, we pass Chushul, Loma on the Leh Demchok road and Mahe for the onwards journey to Tso-Morari.Tso-morari is a huge mountain lake in Southeast Ladakh, in the Rupshu Changthang plains: - geographically a part of Tibetan plateau. It is like pearl and contain a large mineral deposits. Karzok village is situated on the South West bank of this lake is highest inhabited village on earth.

Karzok monastery and its inhabitants the nomads known as Changpas, are most outstanding features of this lake, which lives in Robos (tent made from yak wool) during summer looking after their flocks of sheep, which produce Pashmina wool, one of the finest and costliest varieties. The circumference of this lake is around 36 km. Exploring around the lake and studying the life style of changpas, we return to Sumdo and continue along the more plains we return back to Manali.