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| Day 18 - Sarchu - Our tryst with Ladakh ends |
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8.00am: Spangmik > Chushul > Nyoma > Tso Moriri :6.45pm
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Had to pump the tyre with the compressor before leaving, a slow process because it is powered by the cigarette lighter socket of the car, and again we were lucky that the tyre held up.
Today was yet another brilliant day with an enchanting drive through some amazing terrain.
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| tsokar lake |
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| lachulungla pass |
First was the fact that we crossed at least 5 passes during this drive, all of varying heights, starting with Tsakola, then Polakongla, an unidentified one (no boards, nothing), Lachulungla, and finally Nakeela.
Along the way we crossed the Rupsu Valley, the Kar Basin, the More plains, Tsokar Lake and village, all vast and stretching into the horizon. Two ranges were spectacular - one on the approach to Pang that looked like paintings and one after that looked like it was sculpted by some genius.
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| divine sculpture |
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| rugged mountainscape |
At Pang, we tried with a Punju puncture guy to repair the tyres, but he couldn't even take the tyres off the rims, and was clueless about tubeless tyres. Because he had a powerful compressor, we managed to deflate the one with the embedded bolt, fill it with sealant and then inflate it. This worked and the tyre held up much better, us not having to reinflate the whole day.
We then passed the Gata Loops, a series of 21 hairpin bends that wound their way down ahead of us, making us dizzy as we followed them down.
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| the gata loops begin |
Spotting some tibetan antelopes and urial (another kind of local antelope) was the icing on the cake...
We finally landed at Sarchu and settled for the night in a tent owned by a Nepali couple. One corner of the tent was the kitchen and store and along two sides was an L shaped raised platform which was covered with dhurries, razais and pillows. It was cosy and warm and we had dinner in the tent before crashing for the night.
Sarchu is on the Himachal Pradesh border and our tryst with the beautiful Ladakh is over.
Highlights: The never ending More Plains, the serene drive
Downsides: No luck repairing the puncture at Pang |
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| today's route (214) |
| day 18 |
km |
odo |
| Tsomoriri |
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184956 |
| Tsakala |
29 |
184985 |
| Sumdho |
13 |
184998 |
| Polakongla |
21 |
185019 |
| Tsokar |
22 |
185041 |
| Unnamed Pass |
11 |
185052 |
| Pang |
42 |
185094 |
| Lachangla |
21 |
185115 |
| Nakeela |
12 |
185127 |
| Sarchu |
43 |
185170 |
| total |
214 |
4540 |
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