The night was quite cold and we did not want to get up early. It was very cold outside even in the morning in the shade. We got out of the hut only when the sun reached the spot. The sunshine was brisk and we got warmed up quickly. The Lake looked very beautiful in the morning. In the distance on the side from which we had entered the area, I could see hundreds of birds.

It is supposed to be a nesting ground for a number of bird species such as the bar-headed geese. After a late and a leisurely breakfast we went to explore the Karzok village. It is a small village and the people seemed to be really poor. It has a monastery which too was not in a very good shape like other places. All the time we were irritated by the sight of the huge and ugly stores of the Food and Supplies Department. We also visited the site on a slope which was being considered for setting up a tourism establishment for visitors. It was a Government of India scheme. If the construction is done in the traditional style, it will blend in the landscape like the monastery some distance away. However, such things are unknown in government circles. Our people are experts in spoiling the environment and local ambiance by letting the engineers do everything on their own. They mostly do such things which would give them the maximum monetary benefit. Ultimately same thing happened with this establishment. First there was problem about land and then the construction got stalled for years on. It transpired that the brother of a senior officer in Leh was putting up camps in the area and he did not want the government establishment to come up. In fact, the whole issue became an audit objection and the Central Government referred it to CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) as a draft Para.

We climbed on a nearby ridge to have a panoramic view of the Lake. It is really a beautiful spot with some high peaks on one side. From the top it looks more beautiful as a blue sapphire set in a sandy brown mountain bowl. From here one can trek to Himachal across the mountains. It is also possible to go to Tibet. We had a nice day in and around Tsomoriri. It was total relaxation after continuous journey on some of the roughest roads and that too at high altitude. In the evening I made an entry in the register of the Public Works Hut while paying rent to the chowkidar. I wrote that the Tourism Department will bear all the expenses for dismantling and removing the hut from this spot. It is an eye sore in an otherwise wonderful eco-friendly place! Again we went early to sleep as we had to start the next day for another long journey to Leh.

In the morning while going away from the Lake we saw thousands of birds near the Lake entry. These were flying in all directions and some were on the Lake surface. It was a rewarding sight to see such extensive bird life. The return journey was smooth till the sandy patch. Here we got stuck at least for half an hour. It was difficult going uphill on the sandy patch. However, we managed to clear it. Next was the drive down through the freshly rough cut stones which formed the so called road. This too was quite tough and tricky. Nissar managed it quite well in the gypsy. Motup because of his heavy vehicle was going slowly. After clearing the stony track, Nissar drove quite fast and we were across Mahe Bridge by noon time. We drove to the scenic spot of the gushing stream and stopped there for making our fresh lunch. The Jeep which was hardly 20 minutes behind failed to turn up even after one hour. We waited and waited but there was nothing in sight. After an hour and a half we started worrying and were about to decide for going back to look them up when they came across very slowly. On our asking them what had happened, they gave us a shocking account. The entire suspension of the Jeep had fallen down while crossing the stony patch. They took almost an hour to put it back and had tied it strongly with steel wires and ropes which Motup always carried along. Motup was sure that it will last till Leh without any problem. After a lunch of rotis, potatoes, sauce, and pickles we started for Leh. The road now follows the Indus River which goes through a rocky gorge. There are huge boulders in the river and it roars all the way. The rapids are beyond grade VI in white water rafting parlance. It was also unbearably hot! Our heads would ache with the heat of the sun and we would often stop near the side streams which descend into Indus, to cool our heads in the cold water.

We soon passed the hot springs of Chumathang. These had become very dirty with lot of garbage and filth all around. I missed the site of these springs which Rauf and I had seen in 1974 when Brigadier Jeeti Goel had brought us here. Too many tourists and army personnel had been a big polluting factor. One hopes that the springs have been cleaned by now? Tourism though a big booster for economy of an area is at the same time a great destroyer of environment and one has to strike a balance. Only sustainable tourism needs to be promoted. Again among the tourists it is not the number but the type which counts. It may be better to have a smaller number of high spending tourists than a large number of budgeted tourists. Bhutan has stuck to this principle. May be we too need to do something about it? This is true in view of a tremendous increase in tourist numbers. The figures have gone from 500 in 1974 to over 77,000 in 2009!

We were driving smoothly when suddenly while passing over a bump in the road there was a loud thud and the Gypsy came to a standstill. Nissar immediately said that the front axle of his Gypsy was broken. We came out and everybody started checking the vehicle. There was no doubt the vehicle was broken down and we had to change the axle. Unfortunately, no one carries a spare axle in these parts. Luckily this thing had happened over a speed breaker in the road which was near a small village. The only alternative was to send an axle from Leh. Those days there were no mobile or satellite phones. We had no choice but to leave Nissar there. A Kashmiri Pandit who was walking nearby met us. He was a teacher in a local school. He said there was nothing to worry and he will take care of Nissar till we send the spare part. I had seen Kashmiri Pandit teachers in many parts of Ladakh. We had met one in Zanskar also. They seemed to be committed teachers and were prepared to go to any place to perform their duty unlike their Muslim counterparts!

We all cramped into the Motup’s jeep and rushed to Leh which we reached in the afternoon around 4 pm. On arrival even before taking some tea, we searched the market for the spare axle and after having bought it sent it to Nissar through another vehicle, a tempo traveller driven by Rajinder. They finally reached Leh almost at midnight. Thus ended one more of my adventures which was probably the toughest I have had so far! In the next episodes I will describe the journey to Nubra, the Gateway to ancient Silk Route.