Pangong Lake

[Manfred M]

Pangong Tso (Tibetan for "High Grassland Lake") lies about 60% in China and 40% in Ladakh, India and the actual border between the two countries is disputed. It is an endorheic lake, i.e. it does drain into any other body of water, like a river and is also an alkaline lake with a high pH. The mineral content and underwater topography of the lake gives interesting colouration; from blues to greens to purple colours, It lies at an altitude of 4250m / 13,940ft, so photographing here is physically very challenging, given the low oxygen levels and high winds.

Getting to this site takes a long time, given the marginal road conditions. We had to cross the Changla Pass, the third highest drivable pass in the world at 5391m / 17,688 ft (that's higher than Mt Everest Base Camp). We almost did not make it as the pass was closed due to weather (clouds and snow) the days before and after we visited there. In the winter, this had to be done as a day trip, as there is no accommodation at the lake during the winter, but during the summer there are, so we did this as a day trip out of Leh.

This shot was taken from near the north-west edge of the lake. The Tibetan prayer flags are quite common at places like the lake shore or at the mountain passes.


1. Pangong Lake - shooting towards the south-east from near the north-eastern most part of the lake





2. Pangong Lake - Taken further south (past the spit of land seen in #1). There is more ice on the lake here and a small cluster of prayer flags.





3. Taken from near where #2 was taken but shooting north





4. At the Changla Pass the third highest drivable mountain pass in the world- this is a higher altitude than Everest Base Camp.





5. Some fool (me) getting his picture taken to prove he was stupid enough to get out of the car. Extremely cold, windy and not a lot of oxygen in the air...

[All3n]

What a gorgeous place and great shots! i have only one word : awesome

[Shadowman]

Nice series.