The drive from Leh to Pangong Tso is 160km and takes five to six hours. It is not long. It is the most cinematically varied stretch of road I have ever been on, and I say this as someone who has driven the Amalfi Coast and Pacific Coast Highway.
Leh to Karu (40km)
The first forty kilometres follow the Indus River south-east along a wide valley flanked by ochre mountains. This section is fast, paved, and straightforward — a chance to settle in and look out the window. The valley is irrigated wherever water reaches; green patches of barley and poplar trees mark human habitation. Then the road turns away from the river and climbs.
Karu to Chang La (60km)
This is where it begins in earnest. The road turns off the highway at Karu and immediately becomes mountain road — narrow, switchbacked, the verge dropping away. The ascent to Chang La (5,360m) takes about ninety minutes from Karu. The landscape empties as you climb: first the sparse grass goes, then the rocks lose their colour and become pale grey and fractured, then the sky starts to do something interesting.
Chang La is slightly less famous than Khardung La but arguably more dramatic from the road — you see the pass ahead for twenty minutes before reaching it, the road zigzagging up in clear view. At the top: an army post, a small chai shop, prayer flags, and if the weather cooperates, a view back into the Indus Valley that is simply one of the finest views in India.
Chang La to Tangste (30km)
The descent from Chang La is the psychological heart of the drive. You leave the grey moonscape of the high pass and drop into a completely different colour palette — rust reds, sandy yellows, the occasional green of a trickle of snowmelt. The Durbuk valley appears below you gradually, as if being assembled while you watch. This section of road is unpaved in patches and requires care, but the scenery makes the slower pace worthwhile.
Tangste is a small village at 4,300m with a few restaurants and a military checkpoint. This is where you show your ILP. The soldiers are efficient and friendly. The check takes three minutes.
Tangste to Pangong (30km)
The road follows the Tangste River valley east, getting progressively more enclosed between canyon walls. Then the canyon opens, the road curves right, and you see it.
I had seen Pangong in photographs for two years. I had watched the 3 Idiots ending scene approximately seven times. I thought I was prepared for the arrival. I was not prepared for the arrival. The lake appears suddenly, below you and ahead, blue-green and enormous and lit by afternoon light that turns the surface into something that shifts between colours faster than your brain can name them. My driver pulled over without being asked. He had driven this route many times. He still pulled over.
We stood there for about five minutes without speaking. That is the correct response to Pangong Tso for the first time. Everything else is commentary.
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