Chumur – Explore The Unexplored

5th October:

We were ready with another adventure filled day ahead of us. Harsh was of great help with details of this stretch but we were still skeptic with if we really could manage to find our roads to Tsomoriri via Chumur. We started early by 8.30am on that day and plan was to take Hanle – Kyun Tso – Salsal la and then reaching Chumur and tracing back the path to Tee joint as mentioned in Harsh’s map and back to Tso moriri via Charchaghan la. We had few concerns, if we could manage Charchaghan la if it was still not blasted, if we could find the road without any GPS/Compass and if we turn back, could we climb up Salsal la as it was pretty steep as reported in Harsh’s log. We had plans to take the Kyun Tso – Nidar – Nyoma route as backup if we couldn’t find/ manage Tsomoriri route, but then we knew we didn’t have the names of Nyoma / Mahe/ Sumdo mentioned in our permits. Not having much choice left, we had to start, only hope our luck, it was surprisingly favouring us all through the trip.

We came to main road from observatory GH and took a right straight away to the village (left would take you towards monastery and the junction of Photila/Loma roads). Soon after crossing the village we found a lot of black neck cranes and it was a pleasure to see them from so close. Soon it seems we were entering a no man’s land, only directions are the poles as Harsh mentioned in his log. Few extremely difficult stretch of washed out areas and we were into a desolate Himalayan terrain with no soul around. In just 2 hours with 45km of drive we discovered Kyun Tso. It was a pleasing site. We stopped for photo breaks and just before this we found a track in our right towards Nyoma. We headed straight and in another 6 km we found the dramatic descent of Salsal la. It is a frightening sight, God knows how Harsh climbed it up from other side but best part was the road now blasted and the new road’s gradient was much smoother and in case we had to trace back the route, we could climb it up again. We gone down below and after crossing a small Nalla, we suddenly lost the pole markers. We tried our best to find the correct route, we couldn’t. Our only option was either to follow tyre tracks forward or to be back via Nyoma. We trusted our lucks and praying hard but decided to go forward. Soon we were brought into a large green pastures of land with many sheep grazing. We were little hopeful with signs of lives around. Kiangs were roaming and big snow peaks all around, a true remote Changthang feel is what you would get here. After another 10km, we found a place towards right and identified it as an ITBP camp. It was the Chumur ITBP and we saw the Nulla without Bridge at right too. We were already at the side of the Nulla where Chumur village is and realized the actual road was coming from other side of Nalla which we lost in the middle after crossing Salsal la. We visited the monastery which was behind a mountain and a small pass. Lamas were friendly and they showed us mummy and the cut off hands of witch those were the special attractions here. A new road was built below the monastery towards LAC mainly for military movement and villagers reiterated Chinese incursions happened there on 25th August. It was another 12km from the monastery where the Chinese army destroyed our unused bunkers. We had quick visit to the monastery and when asked about the road to Tsomoriri we got mixed answers. We heard road to Tsomoriri was in a very nice shape but when we asked about the point from where Tsomoriri and Salsal la road bifurcates, the monk answered calmly “You can’t manage to find it without a GPS” I was shocked but then he said, I had to cross the Nalla towards ITBP Camp and then take the straight road to right and ensure I shouldn’t divert towards Salsal la but neither of us had an idea how to ensure that. He mentioned if you could cross the Nalla, you would almost reach Tsomoriri, I asked quickly what’s the problem in crossing the Nalla, he said it’s difficult to cross after 2.00pm. It was already 2.00pm by then and we hurriedly proceeded towards the ITBP. From top what we saw was not encouraging, the place where the tyre tracks could be seen was at least 30 ft wide and it was flowing in full rage. We couldn’t guess the depth even as it’s appeared to be deep with blue clear water but so turbulent we couldn’t see the anything below. First time we felt we had to retreat here. Regzin tried in various ways to guess the depth but of no use. Honestly we were scared as retracing the whole road means uncertainty as we didn’t know how to go to the Tsomoriri road from Salsal la. Regzin aligned the Scorpio with the tyre marks and he was clearly nervous too. We gone back 50 mtrs and then he gave the final push, for few seconds we clearly felt we were drifting and then in the momentum we came to the other side, unbelievable experience but we crossed and in the whole trip we haven’t scared more. Regzin took a break to check if water gone into any filter/engine but fortunately it was all okay. We started our onward journey through Chumur ITBP, no one there asked any questions and we soon hit a deserted stretch with sands all around. The poles appeared again but the sands were unbelievably sticky. With every 200 mtrs we had to stop the car and clean the wind screen, rear windows, mirrors to get the minimum visibility. Every time we were stopping we were risking of getting stuck too as sand was too soft. It was a horrible time and worse was we didn’t know if we were in right track, only hope was the poles were still there. Soon beside the poles we found some red flags as markers too, running almost parallel but that was adding confusion, couldn’t understand what were those markers for. Soon we realized that’s the alignment of new road that is coming from Tsomoriri and we were overjoyed to realize that we were in right track. After few more km we started finding the new roads approaching to Chumur. It was simply a 4 lane highway and surely looks much better than current Leh-Manali or Leh-Srinagar highway. With a pleasant surprise we took the new road and it was still an unpaved road but blasted and properly leveled one. Soon we understood Charchaghan La was properly blasted and we reached the top soon. Once descending we got some amazing view of Tsomoriri which one can’t get from Korzok end. Couldn’t take snaps well as we were at eastern end of lake and sun was on western sky. Finally we reached Korzok by 5.00pm but surprisingly found the whole village was packed with Bengali tourists, we were hit by Puja rush for first time in our trip, forced to get the last tent available in only tented accommodation there at a bargain price of 2000/- for double with kid. But we were told they would wind up on 6th and if we wanted to stay further we needed to find some alternatives. The night was absolutely chilling and windy and we decided to move to Leh on next day as accommodation was really difficult to manage, so late in the season. I had 2 backup days then initially planned for Leh – Manali but after such a hectic trip we decided take complete rest and then to fly out from Leh.

The car odo reading was as follows:

Hanle : 844
Kyun Tso: 891
Salsal La (17200ft) : 897
Chumur: 933
North end of lake at Bridge: 010
Korzok: 020

Black Neck Cranes near Hanle Village:

Hanle Village:

Smart Kid at Hanle:

Kyun Tso

The Dramatic Descent from Salsal la towards Chumur, blasted road at left and old road at right:

After this we lost the pole markers and tyre tracks lead us to a grassland:

Only living being apart from us were these Kiangs:

Here we identified Chumur ITBP and realized the actual road was on other side of the river, we somehow came here by loosing the actual road but now after Chumur we had to cross this:

Chumur Monastery:

The mummy of Lama at Chumur, the one we saw at Giu in Spiti was more realistic looking, here they painted the mummy:

We had to cross this Demon to reach Tsomoriri from Chumur, it was very scaring:

It was really big and fierce one:

Absolute remote Changthang:

Now holding the nerve and following the tyre marks were key, we had no GPS or Compass, which one must carry here:

At last we got the blasted new roads to Tsomoriri via Charchagan La, it was a nice wide road:

Amazing Tsomoriri all the way towards Korzok from Charchaghan La:

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Next: Ladakh – Tsomoriri, Tso Kar, Tanglang La, Leh

Managing Zanskar and Ladakh in one go for 18 days with kid, possible? The question was looming large but then planning to Demchok and Chumur adds more uncertainty and seems to be an insane idea. Now while going to Demchok from Hanle, crossing Photila and trying Tsomoriri directly from Hanle, won’t it be crazy? Yes we started a well planned trip with lots of input from this forum but honestly it gone beyond sanity to try with just wife and kid. We enjoyed thoroughly and in God’s grace got excellent weather. This is the time to share our experience.

I have been to Ladakh earlier and knew the challenges, challenge of acclimatizing your body with that height of 11K+ almost through out the trip, desolate and remoteness of the Zanskar Valley and Changthang Plateau, choosing the right window for travel considering the early and late seasons are full of uncertainties and actual small 2 month’s window of July and August are terribly crowded. For me it was more challenging as I was going to take this trip with just my wife and kid of 6.5 yrs. Getting a car with reasonable price and knowledgeable drivers who have some ideas beyond Nubra/Pangong/Tsomoriri were a must to make this trip a success. Number of Taxi Unions and their self proclaimed rules in their own areas were another mess you need to handle if you want to take up this trip. Kargil Cars can take you to Zanskar but can’t take you back without paying a premium to Zanskar Union, for Zanskar sight seeing you have to take Zanskar Cabs, Kargil Cabs can take you to Leh but can’t do sightseeing in Lamayuru etc. enroute. I was again lucky to get introduced to ex.Taxi Union President of Kargil Mr. Rehman, a nice gentleman who helped me to get Kazim, a middle aged person with a Scorpio and Xylo and it’s because of him I was able to complete my Zanskar trip. Ladakh part was never be possible without Regzin, who was simply outstanding and being an ex. army of Ladakh Scouts and posted in all corners of Ladakh including Siachen, DBO, Chumur, Demchok for 18 years, he knew how to follow the tyre track and common sense for hundreds of km before coming across the first vehicle for opposite side without any direction or maps.

Another funny part was the plans and backups I kept, I had to cancel 5 sets of tickets for different sectors those were planned as my backup in different stages. My idea was to visit through Srinagar but had to keep Del-Leh flight open in case situation in Srinagar Valley turns volatile, similarly I kept my return plan open so that I can travel to Leh – Manali or can fly out from Leh directly which I did eventually. I even had to cancel a Del-Kolkata Rajdhani ticket while my Del-Kol flight was taxied to runway which I kept in case Leh-Del flight gets cancelled and subsequently my Kolkata connection would have missed.

Weather in this region was a big ask, you never know when that could change dramatically but with God’s grace and good wishes of many other friends, I got probably the best weather possible, first time I saw cloud in the sky on my last day of the trip, it was absolutely cloudless and blue sky with fall colors all around.

The Trip Schedule is like this:

Day 1 – Fly from Kolkata to Srinagar via Delhi and on same day proceed to Sonmarg and stay

Day 2 – Sonmarg – Jojila – Drass – Kargil – Purtikchey

Day 3 – Purtikchey – Panikhar – Parkachik – Rangdum – Pensi La – Padum

Day 4 – Padum Stay and visit Strongde Monastery, Zangla Palace, Bardan Monastery and Karsha Monastery

Day 5 – Padum – Sankhoo

Day 6 – Sankhoo – Kharse Khar Village for Maiterya Buddha – Kargil – Leh

Day 7- Leh Permits and Local Sight Seeing

Day 8 – Leh – Khardung La – Nubra Valley – Hunder

Day 9 – Hunder – Turtuk – Deskit

Day 10 – Deskit – Wari La – Chang La – Tangtse

Day 1 1 – Tangtse – Spangmik

Day 12 – Spangmik – Man – Merak – Chusul – Tsga La – Loma – Hanle

Day 13 – Hanle – Photi La – Photile – Koyul – Demchok Back to Hanle

Day 14 – Hanle – Kyun Tso – Salsal La – Chumur – Charchagan La – Tsomoriri

Day 15 – Tsomoriri – Tso Kar – Tanglang La – Leh

Day 16 – Spare Day at Leh

Day 17 – Spare Day at Leh

Day 18 – Flying from Leh to Kolkata via Delhi

The map Harsh and Aarti had prepared is simply invaluable and to my knowledge the best map that is available for anyone wants to visit this area. Please refer to the map below to understand the route plan properly. Thanks Harsh and Aarti again for this wonderful effort and you were the inspiration of our trip.