The drive from Leh to Tangse enroute to Pangong Tso was cool. Despite having driven for over a week at high altitudes, the drive over Chang La (17,350 Ft) was tough. In parts frequent rock falls had turned the road into a dirt track. The weather turned with a cloud cover lowering the mercury and threatening rain. Holding the steering wheel took a conscious effort and breathing was laboured. On this route, just the previous day, an Army Supply Corps truck had gone over the edge taking 5 jawans to their death. The key to safe driving in such mountainous territory was to go SLOW and give a wide berth to oncoming vehicles. Loose gravel with water on top causes hydroplaning. A fast moving vehicle is likely to just slide out of control. Next stop 3,000 ft. below.

An overcast sky, cold weather and a steady light drizzle ensured a muddy, dull and listless Pangong Tso. A far cry from the azure blue scintillatingly beautiful lake all our friends had seen!! Such is life. Enroute we passed barbed wire enclosed vintage minefields laid in the '62operations. Sections of the black top road skirting the lake were submerged in more than 1.5 ft of water and the Bolero went through easily under the guidance of Lt. Sachin Kulwe, our escort, who knew the terrain like the back of his hand. In one section we had to take a muddy kuccha track because the road was under 6-7 ft of water. On the return, the track had turned to slush and before we even suspected, the Bolero got stuck and started sliding into the lake from the rear. The rear tires, coated with smooth clay, just spun with zero traction. That's when we missed the 4WD option. Mahesh took a look and under his advice, Sachin and I started packing flat stones in front and behind the tires. Lifting and placing the stones made me breathless. The effort was major. After a suspense filled, scary and agonising 20 minutes in which the Bolero kept sliding towards the lake, Mahesh managed to drive it ahead to a safer spot. At our request, Sheela videotaped the whole episode which now makes good edge-of-the-seat viewing. After our return from Pangong Tso, Mahesh took a flight Delhi and Pune.

Back in Leh, we did the Gompa tour. Visited Hemis, Thiksey, Likir and Alchi. The highlight was sitting on the dais with the Dalai Lama at a public meeting in Choglamsar. All the monasteries except Alchi are situated on hilltops and are very photogenic. Unfortunately most were closed since the monks were attending the pujas conducted by the Dalai Lama.

About 27 kms beyond Leh after Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, is a box painted on the highway. Stop your car in neutral and idle the engine. Lo and behold, the car will start moving by itself, up a slight incline, pulled by the mysterious Magnetic Mountain up ahead. The magnetic force was not strong enough to pull the Bolero from a complete stop. But when I drove the car slowly to the box and braked to a dead stop, the vehicle started moving ahead. It worked in reverse too!! We caught this on video but Sheela was so excited that the taping has come out very jerky!

The Bolero till then had performed well without any trouble. Except for a puncture at the Pang TCP. But in Leh, the ignition stopped working. A click and then zilch. We managed to reach the local Mahindra workshop where the problem was fixed in a jiffy. All it took was a spanner to tighten the earthing nut on the engine block! The most serious incident was a leak from the diesel tank. Upon dismounting it, we found that two manufacturing weldspots designed to hold the inside baffle plates were leaking. The problem was fixed for the princely sum of Rs. 250. Then just before leaving Leh for Srinagar I found one tire was losing air. A faulty valve was replaced. After returning to Pune the problem continued and I had the tube checked and was horrified to discover that that the tube actually had a nail embedded in it!! We had driven 4,700 kms with a nail plugging a hole in the tube!!

<< Page 2 | Page 4 >>