Pangong Tso: Highest Salt Water Lake

The best part of being to the northern most part of India, just few kilometers away from the International Borders, would be to witness the pristine beauty of the Pangong Tso (Lake). Its the highest lake situated at 4,350 meters (14,270 ft) in the Himalayas. Since its an endorheic lake, the water is salty thus making it the highest salt water lake in the world ! An endorheic lake would basically mean that the lake waters do not have any exit or drainage to the oceans or any other rivers.

The lake extends from India to China with almost 60% of its length being in China. It is about 134 kms by length, 5 km at its broadest point and covers a total area of around 604 square kilometers. Despite being a saline water lake, it completely freezes in winter. The 6-7 hours drive from main Leh city to this lake is completely worth it and a overnight stay adds to the worthiness.

We decided to stay back for one night as we did not want to grab only a couple of moments of this beautiful lake after travelling so far. There are camps setup by the local people as well as commercial business men who setup the camps purely during the so called ‘Summer’ of that region which spans from April to late September every year. We found the temperature to be super chill – atleast for us as we have been acclimatized to the ‘hot & humid’ city weather’s. Though there wasn’t any accurate method to check the temperatures we guess from the local people that the least temperature that night was close to zero – accompanied with the wind chill. Its a splendid experience to move from Air-conditioner temperatures to close-to zero temperatures !! The camp was well – equipped to provide us with enough blankets to keep us warm on that cold night ! The excellent food in the midst of nowhere is also a boon !

Images and a royalty free video below..