Travelogue: River Run with the Hyundai Creta: Leh-Pangong Tso-Leh

  • Sep 25, 2015
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We are on an epic drive with the Hyundai Creta from Leh, with plans to go all the way to Kolkata. Today is day one and we visited the famed Pangong Tso on a snowy morning

Hyundai Creta Great India Drive

Civilizations have been built along rivers. The greatest source of life and livelihood is a river. It’s not as much the seas or the lakes or any other kind of water body but rivers, its tributaries and even small streams branching into or out of rivers that come with the goodness of life and prosperity to humans.

India is still an agricultural economy depending largely on these mighty rivers that flow across the country so when we were given to opportunity to drive the Hyundai Creta to a destination of our choice from the chosen starting point of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir, we decided to embark on a river run.

Hyundai Creta travelogue

The plan was simple and beautiful, appreciate the mighty rivers along the way from Leh, to the mightiest of them all, the Ganga and see how life flourishes all the way to the Hoobly, one of Ganga’s largest distributaries feeding the Bay of Bengal.

Also read: Day 2 - Leh to Sarchu

Hyundai Creta at the Pangong Tso

But first, if you come to Leh and don’t visit the mesmerizing Pangong lake, you’d be doing a road trip wrong. So we flew in a day earlier than the official flag off on our river run, acclimatized to the high altitude in a day, and scrambled to Pangong Tso the next morning.

Hyundai Creta Drive to Leh
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Without checking the weather. Might have been a bit of a mistake but what’s a road trip without a challenge? Pangong Tso is about 150km from Leh and you have got to pass through a few mountains along the way to make it to the lake. The biggest pass on this route is Chang La, at 5360 metres above sea level, and at 7 AM in the morning, when it begins to snow and the temperature falls below -2 Degree Celcius, you’ve got to focus on the treacherous road ahead, however beautiful the landscape is turning out to be. After an adventurous climb up the pass, the snow cleared and the heavens opened on the descent ahead.

Also read: Day 2 - Leh to Sarchu

Hyundai Creta Great India Drive - Himalayas

The drive is worth it though. The mountains literally scale you down to size with their large dry slopes almost never ending in each direction. It was an overcast morning and Pangong Tso felt at its underwhelming best on the day, but the vast expanse and changing colour patches of the water in the lake could give us an idea of why this lake is so popular. 

Creta Great India Drive

Our way back from Pangong Lake brings us to the beginning of the Manali-Leh highway and the Indus valley. Flowing along the valley for a brief length in India and then crossing over to Pakistan, the Indus is the first mega river we encounter along the way. We did drive on this highway on the way to Pangong Tso but this time, we were at the right side and able to enjoy the beauty of the Indus right next to the highway.

Also read: Day 2 - Leh to Sarchu

Hyundai Creta - Pangong Tso

Free flowing, crystal clear and snaking its way through the mountains, the Indus is Pakistan’s biggest and most prosperous river. Knowing that it passes through India and comes second best to the Ganga on this drive, was a nice way to start this epic road trip.

The Hyundai Creta on the first leg of our journey was an excellent highway companion. Smooth, light clutch, excellent suspension, comfortable and feature rich interior made the drive a lot easier than the harsh conditions would otherwise impact. 

Creta enroute to Pangong Tso

Tomorrow we drive to Sarchu, a midway point on the Manali-Leh highway. The highway is known to have a mix of beautiful roads, no roads whatsoever and downright dangerous ones. Let’s see how it goes.

Route: Leh-Karu-Sakti-Chang La-Tangtse-Lukung-Pangong Tso

Distance: 150km one way

Best time to visit: On a bright sunny day

Also read: Day 2 - Leh to Sarchu

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