Pangong Travel Blogs - Kettik.

simple homestay, friendly and knowledgable host..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:51:43 +0000

When i visited Maan back in October 2010 there were no signboards advertising homestays or guesthouses. I asked around, and villagers pointed me to a local home (check the map above for the exact location of the house).

The host is the wife of the headmaster of the government school in Maan. She spoke good hindi and was friendly and hospitable. They did not have a separate room for vistors and i ended up staying in their common 'glass' room and had my dinner in their kitchen with the family. Overall it was a typical homestay experience in ladakh, warm and friendly.

Tourism is relatively new to the Maan village, the villages of Maan and Merak were opened to tourists only in 2010. Few of the enterprising locals are scrambling to cash in. My hosts were also building a couple of rooms to accomodate the tourists and it should be ready by the 2011 tourist season.

Because of its location, in between the Spangmik and Merak villages, Maan should be relatively quiet and (relatively) unaffected by tourism compared to the Spangmik and Merak villages. Spangmik is too easily accessible to the tourists, while Merak being the last village on the route will attract tourists willing to go the distance. Maan sitting in the middle of these two villages might just lose out of the tourist crowds.

Pangong lake circuit for cyclists.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:04:09 +0000

This is probably the most funnest, the easiest (after ChangLa), friendliest and the most visually breathtaking ride experience available in Ladakh. And definitely my top favorite among all the cycling routes in Ladakh.

Â The reason why i loved this circuit is because of the 30 odd km flat stretch of dirt road along theÂ shores of the Pangong lake. You get to ride right up along the edge of the lake and the scenery on both sides of the road is just spectacular. There are 3 different villages, Spangmik, Maan & Merak, each spaced about 10km apart along this route and you can easily find homestay accomodation in any of these villages.Â

Rescued again... How the Indian army helped me cross a snowed out Chang La pass for the 2nd time.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:46:56 +0000

After 5 beautiful sunny days around Pangong Lake, the weather turned for the worse and dropped a ton of snow on the mountains around Chang La. I had to find a way back to Leh. Cycling was impossible now, but i had not planned on cycling back anyway. So i waited at Tangste, hoping to get ride on a jeep or truck going towards Leh.

Defeated by Chang La... Indian Army saves the day.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:46:44 +0000

In between Leh and Pangong Lake lies the mighty Chang La pass.Â At over 5400m high, Chang La is officially the 3'rd highest mountain pass in Ladakh (after Khardung La and Tanglang La).

After successfully cycling across the Leh - Manali highway i did not think that crossing Chang La on my bicycle would pose much of a problem. But i was wrong.