A comprehensive travel guide for getting there, places to stay and things to do at Pangong lake in winters.

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.  The reason why i loved this circuit is because of the 30 odd km flat stretch of dirt road along the 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. 

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.

In between Leh and Pangong Lake lies the mighty Chang La pass. 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.