Day 11: 19 August 2013: Part 4: Chusul to Tangtse
Having been denied the route to Tso Moriri via Tsaga La or Mitpal Tso, we proceed towards Tangtse via the Harong / Erath route as advised by the ITBP personnel manning the gates at Chusul. We notice the road going to left and ascending towards Mitpal Tso.. looks similar to the Wari La route! Alas we couldn’t take that!! The time reads 1220 hrs.
Fortunately, the road that we’re on is fully tarred and there is literally no traffic.
And the views are great too!
We are greeted by some marmots..
And Kiangs…
Going just ahead, we notice that the carrier is sliding towards the front and has resulting in spilling of the diesel all over the car. Remember I found out the screws missing and Cheena assured that everything was fine! That was at Lukung and the jerks that the car got while negotiating to Chusul did it’s bit.
So? We pull out the ropes we had and tie down the carrier to the rear bull bar so that it won’t slide to the front. To ease out the load on the carrier, we take down the extra fuel that we were carrying on the carrier and fill the car tanks. It took just over 20 litres. One plastic container is empty now. Everyone says that we should throw away the container, but I’m not in favour of spoiling the valley by throwing away plastic waste. Keeping them inside means dealing with the smell of diesel and then there is no room as well. In the debate, I win and we keep the containers at the co-passenger’s leg space. It does means inconvenience to Avi as he’ll have to sit folding his legs, but it would be better than polluting the valley.
In the meantime, I click some macros…
Finished with the job, we wash our hands in the stream passing along side the road…
And hop on again..
Tangtse is still 55 kms..
We see some Changpas camping. They’ve also come out of age and now using commercially available tent in place of the original rock structures…
The views are worth absorbing through the eyes.. ice-capped barren peaks on one side, a rivulet and marshland on the other, and a road in the midst! Harong wetlands must be near…
However, the disaster strikes again!
This time, the carrier is sliding to the rear and forth, to a point where it can come out by itself and damage the car too. What shall we do now?
The only option is to take down the carrier and everything on it has to be put in the car itself. But it’s already packed and there is no space.. literally. Plus what do we do with the carrier? Finally, having no other option, we decide to take down the carrier and leave it by the side of the road. Adjusting the luggage on the carrier (spare tyre, gas, tents, sleeping bags etc) means that we can’t carry the diesel containers. And then we decide to leave the containers too. We fill the tank to the brim, fill some cola bottles with the diesel, but still have over 15 litres of diesel in one can.
Although I genuinely didn’t wanted to do this, we had no other way.. So, we take down the carrier, put the diesel containers, wrap the trampoline and tie it down with the ropes and place it gently besides the road so that it is visible to people passing by. Perhaps someone can find some use for it. 🙁
Feeling too bad to do this, I also write a sorry note and place it securely.
The lathi (staff) that we were carrying won’t fit in the car, so have to leave it too. But at least it is organic and bio-degradable, and fortunately, we’ve not yet reached Harong wetlands. So Tony leaves a memento…
Feeling bad, we proceed ahead. It’s already 1520 and we’re getting late.. The marshy area is growing bigger and the rivulet is growing bigger.. we’ve reached Harong wetlands…
We come across herds of sheep and yaks grazing in on Harong…
Passing by Harong, we cross a bridge and by now, the rivulet has taken the shape of a proper river…
BRO is working on the road, but since there is no other vehicle on the road except for the two dozers and our car, they let us go in a couple of minutes. This is Erath…
Finally around 1645, we reach Tangtse. Overall, it has taken us 4 hours 20 minutes to complete the stretch. Hadn’t we faced issues with the carrier, we could have reached at least 2 hours earlier.
Next: Tangtse to Upshi
CONTD…
Total Distance covered: Approx 85.7 kms
Driving Directions from Chusul to Tangtse via Harong: From the Chusul ITBP gate, drive straight for approx 85 kms to pass by Harong wetlands, Erath and Chilam. Shortly ahead, the road from Lukung will also join. Further ahead from the fork point, take the left fork to arrive at the Tangtse checkpoint.
Google Map directions for Merak to Chusul travel: http://goo.gl/maps/rxAHO
