To Pangong Tso on the India-China Border, originally uploaded by © Ajit Karthik.

We are less than 10 kilometers from the Indian Border and the Line of Control with China (LoC) and on our way to the beautiful Pangong Tso, a large saltwater lake at a height of 14,000 feet.

Behind us is Pagal Nalla ("Mad River") - so called because of its erratic behavior. The river is fed from glacier melt from the mountains to the right, and crossing it after 12PM is impossible.

We start from Leh at around 4AM, so that we can cross Pagal Nalla and cross back to the Indian side before the river fills up at around 12PM. Pangong Tso is about 150 kilometers from Leh and we have to cross the third highest pass in the world (Chang La) to get to Pangong Tso from Leh.