Frozen Indus River in the Changthang Cold Desert

The Changthang Cold Desert is a real special place. It’s extremely low oxygen levels, its remoteness, its barren look, its mighty Himalayan ranges, its blue skies and its snow fed rivers make it one of the best sights in the world. You hardly see any living organism in this terrain! Such is its tough nature.

 
The place gets even tougher during the winters, but that is when me and my crazy friends ventured into this pristine terrain. After visiting the Pangong Tso, Tangtse and Tso Moriri side of Changthang, we were headed towards the remotest parts of Changthang Cold Desert, which include Hanle, Lyoma and Nyoma. This is also a sensitive area as the Indian Army has set up base to patrol its border with China.

 
The drive from Chumathang to Hanle took us through some of through some of the best sights we have laid out eyes on. But, unfortunately, we could not enjoy all of it in the open due to the extremely cold weather. But, we did manage to see some fantastic views of the meandering frozen Indus river surrounded by the mighty Himalayas. Sights such as these are truly heavenly. We even managed to walk a good distance on the frozen Indus river. I will share that experience in a separate post.