In 1995, I was commanding my Garhwali unit at Tangse near Darbuk in Eastern Ladakh after my tenure at Siachen Glacier. I had troops deployed at Lukung, the starting point of the Pangong Tso, and at Chushul. In April 1996, after an extended winter, I had to proceed to Leh and beyond on urgent work. Chang La, the gateway pass to Eastern Ladakh, was closed due to an avalanche warning and heavy snow. I therefore risked driving through Chushul and Dungti, and took the Indus highway from there to Leh, a foolhardy and risk-laden adventure in times of white-out conditions.
The average height at most times of the drive was 14,000 feet in flat open terrain except at Tsaka La near the Rezang La battlefield which was 15,200 feet.
It’s a Ladakh Scout jawan who came to our rescue; he had the uncanny knack of smelling out the track alignment and was never disoriented at any point in time. The lesson…