A new ‘sky blue’, cloud-spotting and splitting come our way as we walk around Tso-mo-ri-ri, the lake with a strange nameThe average man has been pushing himself to reach higher—highest roads, highest buildings, and highest towers. Nobody, however, has been able to match the Everest yet. The massive tectonic movements which created it gave us some of the mightiest glaciers on earth. The beauty of these glaciers is that they are accessible. If you can bear with the labour of pushing yourself to it, you can as well camp on the glaciers, unlike the massive ones around the poles for which you need years of training. Close to these glaciers, in the neat folds of mountains, are the holy lakes. One among these is Tso-mo-riri. Strange name? I will get to it; it might not sound as strange then. It’s estimated to be around 19 km in length and the width varying between five and eight kilometres at places. Nobody has measured the depth yet; however, estimates stand at around 40-45 metres. Unlike the great lakes, the water is partly saline and rich in minerals. It’s constantly fed from the melting snow peaks all around. The lake is at an elevation of 15,000 feet near the town of Korzok in Leh district.Let’s get to the name. Among the various versions of Tibetan dialects, Tso means a yak. When a yak started drowning in the lake, the shepherd called her back, ‘Come back my yak’ and somehow the shepherd’s secret language translates to ‘Tso-mo-ri-ri’. There are more versions of the story like that of a lover boy from Korzok drowning. The idea, however, is that the Buddhist monks have been wandering around in the mountains much before the common Indian could even imagine being in the Himalayas. A few centuries before Christ, we had a lot of traffic through these ranges—traders, travelers, and even kings. Civilisation and agriculture, however, made Indians grow roots around the basins by the end of the 17th century. The last few decades and especially the last one have brought people closer again to the bounty of the Himalayas. Even with the glaciers receding, we have plenty of time left before the immense lakes disappear and new legends bring newer names to Tso-mo-ri-ri.Like all the holy lakes, the water is clearer than any mineral water. If you wanted to see your reflection, the floor of the lake with pebbles washed and shaped in perfect ovals, would distract you. The reflected floating clouds also give you enough reasons to forget your own existence.When you are forced to look at the skies with the infinite chunks of cloud, you re-register the definition of ‘sky blue’. I recently came across a book on cloud-spotting and upon some research, came to know that it’s an active sport that a lot of people passionately hunt. There, at Tso-mo-ri-ri, I wanted to be a part of that sport, take tons of meaningful pictures of the cloud and contribute to cloud-spotting. I was convinced at the moment that my efforts would be appreciated, just because all the clouds in the massive canvas somehow made sense. Piece by piece, they added to the jigsaw. The winds were so high that you could see the clouds splitting, an education as to how the continents might have split, drifted and collided to form new shapes. I wonder if there is any part of the mountains where the monks can’t tread. I really believe that they are the healthiest people on earth. Thanks to them—they have built these places slowly over years—people like us from the plains can now come and see the beauty they guard.The easiest way to approach the lake is to get to the town Korzok and scan the lake. You drive there from Leh or Manali. The harder way to be there is to trek across Parang la, from Kaza. Either way, you will expose yourself to the beats of heaven.This is the closest a mortal can get.
