Salt Lake – Without The City
After a night in Leh, we set out once more,
this time crossing mountain passes a mere 3 miles above sea-level.
By now, I was positively blasé:
probably the effect of altitude-induced oxygen deprivation.
My eyes were quite painful: I could see almost nothing other than a fierce reflected glare from the snow.
But simultaneously, I felt something bordering on euphoria.
So perhaps it was fortunate that we rapidly descended three thousand feet into less blinding light and just a little more oxygen.
Our destination was Pangong Tso:
a salt lake fed by mountain streams but lacking any outflow;
a lake whose far shore laps against neighbouring China.
Despite its salinity, the extreme altitude means Pangong Tso sits frozen for many months of the year.
A salt lake without a city, and also lacking a Tabernacle Choir!
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Neither Use Nor Ornament 