The road which Zorawar Singh traversed to the east of Ladakh into western Tibet (Nari), leads from Leh to the unknown regions inhabited by tribes, through Rudok, south of Pangkong lake. Nothing whatsoever is known of it to eastward of Rudok, except that the Sokpo tribe invaded Ladakh in 1686 and 1687.
To the east of Ladakh are Rodok, Chang-Thang and Ngari. In area Rudok (now under illegal occupation by the Chinese) is the great Pang Kong lake. It is eighty miles long and about sixty miles broad. The whole of Rudok is about four thousand and eight hundred square miles, and is at an elevation of fourteen thousand five hundred feet above sea level.
You’ll notice that some fifty miles into Tibet, there’s a village called Rudok. In his despatch the other day, Ferguson informed me that, according to the young Tibetan nobleman who brought out the letter, the Chinese have little control of the area. He says the monastery outside Rudok is quite a centre of resistance. If we could get you there, you’d at least have a base. Of course, from then on, you’d have to play it by ear.’
