Marsimik La or Marsemik La, also called Lankar La, elevation is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the Chang Chenmo Range in the Indian union territory of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

, east of

Leh Leh () is a city in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Kashmir_dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TE ...

as the crow flies. Ladakh's route to the Chang Chenmo Valley traverses the pass.

Geography

Trade-routes-via-Pangong-and-Changchenmo-Douglas-Forsythe-1878

Marsimik La is located about northeast of Lukung at the tip of

Pangong Lake Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (; zh, s=班公错, p=Bān gōng cuò; ) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso'', ''Tso Nyak'', ...

, and southwest of Pamzal in the Chang Chenmo Valley. The ridge line of Marsimik La divides the basin of the Pangong Lake from the Chang Chenmo River. The description of Marsimik La in the ''Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak'' (1890) states:About 4 km to the east of Marsimik La is another ridge line which divides the western portion of the Pangong Lake basin with the central portion that drains into the lake via the Khurnak Plain. China's claimed border and the present Line of Actual Control runs through this ridge line. The passes Kiu La () and Ane La () lie on this ridge line. The river Kiu Chu flows down from Kiu La and joins Chumesang River at Dambu Guru, the combined river flowing through Changlung Lungpa to drain into the Pangong Lake.

Transportation

The " Phobrang-Marsimik La-Tsogtsalu-Hot Springs Road" (PMTHR) or "Marsimik La Road" via Phobrang-Marsimik La- Tsogstsalu to

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

,India boosts road links to LAC standoff points
Indian Express, 2nd July 2023.Forbidden zones in Ladakh to soon welcome tourists
Times of India, 26 May 2023. This Marsimik La Road via Lukung to Pamzal, constructed by India's Border Roads Organisation, traverses the pass. It is regarded as one of the highest motorable passes in the world. The other alternate route to Tsogtsalu is the 55 km long " Changchenmo-Tsogtsalu Road" (CTR) from confluence of Changchenmo &

Shyok River The Shyok River (sometimes spelled Shayok) is a major tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh in India and into Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. Originating from the Central Rimo Glacier in the eastern Karakoram, it runs f ...

to Tsogtsalu.

References

Bibliography

* {{Ladakh Mountain passes of Ladakh Mountain passes of the Himalayas