Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 5: Of Piety or the Lack of it

17th July 2023, 9.30 AM - On the Srinagar-Leh Highway

Days begin early in the Himalayas. By 5.00 AM, dawn was breaking over the mountains across the Indus.

Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to laze around for another half hour. Tsewangji would come with the car only at 9.30 am so there was nothing else to do than just lie on the bed and contemplate on life. At half past five, I was getting a bit restless. I was getting bright outside though the skies weren't completely clear.

The sunlight, playing hide-and-seek with the clouds, would light up the mountain top for one moment, only to get blocked by the grey rain clouds immediately after. I hadn't slept well. I was expecting a cold night but I ended up kicking away the quilt and turning the fan in my direction! I wasn't feeling breathless either. It seemed, I was getting used to the weather very quickly. 

Used to getting up early, I decided that rolling around in bed wasn't serving any purpose. While researching Leh, I had a plan to do a spot of birding early in the morning but the congested part of the town didn't seem very ideal for a morning bird walk. Besides, the weather would keep the feathered chaps indoors anyway. So I stood at the window, watching the game, the clouds were playing with the sunlight, till it was time to go down for breakfast.

Tsewangji was right on time and as we left the hotel the skies were clearing and it was getting quite warm. For a typical tourist, the second day in Ladakh is also allocated for acclimatisation. That meant, we could explore places around Leh which were more or less at the same altitude. The travel agents have a set itinerary. You leave your hotel after breakfast and drive along the Leh - Kargil - Srinagar highway. The typical stops are at the Hall of Fame, Spituk Monastery, Indus view point(s), Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, Magnetic Hill and the Indus Sangam. 

The Hall of Fame, just outside the airport walls, about three kilometres outside Leh; is a war museum. It is built and maintained by the Indian Army, to honour those heroes who were martyred in the wars with Pakistan and China. You can take a guided tour with retired armed forces personnel giving you details of the exhibits and the wars that they are related to. There is also a light and sound show at 7.00 PM, but that is dependent on the weather. Ladakh being  the heart of 'disputed territory', you will see the presence of the brave men in uniform and their vehicles everywhere. Unfortunately, we had to skip it as it was not open on Mondays. 

Just after the walls of the airport end, is the turn off to the Spituk Gompa (Monastery). A 11th century monastery, built on a hillock overlooking the airport and Leh. 

Behind it, on the south, is the Indus river with a belt of green that contrasts with the hard baked brown earth that is seen all around. 

Since it was my first visit to a proper monastery, I was reluctant to explore the place. I wasn't sure if I could walk into any part of the monastery without permission. My camera was quite a handful, literally and it would be quite unwelcome. I decided that I would take in  the views instead. Spituk Gompa, in any case, offers a vantage point to see the airfield and the planes that land and take off. Even if you don't step into the temple, just being in the place gives a soothing feeling. 

The most exciting thing that happened was the IAF's Rafael. At first sight, it seemed to be headed straight for me but it was on some sort of a sortie over Leh. It disappeared towards the west without landing in the airfield.

After Spituk, as you drive further towards Kargil, the road follows the Indus. You can stop along the way for photo shoots. There are many army encampments along this road so be careful that you don't click photographs of sensitive areas. Further along the road is the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib. It is a place of worship for both Sikhs and Ladakhis. This place has a mythical story attached to it, linking the big rock (pathar) that is worshipped here and Guru Nanak. This is also built and run by the Indian army. We didn't stop there, as our plan wasn't inclined towards pilgrimages anyway. 

In any case, for the better or for the worse, my faith in the pantheon of Gods had eroded drastically because of my experiences in life over the last few years. Thought I don't claim to be an atheist, I have never been very pious at any time in my life.  Gods, all my life, have been friends to me. Not someone who you have to fear or respect but treat like any other buddy. It means, to me,  that we should not trouble them unnecessarily, asking for help by bribing them. No only that, while they didn't communicate with me about their needs, the intermediaries who spoke on their behalf; astrologers and priests, always put me off with their pompous attitudes and big demands on behalf of the Gods! I find their technique of making you do meaningless appeasement ceremonies very annoying and rarely take part enthusiastically.

My initial reluctance to travel to Ladakh was set aside for one other reason, the primary reason being the temptation to add a few 'lifers' to my birding list! As I was researching on Ladakh and its monasteries, another reason took root in my mind.  Buddhism and its uncomplicated way of looking at life, threw a spark inside me and suddenly I wanted to go. In fact, there were a few times that I even thought about getting 'lost' in Ladakh forever. I will elaborate in a later post about how my mind turned towards Buddha's teachings.

Having driven past the gurudwara, without stopping for blessings, we continued on to a place of mystery  further down the road, the Magnetic Hill (more about in the next post). I suspect that our driver, Tsewangji, being a pious man, wasn't very happy about our skipping that stop. On either side of the highway it was vast spaces of greyish brown crumbly earth. Loose rocks held together by something that like dust is the feature of this landscape. The colours were not exactly pleasing to the eye. Green was at a premium and found only on either side of the Indus and around human habitation. The predominant colour was brown; various shades of it, interspersed with grey and purple. In some places, little patches of green can be seen, but not grass or trees. Some sort of short shrubs with yellow or purple flowers.

It was getting very warm and we were soon throwing off our jackets and other warm clothing. It is a good place to mention a few points about the clothes you have to consider carrying. Ladakh is in the rain shadow region of the Himalayas but when it rains, it pours. Depending on the season your requirement of warm clothing will vary. When we went, it was summer but we were caught in the midst of a period of erratic weather. When it is sunny it is HOT, and very uncomfortably so. Your weather app will say it is between 18 - 20 degrees but it feels more like 35 and more. If you get in the shade or if it rains the temperature drops dramatically. You need to carry a set of layered clothing so that you can peel off layers if it gets warm and pull them on if it gets cold. Here is what you will require in summer. 

1. Innermost layer of warm thermals, especially for evening and nights.
2. Second layer of tee shirts or shirts according to your preference. Your trousers (no shorts) should also be able to keep you warm and try to carry quick drying ones in case you get caught in a sudden shower.  Cotton is the best choice of material but denim is not suggested as they dry very slowly.
3. Third layer of a warm fleece jacket or sweater. In fact you can carry one sleeveless and a full sleeve one to use depending on the weather condition. 
4. An outer padded shell jacket that should ideally be waterproof or at least water resistant. 
5. A pair of gloves and few pairs woolen socks will help your hands and feet keep warm.
6. For your head, you'll need a woolen beanie or balaclava for the cold nights and days and also a hat or cap to shade your eyes in the sunlight.
7. A good pair of sunglasses or photochromatic lenses if you wear prescription glasses, to protect against UV rays.

 More information is available on the internet and you may have to add or subtract to the list depending on the season and current weather conditions.

The next stop will be at the Magnetic Hill.......

The link to previous post is here

Ladakh & Life Lessons - Part 3: Acclimatisation & AMS

From here on, the posts that follow will take you through our travel through Ladakh. During your travel with us, I will try to give you some information about places we went to, routes taken and lessons we learnt about travel in such a remote place.   

July 16th 2023, 8.45 AM - Forenoon in Leh

We touched down in Kushok Bakula Rinpoche Airport at half past eight in the morning. For an airport with such a grand name, it is rather nondescript, In fact, one of the smallest I've seen. The terminal had seen better days and seemed to be desperate need of repair. I decided against using the toilets after seeing the expressions of people coming out after using the facility. 

The airport sits in a valley flanked by mountains on all sides and the Indus river on the south-western end, and is the highest commercial airport in India at an elevation of 3250 metres above MSL. It is in the midst of defence establishments and served as an exclusive defence airport before being opened for civilian use. The single runway, lying east-west makes the view from an approaching aircraft nothing short of spectacular. This is one airport that is bereft of greenery, as most of Ladakh is, which we discovered very soon. 

The old terminal is pretty ramshackle with a very small area for arriving passengers. The sole baggage conveyor belt looks like it would break down any minute. The airport has wooden pillars much like the ones in the monasteries. I wasn't keen on fishing out my phone to take a few photos after the experience with airport security in Delhi. The new terminal is coming up next to the old one and once finished should be a world class facility considering that Ladakh is now a hot tourist destination.

We picked up our bags from the creaking conveyor belt which seemed to sigh in relief as each heavy bag came off, and moved to the exit gate. Travel in Ladakh is entirely dependent of taxis, but more about that in a subsequent post. We were to rendezvous with  a Mr. Tsewang Gurmet, our taxi driver cum guide for the rest of our stay. Tsewangji was at the gate with my wife's name on a pink chart paper. The taxi's are not allowed to come to the entry or exit gates so they either drop you off or pick you up at the parking lot. If you don't want to damage your bag's wheels, load them onto an airport luggage trolley. Even if you leave it at the parking lot it will come back to the airport with passengers flying out of Leh! 

Tsewangji dropped us off a to our hotel, the Padma Ladakh, driving through some very narrow roads. Leh town is essentially a large village that has grown with time. Haphazard construction with no planning ensured that buildings jostled for space on either side of the narrow roads. There was hardly room for a car to pass another if it came from the opposite side. It is boom time in Ladakh after it was split from the state of Jammu & Kashmir. As a place dependent on tourist economy, every narrow gully seemed to have three or four hotels. Very few had their own parking spaces. In fact, even houses seemed to lack space for parking and many vehicles were just parked on the road. The only roads that were wide enough was the Srinagar -Leh highway and the Manali - Leh highway, both of which skirted the town. 

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama was in town and had prayer meetings every day from around 8.00 am to 10.00 AM. So the day started in earnest only after the meeting had concluded. Our room wasn't ready as we had arrived early, so I went for my breakfast in the restaurant. I was truly famished as I hadn't had anything on the flights. The hotel serves a very nice breakfast and I tucked into it. 

Once our room was ready and we were checked in the manager gave us 'strict instructions' to go to sleep. He told us that we were to move slowly, even going to the bathroom or getting off the bed. Since the oxygen levels were low at this altitude, it would leave us gasping for breathe and in the worst case scenario, would end up with Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). In any case all of us were exhausted after a sleepless night, we promptly settled down to rest. We had instructed Tsewangji to bring his car at half past four for a brief trip into town. 

Acclimatization

This would be a good place to introduce the word, 'acclimatization'. It is a word you will hear used very frequently when you travel to high altitude places, especially in the Himalayas and any place where the elevation is more than 2000 - 2500 metres. It is the process by which your body adjusts to the environmental conditions of the place you are in. In the Himalayas, you are at an elevation where the atmospheric is far lower than at sea level. The air is thinner, which means that the molecules of gases that make up the atmosphere is 'spread out' and so less oxygen is available for use by your body's organs. You will also have a tendency to get dehydrated faster. 

Your body compensates by increasing the heart and respiratory rate. You find that you breathe more rapidly that it appears you are gasping. Even little exertion can make you feel fatigued easily. This is the immediate effect of low oxygen air. Changes start happening in your blood too. Hemoglobin levels start going up slowly as your body starts producing more red blood cells to increase the oxygen carrying capacity of your blood. This change in your body doesn't happen overnight so you have to give it time to adjust itself. If you don't give your body time to get attuned to the new situation you will be inviting trouble.

At the lower end of the scale is Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), characterized by any or all of the following symptoms.

1. Nausea and giddiness
2. Headache
3. Breathlessness
4. Fatigue
5. Loss of appetite
6. Sleep disturbances

If you feel any of these symptoms, it is better not to exert yourself more and worsen your condition. Not everyone are built the same and each person's body reacts differently. Therefore, just because you run 5 kilometres or workout in the gym for an hour daily, you needn't be healthy enough to escape the effect of altitude. Conversely, persons who are sub-par when it comes to fitness (like me) needn't always be affected by AMS if you take some precautions. I am not going into the details of severe mountain sickness as those type of problems affect people who do high altitude treks or mountaineering. This is for the regular traveller who spends only a few days in such areas and don't exert too much.

1. Ascend slowly or stay put to acclimatise 

Many travellers are now preferring to drive or ride to Ladakh either through Srinagar or Manali. If you can halt overnight for every 400 - 500 metres you climb, it will help you get used to the altitude better. This may not always be feasible if you don't have many days available. For those who fly in from the plains, this is not an option. In our case we flew in from an elevation of about 150 metres to 3250 metres above MSL in under 12 hours. We are landing directly into a high altitude area so the only option is to stay at that elevation for a couple of days to get our bodies used to the low oxygen levels. 

2. Avoid exertion

In the first few hours at high altitude, especially if you just flew in, even normal activity can make you breathless. Going to the bathroom, getting off the bed, walking especially up a staircase or anything that needs a little physical effort can leave you gasping. In the first 24 hours make sure your movements are as if you are acting in a slow motion film. 

3. Hydrate yourself by drinking lots of water

There is a tendency for many of us to avoid drinking lots of water when travelling. Unfortunately, there is a risk of getting dehydrated at high altitudes. It is suggested that you consume at least 3-4 litres of water a day to keep yourself rehydrated but personally it is a tough ask; 2 litres seems more reasonable. It can be in the form of fresh juice, soup or plain water. Avoid too much of coffee or tea in the first few days as excess caffeine can cause increased heart rate and palpitations. 

4. Avoid cigarettes and alcohol

A smoker's lungs are already compromised and in a location with low oxygen levels it will only add to your problems. Alcohol will worsen your dehydration. It is also suggested to avoid sleeping pills.

5. Sleep well

Your body recovers when it is given rest. In Ladakh you are going to be spending a lot of time on the road. So once you are finished with the day's itinerary, eat an early dinner and turn in. Days are long in that part of the world so you might think it is still not time to hit the bed. If you have nothing else to do, sleep. That is the best medicine.

6. Pay attention to symptoms of AMS

Don't try to play a hero. If you feel, even lightly; any of the symptoms mentioned in the paragraph on AMS, inform your travel partner or guide. Stop exerting yourself and stay put at that location or descend to a lower altitude. Most travel operators ensure that oxygen is made available in your taxi or in the back up vehicle in case of motorcycling groups. 

7. Preventive measures before setting off

For those having to ascend rapidly you can take some precautions before leaving your comfort zone. One of the remedies suggested is to start taking acetazolamide tablets two or three days before your trip. Acetazolamide in small doses helps prevent or reduce the severity of AMS. While the mechanism of how it helps is not clear, acetazolamide increases oxygen saturation level of blood. Since I'm a doctor myself, I think it is inappropriate to mention the dosages without assessing a patient. Please consult your doctor before embarking on your journey for better advise that is tailored to your individual needs.  

8. Expose your ears

Yes, you read right. While it makes sense to cover up your ears from the biting cold, it is advised to expose your ears to the air once in a while. It is said to help your body to better gauge the environmental condition and allow it to acclimatize naturally.

The above points will give you a broad idea about how to get adapted to the new environment you are exposed to. While is doesn't tell you everything, it gives you an outline before planning a trip to Ladakh or similar places. Ladakh is not a place for the regular tourist. Remember it is a high altitude desert and outside of the capital Leh, the facilities are bare minimum. So if these posts pique your interest and makes you want to travel to Ladakh, remember; it takes a lot of planning. 

All the posts that follow this will have some information regarding travelling in Ladakh, with points that I gathered on my short trip there.

Meanwhile let us sleep a while and get ready to go visit the local market in the evening.....

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