THE LAND OF FLYING LAMAS & OTHER REAL TRAVEL STORIES FROM THE INDIAN HIMALAYA

by GAURAV PUNJ

  Appendix 1

  Altitude Sickness

  Outdoors is where all the action is, and no one wants to be left behind. Be it camping, rafting, snorkelling, rappelling, river-crossing, skiing, paragliding or trekking. Especially trekking. There are some excellent treks all over the country, and then there is THE Himalaya. The ultimate setting for an outdoor adventure.

  With more and more urban Indians trying their hand (and luck) with trekking in the Himalaya, it was just a matter of time before ‘altitude sickness’ became the buzzword. An oft-repeated and oft-misunderstood one. So this is an attempt to put together what’s known about it. (Notice the missing ‘all’.)

  Concentration of oxygen

  Remains the same regardless of altitude – i.e., 21%. So the amount of oxygen in the air is the same always.

  Dispersion of oxygen molecules

  Now, this is the important part. With height, the air pressure decreases and hence the oxygen molecules (and others) are more spread out. What this means is the higher we go, fewer oxygen molecules are inhaled per breath. At 3500m, for example, there are 40% less oxygen molecules per breath.

  At what height

  There is no agreement on this. Estimates range from 2500-3000m. Let’s stick to 2500m then.

  Symptoms

  The most common and the first symptom is headache. The intensity varies. This is usually accompanied by nausea, breathlessness, dizziness, fatigue and an inability to sleep properly. Have any of these three, and you can count yourself in. But check this out: statistically 75% of us get mild sickness above 3100m. Generally (again there is nothing concrete here) these symptoms do not interfere with normal activity and subside within forty-eight hours. Symptoms do get worse at night (you are not breathing as hard).

  What causes altitude sickness

  Of course, the less amount of oxygen our body and brain is getting. But exactly how it manifests is not clearly understood. As per a report by Princeton University, ‘It is considered to be a neurological problem caused by changes in the central nervous system.’ (Whatever that means.) So obviously the causes are more generic rather than specific:

  - Rate of ascent

  - Individual susceptibility

  Who gets it

  Absolutely anyone. Regardless of age, sex, fitness levels and even those who didn’t get it the last time around. So you cannot not be careful.

  Prevention

  (Or rather – Minimization of risk)

  Now, this is the important part. There are two approaches:

  1. Acclimatization.

  2. Preventive medicine (I am really not a big fan of this. How do you prevent something you don’t understand the cause of?)

  Acclimatization

  The only way out (I think). Also translates into – gain height gradually. Give your body a chance to adjust and it usually does. I would add two more things however:

  - Hydration (Add Electral and it works wonders).

  - Food. DO NOT skip meals.

  Build in a period of acclimatization if you’re going anywhere above 2500m. (For example: Taking the Manali-Leh route exposes you to high altitude very quickly. The better way is the gradual ascent of the Srinagar- Leh route. Avoid flying into Leh as much as possible.)

  When trekking, your body gets a much better chance to acclimatize but still care needs to be taken. (And it’s easy to plan as the height of most campsites will be known in advance.)

  Preventive medicine

  Diamox is the accepted medicine as of now. In short, it allows you to breathe faster so that you metabolize more oxygen. As I said, really not sure about this. Especially the practice of taking it a week in advance, etc. Too many contradictory reports and opinions. I guess its best use is to help you sleep in case of a mild altitude sickness. (Check for allergies to Sulpha though.)

  There are some excellent alternative medicines in homeopathy and some herbal ones too. See what works best for you.

  Acute mountain sickness (AMS)

  Whatever we discussed till now can also be described as very mild AMS. Anything more than mild AMS is life-threatening. But trekkers can chill because rarely will you go to such heights, so fast. It’s generally the realm of mountaineers. Just know, however, in case the condition of the person is not improving, there is a realistic chance of fluids seeping out of the capillaries and clogging the lungs or brain (no clarity on how or why this happens). The only way out is – rapid descent.

  My experience

  From taking groups to high altitudes for the past five years, this is what I have noticed:

  - Proper acclimatization (read gradual height gain), hydration and nutrition is the best prevention. Remember the 75% stat I mentioned above? With these basic precautions, you can bring it down to 20%.

  - Awareness is the key. An aware person deals with the discomforts of altitude sickness in a much better way. (They don’t panic, to start with.)

  Sources

  Internet of course. Princeton has done some good research on AMS. The Himalayan Club also has a decent booklet on altitude sickness. But mostly through experiences of fellow trekkers.

  Appendix 2

  Common Trekking Terms

  Just because you see some trekkers (especially foreigners) dressed up in all the paraphernalia that the ‘outdoor goods’ companies have managed to sell them doesn’t mean they are better or more informed than you. Trekking is about enjoying and internalizing the experience of walking through stunning valleys and meadows and no product has yet been invented to help with that. All you need is a comfortable pair of shoes, warm clothes and a poncho for the occasional drizzle (it rarely is more than a drizzle in the high Himalaya). However, what can make your trek more enjoyable is if you know a bit about the terrain and various features you will encounter on the way. So here is a non-technical guide to some commonly-used trekking terms:

  A valley — Mountains on both sides, river passing through, makes a valley. The river is joined by small streams coming down from snows on these mountains. These streams have local names, for example ‘gad’ in Garhwal and ‘chu’ in Ladakh.

  A meadow – A flattish piece of land in the mountains. Because it’s flat, it will have grass which the sheep and goat graze on. And it will usually be at a height where it snows in winter (2500m and above). When the snow melts, it irrigates the pasture and lush grass and flowers erupt. Flowers in the high Himalaya are very small in size, but make up in numbers and colours. Different local name for meadows everywhere, for example, ‘marg’ in Kashmir, ‘thach’ in western Garhwal, ‘bugyal’ in most places in Uttarakhand.

  A pass – A chain of mountains ^^^^^ has to be crossed if one needs to go to the other side. Logically, you will cross it at the lowest point in the chain, and that usually becomes the pass. Different local words for a pass everywhere, for example in Ladakh (and at any Tibetan border) it’s called ‘la’, in Kinnaur ‘khango’.

  A ridge – Opposite of a valley. You are in the middle and on both sides the land drops down, usually to a stream.

  A glacier – Snow that doesn’t melt, keeps accumulating and over time becomes rock solid and few metres thick. It then moves down the slope of the mountain in slow motion. In Himachal, it’s called a ‘shigri’.

  Appendix 3

  The Next Ten

  There are dual reasons for listing these down – to give you guys more options in the Indian Himalaya (apart from the
ten places in the ten stories) and also to give a sneak preview of what my next book will contain J.

  Kashmir – Trek from Sonmarg to Pahalgam via the lakes

  Ladakh – The Sham valley homestays

  Himachal 1 – Lahaul wanderings (Miyar and Pangi valleys)

  Himachal 2 – The Kinner Kailash trek

  Garhwal – The Khatling glacier

  Nanda Devi sanctuary, west side – Damarsain meadows, out of the map

  Kumaun – Jolingkong and Kuthi village in Byans valley

  Sikkim 1 – Neora valley, on the Sikkim-Bhutan border

  Sikkim 2 – Thopta valley – the eastern valley of flowers

  Arunachal – A passage through the heart of Arunachal

  Acknowledgements

  Well this could run into several pages as without the people who travelled with me in each of the ten regions featured in the book, the stories wouldn’t have materialized. So it’s everyone who has travelled with me who has contributed directly or indirectly to this book. Thanks guys for laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, falling, basically being yourself. (And buying twenty-five copies each of the book. You did buy, right?)

  Of course, our local coordinators in each of the regions mentioned in the book, for being a treasure trove of information and sharing some of that with me. And for giving us city pretenders a glimpse of the Himalayan way of life – with the nature, for the nature and by the nature.

  A big thanks to Mr Harish Kapadia, for so graciously agreeing to read the manuscript, provide invaluable feedback and even write a foreword for the book.

  Also to the usual suspects, Deepthi – my chilled out editor, Shreyas – my ‘we can’t have factual errors’ illustrator and Rujuta, my partner in these travels and otherwise (good choice Ruj).

  Must mention the staff at Khar Costa for making the perfect cold coffee every time (my brief was – like it’s made at home), while I sat and wrote most of the book there.

  After gazing at the Himalaya for twenty-one years from his village near the Shivalik foothills, Gaurav figured out what to do in the mountains once he started hiking in the Yosemite National Park while studying at the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his Masters in Engineering (Operations Research), worked for about four years in the big bad corporate world and after his leave count dipped to negative fifty, quit and started his venture, Connect with Himalaya, in 2008. It’s as good an excuse he could find for travelling to new and unexplored places in the Indian Himalaya, meet and work with genuine local organizations and do his bit to spread the word.

  www.connectwithhimalaya.com