I get a lot of Altitude in a very pretty place - Ladakh

•      When socks and sandals are allowed – chilling at altitude
•       Numb hands on a bike at 5,600m
•       Girls with gas
•       From 4.6m people to 3.1bn – meeting an Irish friend in India randomly…..twice

Although Jammu airport was full of Sikhs and their knives, when I arrived in Leh, Ladakh it appeared that none of them had got on my flight.  Although, to be fair anything could have happened in that flight without me knowing as my gaze was locked on the window.

Ladahk is known as a cold desert.   The spectacular landscape a result of numerous mountain ranges colliding and producing a unique cocktail of high altitude mountains mixed with low altitude barren desert terrain.  Nestled at an altitude of 3,500 meters above the sea level, between the Kunlun and Himalaya ranges is one of the few Buddhist cities In the world, Leh.

Leh Shanti Stupa stands at 4,300m looking down over the city

No matter which part of India you fly in from Leh is a refreshing change.  No noise, clear blue skies (annual precipitation is 102mm vs.1,453mm in Dublin!) and snow capped mountains as a backdrop.  It took a few days to get used to the cold.  At night it was as low as 10 °C which (and I know all of you in Europe’s winter right now will sympathize with me…..) is the coldest I’ve been in about 18 months.  This is one of those climates where socks and sandals are accepted.  

Here's Robyn looking slick (and sideways thanks to blogger image settings!)

As it was the end of the tourist season businesses were closing daily.  The temperature gets so low in winter that they don’t just close the shops they take away the contents for storage too.  

One of the few stops still open...

The climate and altitude was an odd mix, it was very dry which made the +3,500m a little harsher.  As my visa was running out I had chosen to fly in to save time.  Not such a clever move as although I didn't get sick I soon felt the altitude with a very strong sense of nausea mixed with the sensation of someone sitting on your chest! I’ve lived and travelled at altitude before but had never seen it effect so many people.  9/10 of westerners I met had a dodgy tummy or were suffering from respiratory problems.

Despite this being trekkers paradise I finally decided to follow my doctors orders and just do day other activities.  I've had pneumonia at altitude before and it ain’t pretty so giving my lungs a rest seemed smart. Not so smart was my first choice, a downhill bike ride from the highest motor able road in the world, the Khardung La pass.   Despite the sheet ice at the top resulting in some seriously scary maneuvers in the car (no chains, bald tyres, sliding sideways where there is no wall on the road at +5,600m) the journey and ride were
spectacular.  The most stunning bike ride I've ever done, no question.  The issue was that I was so happy to be on a bike that as soon as I hit a road where I could sprint I did so, forgetting that we were still at altitude.  I was off the saddle most of the journey down coming from the minus degrees in snow to the mid 20s in the desert.  I loved it.  We got to the bottom and our high spirits were mellowed when a fellow rider from Korea turned up looking very sick.  One hour later I felt ‘the quease’ too.  I laid on my bed feeling as if I’d necked a tray of tequilas only without the stupid dancing. 

Me stopping briefly to take in the view (that's me on the bike!) 1/2 way down ....

Me discovering that balancing on ice is not easy

@ze top

Like most tourists we took the jeep up then cycled down.  If you want to read a blog about someone who did it properly ie. cycled up too then check out my friend's blog (click here).  They cycled from Scotland to Singapore.  In 3 years! 

My next trip was to Panong Lake for which I had to accompany 4 girls on my own.  Something I’m quite good at.  My mate Robyn was sick so I got to enjoy the company of the lovely girls for one of the most uncomfortable yet visually stimulating journeys I’ve ever been on.  There are road safety aphorisms on milestones along the whole journey which took our minds off the continuous potholes and nausea from altitude.  And similar to Kashmir there was a huge army presence but this wasn’t for the Pakistan border it was for the China border (the most tense border with India right now).  The ride was so bumpy that one of my camera lenses vibrated to such an extent that it fell apart so no photos of the road but I found these in an image search:

The lake is 134km long, the majority being in reclaimed Tibet (or China as the Chinese like to call it).  The highest lake I’d ever been to before was Lake Titicaca and this is +500m higher and empty of tourists vs the busloads of tourists that you find at Titicaca.  It’s simply stunning.  It was also the site of the last scene from my favourite Indian movie (The Three Idiots).

Here’s the scene (it’s the end of the film so if you haven’t seen it – it’s a SPOILER!)

Despite the tips of my fingers still being numb from the high altitude bike ride and me being one camera lens down I still managed some snaps.

Thikse Monastery on the way to Pangong Lake

Chai at the first summit :)

Marmots getting some action....

The lakeside road..

Yak attack :)

The local kids

Me using the local facilities

One thing that did keep us warm was sharing a room.  I shared with two of the girls.  Here’s the floor on which three of us snuggled up to keep warm ;)

Much to my physical detriment I always try to hold in farts when I the company of ladies.  However, after two days of bone shaking jeep travel, fibrous food and a car full of girls farting I gave in.  They had been leading the way.  Our room smelt like a cub scouts tent.  One of the girls even would announce she was doing a ‘FARC’ which might explain why it felt like a terrorist attack.  And to top it off the other two girls bragged how during the night they have produced an orchestra of farts.  I shoulda just joined in as the bass from the beginning!

Me with members of the orchestra

Our host in Lake Pangong was Dudum or MiyaygyJi as we called him (after Mr Miyaygy).  He was one of the most animated people I’ve ever met.   When we had dinner he looked around the table counting 11 people and  then announced with a joyous tone "I am reech!"

My benchmark for the altitude was kissing.  I’ve kissed at altitude before but this time it really took my breath away.  That might sound romantic and it was, but having to stop due to oxygen shortage is a first!

On my last night I bumped into a Georgie and Tom a cool English couple.  They were celebrating their marriage.  Well, their Indian marriage.  As is the case with most western couples here they had grown so sick and tired of people looking confused when they said they weren't married (dating isn't really the thing in India, the steps are: 1) meet partner 2) marry partner)  and decided to buy rings and just pretend they were.   As if a wedding celebration wasn't enough I then randomly bumped into Aileen, a friend from back home on the street.  I never see Aileen out in Dublin and yet met her once randomly at a literature festival in Bangalore last year and again on my last night in Leh.  A lovely surprise.

The next day I was on the red eye flight to Delhi.  I had to accompany a lady from my guest house as she was a bit sick.  She was a French lady in her 60s who has been coming to Leh trekking for the last 20 years.  She spoke no English but the guest house owner told me that this time she’d gone trekking and got lost.  She’d been lost for 10 days, with food for only 4 days.  She was found unconscious by locals.  Sounds like an unfortunate story and I sympathized until I actually met her.  She was a nutter.  She was the size of a sparrow and spoke continuously in French fully acknowledging that the locals could not understand her and on two occasions at the airport she walked ‘around’ a security scanner babbling out in French. It wasn't  until I carried her bag to the taxi stand at Delhi and her face lit up with gratitude that I realized that all she wanted was just to get home.  Bless her.

My last experience with airport security had seen them try to confiscate my memory stick and this time he pulled my emergency condom out of my wallet and said ‘you can use this you know’.  I wasn't sure if it was a new service that the airport offered but was just glad they weren't saying that to the Sikh’s with their knives!