Leh Ladakh figures prominently on everyone’s bucket list especially for people living in India. Leh is known for its amazing views, weather, and high altitude.  

Kirubakaran Rajendra, resident of Chennai, is a trader and founder of Squareoff.in. He has more than 15+ years’ experience as an algo trader and has taught over 10,000 students. Rajendra is also a regular contributor to Moneycontrol, where his insights are highly regarded. 

He recently went on a ten-day trip to Leh Ladakh with his family; however, the experience was far from pleasant. It was supposed to be an adventurous trip but turned out to be a nightmare. 

Rajendra shared his experience via ‘X’ (@Kirubaaakaran). He wrote he planned the trip to Leh for star gazing, less pollution, and gorgeous weather. He even did thorough research before embarking on this trip. It was a 10-day trip as they had planned to visit  Nubra Valley, Pangong Lake, Tsomo Riri Lake, Lamayuru and Hanle.  

What did they pack? 

They took three backpacks with them for traveling light.   As a precautionary measure, they took Diamox tablet to help them in in acclimatization.  

Altitude Sickness 

Altitude sickness is a condition that happens when someone ascends to high altitudes too quickly without giving their body enough time to adapt. Higher elevations cause a decrease in oxygen levels, which can impair normal bodily functions and give rise to the condition. Sometimes symptoms tend to occur within hours like headache, nausea, shortness of breath and inability to exercise. Mild cases may resolve in one to three days, but severe cases may require oxygen, medication and moving to a lower altitude. 

Experience in Leh 

 As Ladakh is over 10,000 feet (about the height of Mount St. Helens) above sea level, oxygen level is low They were aware of the altitude sickness, so they didn’t panic when they reached Leh but started having breathing issues.  It was suggested to stay in Leh for 2 days, so that their bodies could adapt to the new environment.  

Also, Rajendra tweeted, “You need to get permit to roam around other places of Ladakh, you need to show your boarding pass to the checking officer, so the portal won’t let you book permit if you try to book without staying, 48 hours (about 2 days) in Leh.” 

On day 1, they stayed in their hotel only and enjoyed the surrounding view. It takes a minimum of 5 hours to reach places like Nubra Valley or Hanle.  

You have to cross high passes like the 18,000-foor Khardung La Pass to get to those locations. Besides that, the extremely low oxygen levels at these locations make breathing very difficult. In fact, taxi drivers advise against spending longer than ten minutes outside at these peaks. 

But even after 2 days in Leh, they were still having issues with breathing. His 10-year-old kid started having medical issues.  All three of them couldn’t eat anything and their child started vomiting and couldn’t digest anything, leading to dehydration and his oxygen level went below 65.  

Seeing his child’s condition, they decided to come back to Chennai without taking any risks. But as soon as they landed in Chennai, they all were fine, being able to breathe properly.  

Everyone has a different body. Sometimes you are not able to adapt to another environment easily. Same happened with Rajendra and his family. I if you’re planning to visit Ladakh remain careful about acclimatization or any other kind of sickness arising out of high altitude.