Manali - Leh highway, how to avoid AMS?

yes.very much. in fact most public transport do it that ways only. leave by 4-5 am types

Thank you dheeraj for the quick reply

The clunky HRTC buses does it every day the road isn´t out.

This post might help people who are having asthma and planning to visit Ladakh. My parents just came back from their Ladakh trip. They went via the Manali-Leh highway, stopping in Manali (1N), Keylong(1N), Sarchu(1N) and then Leh. My Mom has dust-allergy related asthma. She had to use Asthalin only once, in Sarchu. They stayed at Leh, Korzok, Hunder etc. and she never encountered any breathing difficulties anywhere else. They suffered from other AMS symptomps like sleeplessness at Sarchu and mild headache near Tanglang La. They had been taking coca-6 at regular intevals from Manali itself. They had carried Diamox, Oxygen-can etc, but didn't require to use them. They have enjoyed their trip thoroughly.

I have made a small mistake in my previous post. My parents didn't stay at Korzok. They stated from Leh around 5 a.m. in the morning, visited Tso Moriri and came back to Leh in the evening.

The issues for asthmatics would be if the asthma is triggered by dust , or cold later in the year. Many do well , even better at high altitude : asthmatics were employed in building the railway to Lhasa , with workplaces up to 5000+ meters.

And it wasn´t the asthma that ended Che Guevara´s life in Bolivia..

Hi all , I have been following many threads for information on ladakh trip plan . I will be starting from kolkata . Is it possible to cover all the places like pangong tso , Nubra valley , Tso moriri in 14-15 days . Can anyone suggest an itinerary of 15 days starting from kolkata and back home . I want to cover both the manali-leh and srinagar-leh highway and not to rush the trip for the possible fear of AMS . Can any experience traveler guide me with the itinerary !! I wish i could give 1 month for ladakh as this is my dream trip. But as i work in a software company so you must be understanding my pain

Manik- Check out other itineraries and come up with a draft- Start a new thread and am sure the IMers will help you evolve it.

You can check a very balanced and most common itinerary for Leh - Ladakh followed by many travelers including me at the link here for 14-15 days: http://devilonwheels.com/index.php/m...or-leh-ladakh/

Let us know if any further question you have

I hope the below Questions and the answers from some experts help folks planning Ladakh this season.

Pre Checkup -

1. Is there any screening to check if an individual is vulnerable to be most likely be impacted by AMS. If the person will have severe AMS whihc might need medical assistance. In other words any ailments that can be checked which are prone to AMS for e.g. Asthama, Bloob pressure (above/below some limits), any other ailments heart diseases etc? Any age groups ? What I am looking for is a layman to know if he is mosat likely to be affected. (I know things can be different in different indivuduals but I am looking to list down specific medical scenarios who are highly prone to be hit by AMS)

Post Impact -

1. What is first aid when hit by AMS (traveling to lower altitude to be one etc)
2. What if the symtoms are high whom should one approach? The army? Would they help the patient get medical aid at the earliest? Any specific places where they have hospitals?(specially in places like Nubra and pangong tso?
3. I have this question bugging me since a long time- How effective are those oxygen cylinders people sell which might not even last for a few minutes? Is it a marketing gimmick or something worth opting to carry them?

I am sure simmilar discussion has happened but not clearly answering the questions I had. If I missed on anything please guide me to the post so I can edit this one.

The clunky HRTC buses do it on a regular basis, as long as the road doesn´t go out . After The Vomit Hilton closes late in the season everyone shoots down to either Keylong from Leh with the buses or shoot straight down to Manali in one looong run - think around twenty hours.

I´d phrase it like this : who should see a doc ? Background only :

* Asthmatics generally do well , often even better at high altitude. Possible issues is if the asthma is triggered by cold air ( very unlikely in high season ) or by dust . Asthmatics did work in constructing the railway to Lhasa , and was not a problem group. (Also it wasn´t the asthma and altitude that became the bane of Che Guevara in Bolivia.)

* Stable high blood pressure : talk with your doc , but normally no problems.
* Stable diabetes : no problem , but some glucose meters are not reliable at high altitude.
* Age : don´t bring pre-verbal children. Higher risk in the below 50 group.
* High BMI : a big stomach limits your lung function esp. when you lie down. Not a reason not to go , but another good argument for planning your first nights well.
* Obviously everyone with lower lung function needs a careful discussion with his/her doc.

If your doc can handle reading suggestions there is a very good article called Who Should Not Go High ? at High Altitude Medicine & Biology





* Down ! Down !
* Make the patient sit up if possible.
* Dexamethasone and Diamox

Yes , outside Leh . Highly unlikely you´ll need them in Nubra , which is lower than Leh. Just make sure you don´t hit the Khardung La within the first days after flying in to Leh.

Yes.

Nearly all of this is post fact : AMS is easily prevented nearly all of the time , and the cure is time . Give yourself enough time for basic acclimatization , don´t sleep more than 500 meters higher per night , and you are unlikely to have any real problems.

Vistet thanks a Ton, I hope this clears for many laymen like me who plan to travel back to leh.

The BMI is a worrying factor for me then

The good news is that it will get lower : I drop 10 % of my weight every trip.

Do you mean Type 2 or Type 1 or both?
Does having Type 1 Diabetes give you any bigger problems, like insulin efficiency or something similiar?

I'm sure when I read stuff about AMS in late 2010 I saw that it's advisable to drink sugary drinks but looking for info about that now I can't find anything. Am I dreaming that I read that? It's just that it's one of the reasons we never went to Ladakh in 2011 as our daughter had just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I'm now thinking I was wrong about that.