My recent trip to Leh/Ladakh...

games_icon · Oct 14th, 2009, 03:21

We had a recent trip to the gorgeous Leh. Well... it did not go exactly how we planned but satisfied what we did in 5-day stay over there.
We aired to Delhi from Hyderabad on 26th Sep and stayed and waited to catch a morning flight to Leh. School friends reached Delhi airport after 2 hrs we reached there and had a great chat for the rest of the night. So, in the morning we reached Leh. The flight was great. Thousands of snow filled mountains... just took our breath away.
As soon as we reached Leh there were a number of prepaid taxis waiting for the passengers and one of the taxi guy took us to a hotel which was not that good for the money we paid.
We acclimatised for the rest of the day. Searched for the travel agencies who can take us to the trek we planned 3 months ago... Stok Kangri. After a 3-hr search we got an agency called K2 travel. That guy was the cheapest among the lot we queried there.
On that afternoon we visited a monastery/palace down the road from the travel agency. Not sure why they call it a palace... for me its just a old broken shed...

Anyway... the next day we packed our butts out and started out our 4-day journey to the summit. The first day was not that hectic as we just had a 3 hr rocky walk to a camp where we rested for the remaining day. The chill was beginning to show effect on us already.
The second day was a tough one. We had a 5-6hr journey to the base camp. As it was a first trekking experience for all of us we were completely dried out at the end of the day. It was quite an experience. At the night the cold was very very awful... I mean just two days ago we were experiencing a temp of 35 degrees in Hyd. And now its definitely in the negative side. Quite a dive in temperature. We got up at night 1 O clock for the summit and definitely not in a position to walk anymore...

So, we called it off.
Sad ending to what we planned 3 months ago. But still it was quite an exp...

pics here...
http://picasaweb.google.com/sark.rah...rvM Ly573xSg#

Haylo · Oct 14th, 2009, 04:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by games_icon

After a 3-hr search we got an agency called K2 travel. That guy was the cheapest among the lot we queried there.

Which just goes to show that the cheapest is not always the best.

A responsible agency would have told you that you were ill prepared, barely acclimatised, and that summiting Stok Kangri is a far from ideal choice as a first ever trek for a party with zero previous experience!

Quote:

At the night the cold was very very awful... I mean just two days ago we were experiencing a temp of 35 degrees in Hyd.

What sort of temperatures did you expect halfway up a mountain at high altitudes in October?

At least you got to experience the beauty of the place, which is stunning.

Wildhorse · Oct 14th, 2009, 04:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by games_icon

Stok Kangri....it was a first trekking experience for all of us

What you did was EXTREMELY stupid and you should be very grateful that none of you got any serious health problems. People like you have died trying to climb mountains like Stok Kangri and have put others, who tried to rescue them, at risk. A brain or lung oedema is very common in people who go to high altitude without proper acclimatization. As for "we acclimatized the rest of the day" I would recommend you to look up the definition of "acclimatization". One just cannot "acclimatize" in a few hours. Anyway, be grateful that you survived without any remaining injuries or brain damage.

The fact that the travel agency people didn't warn you is a different matter altogether.

games_icon · Oct 14th, 2009, 21:44

u guys may be right... But we are happy that we reached atleast the base camp...
And the beauty of the place is very good...
When we reached the base camp the temp fell way below... definitely below 2...

Haylo · Oct 15th, 2009, 00:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by games_icon

definitely below 2...

It may have felt like it to you as you'd come straight from the heat, but you were very lucky that it was as warm as two degrees up there, that's not at all cold - that's the temperature it was yesterday when I left for work - wearing a t-shirt!

muks · Oct 15th, 2009, 11:13

I was there for the Markha trek during the same days. We did 3 days of acclimatization before we started on the trek. As Haylo said, it was a very pleasant 15 - 18 deg C during the day and around 5 - 7 in the night. Stok Kangri is at an altitude of 6200 Mts and needs some serious preparation. Hopefully you will try again with better preparation as its definitely worth going back...

Oct 14th, 2009, 03:21	#1
games_icon Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: India Posts: 39	My recent trip to Leh/Ladakh... We had a recent trip to the gorgeous Leh. Well... it did not go exactly how we planned but satisfied what we did in 5-day stay over there. We aired to Delhi from Hyderabad on 26th Sep and stayed and waited to catch a morning flight to Leh. School friends reached Delhi airport after 2 hrs we reached there and had a great chat for the rest of the night. So, in the morning we reached Leh. The flight was great. Thousands of snow filled mountains... just took our breath away. As soon as we reached Leh there were a number of prepaid taxis waiting for the passengers and one of the taxi guy took us to a hotel which was not that good for the money we paid. We acclimatised for the rest of the day. Searched for the travel agencies who can take us to the trek we planned 3 months ago... Stok Kangri. After a 3-hr search we got an agency called K2 travel. That guy was the cheapest among the lot we queried there. On that afternoon we visited a monastery/palace down the road from the travel agency. Not sure why they call it a palace... for me its just a old broken shed... Anyway... the next day we packed our butts out and started out our 4-day journey to the summit. The first day was not that hectic as we just had a 3 hr rocky walk to a camp where we rested for the remaining day. The chill was beginning to show effect on us already. The second day was a tough one. We had a 5-6hr journey to the base camp. As it was a first trekking experience for all of us we were completely dried out at the end of the day. It was quite an experience. At the night the cold was very very awful... I mean just two days ago we were experiencing a temp of 35 degrees in Hyd. And now its definitely in the negative side. Quite a dive in temperature. We got up at night 1 O clock for the summit and definitely not in a position to walk anymore... So, we called it off. Sad ending to what we planned 3 months ago. But still it was quite an exp... pics here... http://picasaweb.google.com/sark.rah...rvM Ly573xSg#

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Oct 14th, 2009, 21:44	#4
games_icon Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: India Posts: 39	u guys may be right... But we are happy that we reached atleast the base camp... And the beauty of the place is very good... When we reached the base camp the temp fell way below... definitely below 2...

Oct 15th, 2009, 11:13	#6
muks Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 12	I was there for the Markha trek during the same days. We did 3 days of acclimatization before we started on the trek. As Haylo said, it was a very pleasant 15 - 18 deg C during the day and around 5 - 7 in the night. Stok Kangri is at an altitude of 6200 Mts and needs some serious preparation. Hopefully you will try again with better preparation as its definitely worth going back...