MISSING Czech botanist in Ladakh - more info

tichym

I do see Hindi now. To go to another computer with XP was the quickest solution. Thanks for the advice.

janat

hi,
I am another friend of the Klimesˇfamily from Trebon and would like to thank all those people at this web site who help us in search for Leos Klimes. Myself /as well other Leos´ friends I have talked to/ are ready to collect reward money or whatever it takes to find him. His disapperance touches me a lot as our children go to the same school and Leos and his wife are our very good friends.
Again, thank you all for your help.
From Trebon
Jana

capt_mahajan

Janat, good luck, and do let us know how it goes.

There are quite a few members here who have good knowledge about that area.

And tichym, glad the Hindi is sorted out.

tichym

just found this report from the state of Himachal Pradesh about problems with snow at the end of September, about the time Leos went missing. Anybody aware of similar problems in Ladakh at that time ?

http://www.atmagazine.co.uk/index.php?Itemid=95&id=109&opt ion=com_content&task=view

PeakXV

That may not be such an easy question to answer. However with the altitudes and undulating nature of the himalaya - you can be fairly confident that snow sqawls and wind storms pop up randomly throughout - as Autumn pushes on. According to post #32 traffic is/was still moving to/from Srinagar/Leh as of last week. You may want to PM the poster (Sirensongs) to see if there is any more information(weather,incidents, warnings)that can be sourced from local (Leh) officials as to the specific region that you/we now know that Leos travelled to.

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machadinha

Don't know if this is useful, but leaving it just in case: The Indian Meteorological Department is here: http://www.imd.gov.in/ . Very detailed on some stuff (e.g., the monsoon), but not sure in this case.

But have a look, or you could even try and contact them. And do contact SirenSongs, yes.

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tichym

I am sorry for not posting for a while.
We are not much further as we are getting contradictory info from different sources and are unable to reconcile it from here, so I decided to fly to Leh. I am leaving for Leh on Dec 12, spending one day in New Delhi, and reaching Leh on Dec 14 (going back on Dec 26). Most probably I will stay in Leh (and Kargil, if important and possible), however I will have my winter trekking equipment with me just in case... The good news is that the embassy confirmed, that the Leh police would talk to me when I am there.
In the next post, I will summarize the current state of the search with all the contradictory info.

capt_mahajan

tichym, good luck.

And do remember that there are a lot of folk on this forum with decent knowledge about that area.

tichym

This summary was made by Juliane from Heidelberg, Germany. Thanks.

The Czech botanist Leos Klimes went to Ladakh planning to work there in August and September 2007. Unfortunately, Leos did not return home from this trip in October. He is of a rather introvert character and often on his own, so his friends and family did not worry much until the unexpected non-return from India (Oct 18).
The information that has reached his Czech relatives via diplomatic channels is like an unsolved puzzle

These are the details they collected so far:
Leos arrived in Leh by plane as planned on August 7 (confirmed by the airline and local authorities). He planned a long trek this year (Nubra valley - Pangong - Tso Moriri) and return to Leh after about three weeks (around Sept 1). Here, he usually wrote e-mails to his family, but they did not receive anything this year. While in Leh, he regularly stays in Khayul hotel. Yet this year, the hotel was fully occupied and seemingly he has left for Hotel Jagal. He has probably left belongings there, but this information has not been confirmed, especially not if he left them in the room or just with the hotel as many of us would do. According to the Leh police, he dissapeared soon after his arrival and did not leave Ladakh.

But there is contradictory information: Reportedly, no permit was issued on his name to Nubra valley. Yet, a Czech friend said that he saw the name on a permit at Yak travels on Sept 2. Back from a first trek and after few days in Leh he usually left for a second trek and again returns to Leh, it is not known if he did this time.
Further contradicton - according to Foreign Registration Office Srinagar, Leos LEFT Leh for Kargil (already about halfway to Srinagar) on Sept 20. Again it is not known how the info was obtained; the Czech suppose that from some check point on the way. He was expected in Srinagar around October 1, so it would not make sense to go back to Leh. He did not get to Sriagar. If this information is correct, he would dissappear between Sept 20 and Oct 1.

machadinha

You'll be aware by now of issues of AMS and the need to acclimatize in Leh for probably a few days? Others here can advise you better on this, and as noted before, there are many existing threads and posts on it already.

Again, best of luck with it. Keep us posted if you can, then again I'm sure you'll have more internet'ing to do, which can be frustrating out there. Keep your priorities straight.

janat

just a short note for all our helpful friends out there: tichym visited a Czech ambassy in New Delhi yesterday, with the help of the consul they sent a fax to Shrinagar with the request for more detailed information on dr. Klimes /did he really leave for Kargil on Sept. 20 th. as the Shrinagar police states?/ and left for Leh today. Tichym is very well educated about AMS. As we are in touch every day, I will keep you informed as soon as we have got any new information.
janat

machadinha

Thanks for that. Give him our (or mine, anyway) best wishes if you are in touch, and be in touch here if you think people can be of any help.

janat

this message was sent today by tichym to the e mail address snowview in Leh, I am posting it here in case anybody knows the Leh area very well and can answer the question in the message:

Hi everybody,

I was supposed to be in Leh by now. Unfortunately, the flight to Leh was
cancelled on Friday (due to the fog in Delhi!!!), next attempt will be
tomorrow. This means i will miss David Sonam, who is leaving Leh on the
same day and whom I wanted to see before going to the Leh police. I was at
the Czech embassy on Thursday, the visit confirmed all the discrepancies
we have, particularly whether Leos left to Kargil on Sept 20. There was
some indication from the Srinagar registration office, that Leos stayed in
somewhere in Zanskar (Dak Bungalow). Unfortunately no time period was
indicated, it might well be before Sept 20, as Leos planned to trek to
Zanskar anyway.
I have one question for the locals about the road to Kargil. I understood
that they are trying to keep the road to Kargil open even in winter. What
are the chances that after going to Kargil I will not be able to get back
within few days due to the snowfall?

Best regards

capt_mahajan

I think you should be prepared for the worst. In the last few days there has been considerable disruption due to snow. Even the Kashmir valley was cut off by road because of this.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0712131240.htm


Things further up may not be much better.

PS: The highway (Srinagar-Kargil- Leh) will be officially closed now, for the winter.

Smaller vehicles sometimes ply illegally there, but with the recent snow/ice? in the area, I doubt that will be possible.

janat

here is a new message from tichym - sent this morning from Leh:

Hi everybody,
sorry for spamming you all. Today I made it to Leh on a beautifull sunny
day. I am staying at the Oriental Guest House, very nice place and very
nice people (thanks Motup for the reference). I have a satelite phone with
me, however this mobile does not work with normal SIMs, so I cannot use it
as mobile in Leh. However, you can try to send me an SMS to
XXX. It works with some providers, not with others. Or you can
send a free message from https://sms.thuraya.com. This time you will use
only the last part of number XXX (this works). Tomorrow I will go to
the police and I really hope to have some new info to write for you.

I got the message from several of you that the "safe return" from Kargil
is very probable. Thank you all.

Best regards,

Moderator note: Janat, if you feel sure Tichym wants his phone number posted here, you can post it again. It's generally not a very good idea though, so it has been X'ed out for now.