Short walk in Nubra - technical notes

vistet

I did a walkout out of Nubra recently, partially covered in my blog (vistet.blogspot.com - will up/backdate later)

Some short technical notes :

Food :
what I reallly brought & ate was 90 % dried fruits, tsampa, jos... Dzomsa in Leh has a lot of good stuff in this way , but look out for their funky tsampa.

Stove :
My trusted companion , the Trangia Arctic, died after following me around for a third of my life. I used the backup spirit burner that happily continued to chuff away at 4800 meters altitude. Finding spirits in Manali was mostly a linguistic problem : avoid using the word alcohol and you'll get it sooner.

Backing up digital pictures :
I used a clunky portable 20 gig harddrive. It rode on the top of buses , in jeeps and a not successfully patchwelded miltary truck. My one single cautionary move was to pack it in a simple but efficient airtight box , wrapped in a sock before going over 4000 meters. No problems so far. I did meet a less lucky Archos owner in Leh. Backup power to the the HD from the Silva solar panel, also very rugged.

Maps :
The new Olizane maps are awesome in comparison to everything else when it comes to the natural features. Artifacts could be added, esp. the historical ones which shouldn't be a problem for the Indian Goverments ... sensitive attitude to mappping. I'd like to see one more symbol on the map , denotning chorten fields. Addenda to the maps , with linked photos , could be an interesting task for 'mikers with GPS'es - care taken in advance to abovementioned sensiblities.

Cold :
yes, esp. after my punctured Thermarest became The Worlds Flattest Camping Mattress (TM) . Interestingly enough I met another guy with exactly the same problem in Leh. I had brought along a thin contoured three season bag, which I complemented with another squarish down bag (Tibetan refugee market, Rs 1300) - definitely needed. It's not just a question of the temperatures involved, but also the shifts in peripheral circulation as you acclimatise , methinks.

Language :
brushing up on basic Ladakhi is essential in Nubra, esp. basic greetings and terrain words. I bought the new video version of Ladags Melong which supposedly is subtitled in English as a way to get some feeling for the language next time.

TREKorDIE

Thanks vistet.
great informations and suggestions.
waiting for the pics.

__________________
TREKorDIE:
" BECAUSE IT IS THERE ! ! ! "

abram

ok proposal of chorten fields taken in the update pipeline. but when does a group of chorten start to be a field... so my question do I have to mention small groups or standalone ones too. what about maniwalls?

abram

vistet

My (unsystematic ) impression i that chortens comes in one or two's (like at one or both ends of a mani wall, good point) or groups. I'll try to discuss this with the Ethnographic Museum and a Tibetan friendship group when I come home. I have one or two books at home which also might give some bearing on this.

abram

interested in being able to go further on such a classification. The monastery/temple/... classif is already on the way.

regards
abram

vistet

I am now in Tibet , in a group with two other harddrive breakdowns , one Archos and one Creative - both after going over 5000 meters . My own is still doing fine, using the same airtight box.

AnnaD

hey Vistet
Thanks for the Info ......... and happy travels!