Hyderabad (Telangana): As Ladakh reels under extraordinary heatwave forcing flight cancellations due to rarefied air, a Chennai-based entrepreneur has shared a harrowing experience during his trip to the region he had to cancel prematurely.
In a detailed thread on X, Kirubakaran Rajendran, an Algo trader based in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai said that he had recently gone to Ladakh on a ten-day family trip. What was supposed to be an adventure trip, turned into a nightmare, Rajendran said.
“The problem started as soon as we landed in Leh. Initially I found it hard to breathe, I thought maybe due to flight travel, but my kid also complained the same,” he wrote in the thread.
Rajendran said they did not panic and thought that once they take a rest, drink ample water everything should be alright after a day or two. He said that as a precautionary measure, they didn’t do anything and just chilled at the hostel rooftop.
“But for us breathing was still an issue, even after two days our body didn’t adapt and my ten-year-old kid found it really hard to breathe. His oximeter reading went below 65. All three of us couldn’t eat well, he started vomiting whatever he ate, making his body totally dehydrated, and couldn't sleep well, Even for adults climbing two floors was like climbing Everest. Though I know all about this, still when it happens it’s hard to manage the situation,” Rajendran said.
The entrepreneur said that they had to cancel all their plans and book the next return flight immediately. The vacation was supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable but not this adventurous, putting the health at risk, he said.
“As soon as we landed in Chennai, miraculously all three of us were absolutely fine. No breathing issues, no dizziness. Our body was in high alert mode when we were in higher altitude due to oxygen issues, the moment we landed back to our place, our body was able to adapt quickly,” he wrote in the post.
I went on a ten days family trip to Ladakh, what was suppose to be an adventure trip turned into a nightmare. If you are planning a Ladakh travel, this thread might help you in what you should expect once you land in Leh. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/2sIjXab90G
— Kirubakaran Rajendran (@kirubaakaran) July 30, 2024
Even though July seems to be the ideal time to visit Ladakh, I'm not sure if peak summer has anything to do with oxygen percentage in the atmosphere. Also it might not happen to everyone. Just be well prepared if you plan your Ladakh trip, anticipate all the worst case scenarios. Ladakh is so beautiful, no doubt about it but it might not suit everyone,” he suggested.
Rajendran said unlike most of the people, who have Ladakh trip in their bucket list mainly because of the picturesque landscape, high altitude motorable passes for bike ride, they always wanted to go there because of low light pollution that lets you do star gazing where even Milky Way is clearly visible with naked eye.
He said that prior to the trip, they did a complete research about the places they wanted to cover beforehand. He said that it was hard to cover places like Nubra Valley, Pangong Lake, Tsomoriri lake, Lamayuru, Hanle in a short span of time and one needs a minimum ten days to explore the landscapes of these places.
Ladakh is currently in the grip of an extreme heatwave, which led to flight cancellations at the Kushok Bakula Rinpoche airport Leh for the second straight day on Tuesday due to rarefaction of air.
The Leh airport is located more than 10,000 feet above sea level, which is one of the world’s highest airports with the heatwave only compounding the poor oxygen levels and making it difficult for the planes to take off from the airport due to thin air.
