[Swift Express]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Did you know that its a sulpha drug?
quite a few people have sulpha allergy.
In those people its most useful in curing AMS, because dead people cannot have AMS

Everyone, please do not pop medicines before conforming with a doctor.
And please refrain from giving medical advice when you have no idea about what you are talking about.

Regarding AMS, it can be okay if you ascend slowly, and take it easy. If you are in a rushed trip where you are a man on a mission with deadlines, chances of AMS are higher.

I dont think you have read my post completly. Have mentioned twice about visiting a Doc first within the following 2 lines clearly in the above quoted post - Line 1 "Only exception being if your doctor says no due to some past medical history" Line 2 " The fact cant be ignored that almost all drugs have certain sidefeffects and may also develop allergic reactions hence visiting Doc is advisable before starting intake " . I am not a Doctor but i do know and always advocate visiting a Doc before taking any prescription.

Going by your response i do think quite a few people may skip reading the above underlined line hence and hence with your help i would like to once again reiterate what i said that do not take Diamox without consulting ur Doctor !!!

Please do not take offence to this post but just wanted to clarify

[PGNarain]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Did you know that its a sulpha drug?
quite a few people have sulpha allergy.

Regarding AMS, it can be okay if you ascend slowly, and take it easy. If you are in a rushed trip where you are a man on a mission with deadlines, chances of AMS are higher.

+1 tsk1979.

On several forums / travelogues I have seen people recommending taking Diamox to ward-off AMS without proper knowledge and consultation with a certified medical doctor as opposed to quacks!

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Good lord that I stopped taking Diamox. I do have allergy to sulpha drugs and I did not know that Diamox is a sulpha drug.

I too am allergic to sulpha drugs, and since I am travelling to Leh this year, taking adequate precautions to acclimatize to avoid AMS.

Perhaps a bit Off-Topic here, but all medicines with a generic name which have the letters "MOX" in them are Sulpha based drugs.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Jun 26th - Started from Leh and reached Pangong Tso. Visisted Thiksey, Hemis monasteries enroute. Stayed at Pangong Sarai in Man.

On another note, Blackpearl, I too am planning to stay at the Pangong Sarai at Maan. Can you throw some light on how the place was in terms of location, proximity to the lake, services etc and how much were you charged?

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by PGNarain

On another note, Blackpearl, I too am planning to stay at the Pangong Sarai at Maan. Can you throw some light on how the place was in terms of location, proximity to the lake, services etc and how much were you charged?

The place was near the lake and accommodation was really nice. Rs. 2800 for medium size tent including food. Food there is veg unless you can take chicken with yourself from Leh. The owner Regzin also runs the Ladakh Sarai at Saboo model village that is about 7 kilometers from Leh. Regzin is a very nice person.

[v&v]

TOI is just reported a landside near Changla Pass. Hope all tourist are safe.

Landslide in Ladakh, Army rescues 400 trapped at Leh pass in Kashmir - The Times of India

[Quatro]

We are currently in Leh and understand that all the tourists have been safely rescued. However the road is closed due to the landslide incident and we had to cancel our trip to Pangong lake that was scheduled for today. Tomorrow is our last day in Leh and I hope that the road opens up and we are able to visit the lake.

On a different note, didn't have to take Diamox although my wife had to on few days as she felt breathless. It would be advisable to avoid it if possible, and if taken, it is done so after checking with your doctor.

[sumannandy]

Need your advice.

We are planning to visit Ladakh this september (Early sep). We can take either a 4wd TCIC safari or A Star AT. While safari could be a natural choice, we are thinking of taking the A Star AT (my wife can drive only AT). Can A Star AT do Bangalore - Srinagar - Leh - K La, Pangong - Hunder - Tso Kar -Hanle - Srinagar - Bangalore?

There will be only two passengers, so space is not an issue.

[Swift Express]

Originally Posted by v&v

TOI is just reported a landside near Changla Pass. Hope all tourist are safe.

Landslide in Ladakh, Army rescues 400 trapped at Leh pass in Kashmir - The Times of India

No wonder its call the Mighty Chang La... Gr8 to hear that there are no casualities reported. Hats off to the Army for mounting quick rescue missions at such altitudes. The risk of Landslides is always there in these places. The Army presence was one thing that did make us feel secure... but dnt think its fair that all of us should expect the ARmy to be involved in rescue missions there where ther main objective is to gaurd the borders. J&K Govt should nw start improving on these services.

Risk of landslides seem to be higher in the afternoon times. Even when i was there the slides that happened at Khardung la were in the afternoon.

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Need your advice.

We are planning to visit Ladakh this september (Early sep). We can take either a 4wd TCIC safari or A Star AT. While safari could be a natural choice, we are thinking of taking the A Star AT (my wife can drive only AT). Can A Star AT do Bangalore - Srinagar - Leh - K La, Pangong - Hunder - Tso Kar -Hanle - Srinagar - Bangalore?

There will be only two passengers, so space is not an issue.

Have seen a lot of Altos on my road trip there recently. I myself went in a Vento. Underbody took scratches at many places but since i was driving dead slow it was not a show stopper.Small cars due to their less weight and shorter span were able to negotiate the craters and the no road sections much better than the sedans. The plus for you is that you are only two persons.

Only aspect i cant comment is the AT Factor as i havent driven one... At high altitutes all vehicles experience power loss due to the thin Air. So pls do factor the same.

[verditer]

Dear all - Myself and a friend are planning to drive Bangalore - Delhi - Manali - Leh - Manali - Delhi - Bangalore from Aug 11th to 20th.

The day wise plan is not finalised yet, but roughly we plan to reach Leh in 3 to 4 days onward, similarly return. And spend 2 to 3 days around Leh. This is the first time we are going there, so do not have any plan on what to do, where to go from Leh.

Is any one else planning for Leh during these days? Especially from Bangalore?
I am going through this thread and other Leh threads to prepare for the trip.

We will be attempting this trip in my Safari 2.2 Dicor 4x2.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Need your advice.

We are planning to visit Ladakh this september (Early sep). We can take either a 4wd TCIC safari or A Star AT. While safari could be a natural choice, we are thinking of taking the A Star AT (my wife can drive only AT). Can A Star AT do Bangalore - Srinagar - Leh - K La, Pangong - Hunder - Tso Kar -Hanle - Srinagar - Bangalore?

There will be only two passengers, so space is not an issue.

We did Leh trip by swift and I have read even tata nano making to the top. Regarding AT, it should not be a problem in the month of september as, snow/ice on road to leh is sparse.
Also Srinagar > Kargil > Leh route is much friendly than Manali route.

Cheers & Best of luck for the trip.

[Quatro]

On our way from Srinagar to Leh as well as around Leh, saw a lot of i10, eon and alto. There was also a nano that travelled alongside us from Srinagar to Leh.

[sumannandy]

Originally Posted by Vasuki

We did Leh trip by swift and I have read even tata nano making to the top. Regarding AT, it should not be a problem in the month of september as, snow/ice on road to leh is sparse.
Also Srinagar > Kargil > Leh route is much friendly than Manali route.

Cheers & Best of luck for the trip.

Originally Posted by Swift Express

Have seen a lot of Altos on my road trip there recently. I myself went in a Vento. Underbody took scratches at many places but since i was driving dead slow it was not a show stopper.Small cars due to their less weight and shorter span were able to negotiate the craters and the no road sections much better than the sedans. The plus for you is that you are only two persons.

Only aspect i cant comment is the AT Factor as i havent driven one... At high altitutes all vehicles experience power loss due to the thin Air. So pls do factor the same.

Can you share your route plan and challenges, if any that you faced. Not sure of AT, but I have driven a number of ATs in extreme cold, snow and ice, did not encounter any issues. I did not drive at 17000+ ft though.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Can you share your route plan and challenges, if any that you faced. Not sure of AT, but I have driven a number of ATs in extreme cold, snow and ice, did not encounter any issues. I did not drive at 17000+ ft though.

Please go through the below link of our Leh Travel : 2 Persons, 22 Days, 10432 Kilometres, Trivandrum to Ladakh Fiesta

We went through srinagar > leh route in the first week on june, so it was tough due to ice/snow. The toughest leg for us were :

1. Zozila Pass during return.
2. Chang La, tough rocky passage with ice/snow.
3. Coming back to Leh from Hunder, there was lot of slipping on ice near Khardung La top. We were helped by some army trucks which were following us.

[zipperone]

Guys, consider taking CB radios for your cars for your trips to ladakh. indispensable for communications where mobiles fail to work.

[Swift Express]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Can you share your route plan and challenges, if any that you faced. Not sure of AT, but I have driven a number of ATs in extreme cold, snow and ice, did not encounter any issues. I did not drive at 17000+ ft though.

One Thing going for you guys is that you are doing the trip in August . You will not have to drive through Snow on road and other challenges on account of snow melt will also get marginalized. There is lot of work that BRO is doing to stabilize the road conditions which will only make the conditions better for you in August. Only thing is that at many sections road widening is going on and hence due to Rock Blasting and clearing you will get held up at some sections ( For 30 -60 mins)

Zozila Pass was by far the toughest pass amongst all the high passes in the following route we took this June-12 in J&K Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Chang La- Pangong So Lake (Spangmik Village) - Karu - Sarchu- Manali. Light Rains along with snow melt has washed away some sections of the road. In one Paver Block section of the road the Paver Blocks had got washed away and while negotiating the resultant huge crater the left over paver blocks got stuck against the Rear wheel coil springs. Reversed slightly and had to dig out the Paver Blocks with bare hands. A local J&K Taxi driver also helped

Second most challenging was the Rohatang Pass while going towards Manali. The climb to Rohatang was challenging as there was lot of Slush on Road due to rains. Was driving slow in first gear here. Fortunately there was no wheel spin situation. However at many places stones hidden within the Slush did hit the underbelly.Since there was slush had to drive on the tyre tracks left behind by Trucks,SUV's and MPV's which meant that there is a huge chunk of mud in between that will scrape the underbelly

There were lot of diversions in the Moore Plains sections while driving from Karu to Sarchu. Here the challenge was the loose sand/gravel within these diversions as you have to get off the road. Trick is to get down inspect the diversion section and then drive accordingly

Taking the Srinagar - Leh route helps with acclimatization as Altitude Gain is gradual than the Manali Leh Route. Night Driving is strict no no in this circuit unless you have lights that will make you see daylight in front. Hence start early in the morning and even if you get stuck in between you will reach your next destination before Sundown

If NANO Can ASTAR Definitely can do it. And since its out very own MARUTI - Service/Repairs will also not be an issue. Taking your Safari is an even better option- but its your call finally. All the Best for your trip. Plan Well

Also trying getting a BSNL Postpaid Mobile connection for connectivity.

Refer this link for the latest status of roads in Ladakh. It was of immense help for me.
http://devilonwheels.com/index.php/m...y-status-2012/

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Please go through the below link of our Leh Travel : 2 Persons, 22 Days, 10432 Kilometres, Trivandrum to Ladakh Fiesta

We went through srinagar > leh route in the first week on june, so it was tough due to ice/snow. The toughest leg for us were :

1. Zozila Pass during return.
2. Chang La, tough rocky passage with ice/snow.
3. Coming back to Leh from Hunder, there was lot of slipping on ice near Khardung La top. We were helped by some army trucks which were following us.

Great Travelogue MATE !!!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Did you know that its a sulpha drug?
quite a few people have sulpha allergy.
In those people its most useful in curing AMS, because dead people cannot have AMS

Everyone, please do not pop medicines before conforming with a doctor.
And please refrain from giving medical advice when you have no idea about what you are talking about.

Originally Posted by PGNarain

+1 tsk1979.

I too am allergic to sulpha drugs, and since I am travelling to Leh this year, taking adequate precautions to acclimatize to avoid AMS.

Perhaps a bit Off-Topic here, but all medicines with a generic name which have the letters "MOX" in them are Sulpha based drugs.

Why this scaremongering about Diamox? Advising people not to take a drug because it can leave them dead, or telling them that all drugs with 'MOX' in their name are sulfa drugs and can kill people if they are allergic to sulfa drugs, is equally as ridiculous as telling them 'take this drug because it worked for me'.

Would Cap. Mox 500 be contraindicated in a patient with sulfa allergy?

Or would you care to decipher this and explain (if you can)? PPI - Likelihood and Mechanisms of Cross-Allergenicity Between Sulfonamide Antibiotics and Other Drugs Containing a Sulfonamide Functional Group.