[rkbharat]

wow what wonderful log and pics.

Originally Posted by kpzen

Attachment 382332

Ramky ji is all packed. Gives a clear picture how that day was

[kpzen]

As Ramky was taking rest, we thought of exploring the place.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

hi kumar ji.

apologies for the off topic, staying on the solar enegry..

i would like to tap on to your solar energy expertise in your real life. can you share some information about the effectiveness of solar panels in regions like Ladakh, Leh, interior Kashmir etc, What is the effect of the fog, snow etc on the solar energy generation ?

Are these solar power stations manned 24x7 ? or are they under remote video survailance ?,

In remote regions of Ladakh, there is no grid power, so villages have to depend on kerosene lamps. GOI has an ambitious program for the last many years to electrify the region using solar energy. Wherever you go in Ladakh, you will see solar panels. Even the army uses solar lanterns in their outposts. Telephone exchanges run on solar power. Lot of the work is done by Tata BP-Solar.

Solar lights work on their own with minimal human intervention. All you need to do is to keep the panels clean, batteries filled with dustilled water and the systems will work. Local electricians can take care of these simple tasks. In snowy conditions, the panels will have to be cleared of snow. THe lights work regardless of whether the sun is out or not, all you need is light through the day. On a hot summer day, the batteries get charged in less than 5 hours, on a cloudy day, it may take some more time.

NO sophisticated systems. Most of the systems in use are solar home systems which comprise of a panel, batteries, electronic controllers, none of them need any fussing over. You simply install it, and they work.

Quoted from the MNRE web-site:

"The entire Ladakh Region, covering both Leh and Kargil districts, is considered as 100% electrified region. 10,000 solar home lighting systems and 6,000 solar lanterns have been installed under the Village Electrification programme, which was financed to the extent of 90% by the Central Government. The programme was implemented through the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh for Leh District and the District Development Commissioner (DDC), Kargil for the Kargil district, with active involvement of local NGOs i. e. Social Work & Research Centre (SWRC) and Ladakh Ecological Development Group (LEDeG). Training courses for local technicians have been conducted under the project and arrangements made for servicing of the systems for a period of five years."

[kpzen]

Came back to the room after a while as it was too cold for Jiggy to stay outside..
After staying inside for some time, I saw the local kids playing around and immediately i jump out & join them.. Jiggy was hesitant but soon he also joined....



The winning team



JIGGY with the locals.

[sanjaykaul]

Solar Energy program has been always integral to J&K state because of many reasons. While it is difficult to ensure electricity in the tough region like Ladakh, it is equally difficult to manage the porous border with our neighbors in sectors like RS Pura, Chamb, Joria, Areas Near Akhnoor, Rajouri and Poonch during the night time.

The ministry of Science and Technology in J&K state has done tremendous job since many years. The ministry setup a department “Jammu & Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA)” in 1989. This department implements the solar energy program across the state in form of Solar lanterns, Solar Street Lights, Solar Power Plants, Solar Photovoltaic Pumps, Solar Water Heating Systems, Energy Parks , Battery Operated Vehicles (BOVs) and many more initiatives. The department is considerably funded by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India. The department is headed by a Chief Executive Officer, which is not so common in Gov’t sector.

(Source: Courtesy my father who served in the Ministry of Science and Technology – J&K for couple of years, I guess somewhere around 1992).

[ramkya1]

Wow!!! So many solarge energy experts.

In fact I was thinking of putting up a solar panel on top of WOLT for charging batteries, a friend of mine is exporting panels in Gandhi Nagar, could not make it work as I was running short of time.

Interesting topic anyway.....

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[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

In fact I was thinking of putting up a solar panel on top of WOLT for charging batteries, a friend of mine is exporting panels in Gandhi Nagar, could not make it work as I was running short of time.

Sorry for OT, but you mean charging for mobile and camera batteries. I suggest look for something portable, which you can even carry when not with WOLT, something like this, my trusted companion

[TaureanBull]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Sorry for OT, but you mean charging for mobile and camera batteries. I suggest look for something portable, which you can even carry when not with WOLT, something like this, my trusted companion

Can you throw some light on this gadget, if not here than may be in appropriate thread. Does is work on batteries? What all types of ports are there?

[kaushik_s]

Hey, that room at Rangdum looked exactly same with the room we stayed but that was in Tso Moriri. Seems to be a standard style for Ladakhi guest rooms ;-)
Lovely photographs and great travelogue. 5 star for sure.

[kpzen]

After a round of football it was time for ....


Ladakhi style Dinner ( While we hogged on Dal chawal, Ramky decided to manage with Nutrition choco bars )


Night view from the room

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Sorry for OT, but you mean charging for mobile and camera batteries. I suggest look for something portable, which you can even carry when not with WOLT, something like this, my trusted companion

I have seen the gizmo you are using, its a nifty one.

If there are only 2-3 cameras the 2 12V outlets of the Wolt is adequate. We had 3 digicams, 1 video cam, 3 mobiles (for whatever it was worth), a GPS and I was thinking more power for heating water, foodstuff etc., My friend is a leading expert in Solar Panels and wanted to experiment with a panel on my roof, clip on type. Unfortunately we could not get to test it in this trip, plan to do that later sometime down the line.

[ramkya1]

20th June, 0630 AM: Sunrise is very early in the Pahad Region, light streaming in already and killing my sleep. Rise and shine, temp must be around 3 or 4, the sleeping bag is a great invention, I was feeling better, firing 4 of the 6. The sleep was undisturbed, for the first time in 3 days, I must sleep more often at 13300 feets!!!!

Faint memory of Prajesh and Jiggy chomping away at Dal Chaval and a tableful of other things and me munching a couple of energy bars (may be 3-4 ?) the previous night, the worst of them all for me in the entire trip, scariest too. All the stories of people being evacuated with AMS and dying out there in the mountains were reeling till I started snoring

The morning proved I had survived stronger, an appetite for breakfast with bread and omlete bolstered my morale. I could walk without tottering, ran down the stairs, took a whif of the cold morning air...... mmmmmmm that was Nirvana !!!!

The Wolt was not selfing, the hostes came out with buckets of warm water. I was sure just a couple of buckets on the radiator would do the trick, the hosts told me to stand clear, poured piping hot water on the fuel pump carefully and manually pumped it a couple of times. Hands on experience in actioin here, not bus-loads of theory. A couple of tries like that, the old faithful was purring and raring to go.

0710 AM: Off we went back to Kargil; bright sunlight, hoards of Marmots out in play and kissing each other,
birds singing (caught some of them, any bird expert here can name them?) soft music playing on the Ice, snow-clad mountains reflected on the water, glaciers, rainbows on water; a surreal morning. What more can one ask out of life?

Shame on you Mr. Marmot!!! Caught you kissing early in the morning, humans are afoot, are you not watching????

[kaiserketkar]

ramky,
great to see your travellogue! get to relive the memories. would've loved you with the whole team last year though

[gd1418]

In one of the photographs I saw a two 5 lts cans of Maxximile engine oil and a litre of Mobil Delvac MX. Why? We never carried or did not need when we did the trip.

When we went to Leh in 1st week of June '09, it was a caravan of 4 scorpios and we were 11 people in total. We took the Manali - Leh route and except for one person in the team, it was the first time for the other 10.

This group also included two small kids & one 8th class girl. None of us were affected by AMS at all at any stage and I, the oldest of the lot at 50 undertook a bet and poured a 30 ltr diesel can into one of the scorpios all alone at Chang La. No AMS. Rather the fresh air at that height did wonders to my lungs.

We all probably were/are pre-acclimatised with n number of visits to Uttarakhand hills.

Originally Posted by ramkya1

This is very important: The Srinagar-Kargil-Leh route is much better for acclamatizing. From what metrics I have seen, about 50% people who go the Manali-Leh route get hit by AMS and only few have problems throu the Srinagar-Leh route and those who get hit in this route get well soon, the climb-up and sleep alt. is gradual.


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Charile Chaplin re-incarnated in the land of the Buddha. That bush of mouche peering out of the quilt suggests so.

Originally Posted by kpzen

On the right, Ramky ji is snoring away gloriously.
Attachment 382332

Ramky, we discussed this when we met on your return. Any update on this?

Originally Posted by ramkya1

In fact I was thinking of putting up a solar panel on top of WOLT for charging batteries, a friend of mine is exporting panels in Gandhi Nagar, could not make it work as I was running short of time.



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[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by gd1418

In one of the photographs I saw a two 5 lts cans of Maxximile engine oil and a litre of Mobil Delvac MX. Why? We never carried or did not need when we did the trip.

When we went to Leh in 1st week of June '09, it was a caravan of 4 scorpios and we were 11 people in total. We took the Manali - Leh route and except for one person in the team, it was the first time for the other 10.

This group also included two small kids & one 8th class girl. None of us were affected by AMS at all at any stage and I, the oldest of the lot at 50 undertook a bet and poured a 30 ltr diesel can into one of the scorpios all alone at Chang La. No AMS. Rather the fresh air at that height did wonders to my lungs.

We all probably were/are pre-acclimatised with n number of visits to Uttarakhand hills.

Charile Chaplin re-incarnated in the land of the Buddha. That bush of mouche peering out of the quilt suggests so.

Ramky, we discussed this when we met on your return. Any update on this?

Hai GD,

Hawks Eye at this age? Not healthy!!!!! Well the Maximile cans were empty, in case of need to fill diesel, we were originally planning to do Nubra, Wari-la (if open), Pangong, Tso Moriri and straight Sarchu. Later we scuttled it and skipped Tso Moriri and presented the Cans to Santi Guest house.

As we discussed we carried lots of things in reserve, 1 ltr Delvac, 500 ml brake fluids, 1 ltr coolant and many many other things, photos coming up of all the extras we carried later, plese don't spill the beans.

If I am right, one member of your team did have a problem with AMS, probably the rest of you were........ mmmmmm, lucky? I have heard of many first timers going the Sarchu-Leh way getting hit by some amount of AMS.

As for Hercules at Chang La, I should say he is a robust spepciman of homo sapine, perhaps the mould was broken after God made him

You may remember last August, I was in Kalpa Kinner Villa for 3 nights, no problems, but at Chitkul I suffered mild AMS, so maybe I am more prone and need more time to acclamatize. Even Jiggy and Kevin did not go scot-free, they also had problems related to altitude, I could see they were not 100% at Kargil and Rangdum, but they acclamatized fast.

Will keep you in the loop on the Solar Panel as it develops.

Thanks for your Jerry Can you loaned, we did fill it and take it till Rangdum.

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