Off to Pangong Lake without Kim

Possible renal failure due to Diamox?

Kim was unwell during the night. He had to go pee a lot; the symptoms resembled when he had acute renal failure. This made sense as Diamox works by (according to Wikipedia) altering the normal kidney, which after several intermediate actions causes the blood to take on more oxygen.

He chose not to go on the Pangong Lake trip  (forfeiting the payment of about NZD35) to be cautious which was just as well as the symptoms continued after I had left. They symptoms eased after lots of rehydration (which was effectively the hospital treatment when he had his renal failure, but by drip rather than oral).

Setting off to Pangong Tso

Erring on the side of caution, I took a Diamox before setting off at 0800 to Pangong Tso (Lake), as we would be crossing Chang La (Pass) at 5360m (17,586 ft). With me on the journey was Lewis (Brit working in Hong Kong) and a French couple.

I felt fine on the 5h30 journey except for some drowsy spells and after holding my breath in a disgusting toilet at Chang La.

Free tea and medical aid was available at Chang La courtesy of the Indian army. The former (and nice snacks of momo available for purchase) cause people to linger, when their own advice is to stay no longer than 20 minutes at that altitude.

The scenery along the way was very arid and resembled Yemen in parts. The roads were carved into the rocky and shingly mountain side, and it doesn’t take much for landslide and rockfall to close it. There were a few hairpins stacked on each other.

At the Lake

We arrive at Pangong Tso and had a light lunch before being driven to a little spit to absorb the view. While the most of the lake was beautifully turquoise, the water around the spit was surprisingly brown.

For me, it was just like any lake in the South Island of New Zealand, which is very accessible to me. But with that kind of attitude, I might as well stay at home and never leave home. Scenery is only one aspect of travel.

We were dropped off at a set of box cabins which cost INR400 per bed (in twin config). This was the same as a reasonably nice hotel in an Indian city so we looked at some other options. The second place, a set of tents, was ridiculously more. The third place, another set of tents was also INR400 per bed after some bargaining, and it proved nicer than the box cabins.

After a quick wash and a walk, we ate dinner. Only Maggi (instant noodles) were available at the time we enquired. Strangely, after we had eaten, the same man asked us if we wanted some dinner. There was some kind of misunderstanding it seems.

We retired early around 2030 to the sound of music and chatting from the staff but I slept soundly.