My first trip to the Himalayan mountains in 1997 was a trip to... I can't remember the name of the place. I was on a film job for some organisation of the UN. (showing off :D). That first flight to Shimla made an impact on my life 10 years later. But that's another story.
Having lived all my life in Mumbai, where the weather is stable and predictable (22-36 degrees celcius), Himachal was quite an experience. Since then I have spent about 100 days over different months-Oct, Nov and May-in Himachal Pradesh (HP), Uttaranchal and Ladakh in Jammu Kashmir (J&K).
Irrespective of how beautiful and serene a place is, it can become miserable if you are feeling cold or hot or fall sick. Dressing up the right way for the weather can make all the difference. Here are some tips on managing the weather.
1. Before you leave, start looking at weather updates of the region for at least a fortnight. It'll give you a rough idea of how it might be when you land up there. Weather updates give you the temperature variations in a day, incidence of rain, and snow, wind speed and a general trend of whether it is getting cooler or hotter. Living in Mumbai, can lull you into believing it rains in the rainy season, it gets hot in summer and that it gets (mildly) cold in winter. But up in the higher mountains, on summer day it could be snowing or raining. This you will find out from the weather update.
RAINS in the mountains are cold. Getting wet will bring down your body temperature. And if the weather is already cold, it can get dangerous for your health. Once I was on a trek with a group in summer. The weather was cool and then it started raining. There was no cover to shield ourselves from the rain. So we had to continue. The rains made our bodies especially our hands cold. We couldn't move them much. But luckily for us, during the preparation, we had learnt and practiced an exercise: clenching your fists and then stretching out the fingers. We did that and it helped. Trekking itself is exertion. Then, we were also doing the hand exercise. And cold also drains your energy. So we started rapidly tiring out. Luckily for us a practiced hand lit up a fire in the rain. We took a break, warmed ourselves and our clothes for an hour and then continued our trek.
WIND in any temperature makes you feel cold especially in the cold weather. So that's important too. Plateaus of Ladakh are wide and therefore very windy.
Once I found different information on two different websites and the difference was about 5 degrees, which made all the difference. So I suggest you check multiple sites including government websites. One way of trying to figure out the validity of temperature information on a website is by comparing reports with your local weather and a couple of other places that you are familiar with. It can be confusing. But it is alright. It is a routine in awareness. It helps you decide what clothes you should carry for the trip and dressing up depends how the weather is on a given day.
2. The weather in the Himalayan mountains is fickle. It's true about HP. In Ladakh even more so. During my trek in HP, when it seemed like a normal summer, green and mildly cold day, we got hail. On another trip, this time in Ladakh, one day saw everything, heat, dust, wind and ...well snow. In an hour, you could come across cold, rain, snow/hail. Minimal dressing decisions gets complicated.
In general:
Valleys will be hotter than the peaks.
You may dress up for the cold and you'll have hot sun.
You may dress up for the hot sun and you might have cold wind.
A. Dressing up for the COLD
Keep your ears, nose, neck, fingers and crotch warm. :D Jackets/windcheaters, half sleeves-inner top-if you wear T-shirts, full sleeves-inner top, when it gets cold and inner pants-when it gets cold.
-Hot or cold, I always had my jacket on. I opened the zip or zipped up depending on the weather. It also shielded me from the direct sun when it got hot. It worked well for me.
-Avoid leather because it can get pretty hot when sunny. I also wore a sweater when I went out. That I'd remove and tie around my waist if it got hot.
-I found the muffler to be very useful because its form was flexible. You can wrap yourself with it in different ways to protect your neck, ears and nose. One of the people on my trek wore a balaclava, which again could be used in different ways to cover the neck, nose and ears individually or together. The balaclava is smaller compared to the muffler.
- Newspapers are good insulators. So if you're under dressed for cold, you can tuck it into your jacket and cover your chest. It is very effective.
B. Dressing up for the sun
I wore a wide rimmed hat because my wife got me one. At first I thought the rim was too wide. But it turned out to be very useful in the sun. Another feature in my hat that I found very useful was a cord within the rim, which helped the hat stay in place when there was a lot of wind.
C. Dressing up for the rain
During my last trip to HP, it rained pretty regularly. Since I didn't get take any rain gear, I bought ponchos from HP but that could be because I was at a hill town of a trekking base camp. Ponchos are of two types:
First I'll describe the one you shouldn't buy, if you have an option. It is the kind you see people at tea gardens wear. Think of it as a rectangular plastic that goes down from the top of your head to your shin. It opens on two sides: front and bottom. This type has poor plastic, which tears easily when it gets tangled with twigs. It is also difficult to manage when your hands are occupied.
The second type is more modern. It's like a button-less coat with a hood attached. The one I got was transparent. It was covered on all sides. The plastic is softer and it doesn't tear easily. You wear it like a baniyan. It goes all the way down to your shin.
Both ponchos can be rolled into less than the size of an iphone, which you can neatly tuck into your waist pouch along with other things. If you decide to carry a tiny backpack, ponchos are still alright but if you carry a medium to big-sized one, you need to carry a separate rain cover for your bag. Also carry a plastic packet within your pouch, which can hold your electronic stuff.
Some other things to remember for the mountains.
1. Avoid going through the main Shimla bus stand if you can. It is yuckiest place I have come across. Any place you keep your bag or feet could have... (don't even want to think about it.)
2. In case you decide to travel long distances, cars will turn out to be expensive (for me at least). Take the local buses. It kind of helps you 'get there' and interact with locals.
3. Don't depend on ATMs for cash unless you are parked at one or are visiting towns.
4. You won't get fancy hotels when you go away from mountain towns. More often than not, you'll have to pay in cash. Carry your own lock for your room in case, you have valuables. HP is relatively safe. But the holiday season gets in a lot of people from everywhere. Avoid dorms. My rechargeable batteries got stolen by a couple of smart, educated young boys, who I had some fun conversations with.
5. Carry multi-pin plugs so that you can plug in as many electronic instruments as possible. Test all the points of the pin before you leave. Check the points in the room as soon as you get it, else you'll end up having to change it after you settle in.
6. Get hold of a local SIM card if you stay for long. BSNL has the best network. Airtel seemed to be good too. I also used Vodafone. Confirm with SIM card vendors. But don't depend on their call centres. I didn't get through to a live person even once. Their IVR was basic. So you might have to depend on a local vendors for all your queries.
7. It is highly unlikely that you'll take walks on tar roads. You should preferably wear shoes with high ankles so that you don't end up twisting your ankles. Compared to the other good brands, the Quechua brand is cheaper and popular and available in Mumbai. Carry your chappals for short walks to stores or within the room.
8. Couple of yoga exercises help generate heat in the body when you feel cold. And the fist and finger exercises I mentioned earlier will also be useful. Always prepare your body with walks and other exercises before any trip. I found walking on the mountains the best way to tone your stomach.
9. In case, you go or land up in a place where it has snowed, you need to wear glares. A few colors don't work. I just remember one of them-blue. I was carrying blue glares when I went. When our instructors told us about the colors, I confirmed with him about my glares and I bought cheap green one from the local stores. I have had orange and brown glares before but this green one had a special quality of bringing to attention some qualities of light.
During the snow part of my trek, an elder woman inadvertently gave away her glares along with her bag to the porters, who slid down a snow slope. And she started feeling unwell because of the light. So I gave her my green glares and wore my blue ones... just in case :)
Within a couple of minutes I got blinded too. I have heard the effects of this kind of blinding could last for about 2 months. Thankfully that didn't happen with me.
Having lived all my life in Mumbai, where the weather is stable and predictable (22-36 degrees celcius), Himachal was quite an experience. Since then I have spent about 100 days over different months-Oct, Nov and May-in Himachal Pradesh (HP), Uttaranchal and Ladakh in Jammu Kashmir (J&K).
Irrespective of how beautiful and serene a place is, it can become miserable if you are feeling cold or hot or fall sick. Dressing up the right way for the weather can make all the difference. Here are some tips on managing the weather.
1. Before you leave, start looking at weather updates of the region for at least a fortnight. It'll give you a rough idea of how it might be when you land up there. Weather updates give you the temperature variations in a day, incidence of rain, and snow, wind speed and a general trend of whether it is getting cooler or hotter. Living in Mumbai, can lull you into believing it rains in the rainy season, it gets hot in summer and that it gets (mildly) cold in winter. But up in the higher mountains, on summer day it could be snowing or raining. This you will find out from the weather update.
RAINS in the mountains are cold. Getting wet will bring down your body temperature. And if the weather is already cold, it can get dangerous for your health. Once I was on a trek with a group in summer. The weather was cool and then it started raining. There was no cover to shield ourselves from the rain. So we had to continue. The rains made our bodies especially our hands cold. We couldn't move them much. But luckily for us, during the preparation, we had learnt and practiced an exercise: clenching your fists and then stretching out the fingers. We did that and it helped. Trekking itself is exertion. Then, we were also doing the hand exercise. And cold also drains your energy. So we started rapidly tiring out. Luckily for us a practiced hand lit up a fire in the rain. We took a break, warmed ourselves and our clothes for an hour and then continued our trek.
WIND in any temperature makes you feel cold especially in the cold weather. So that's important too. Plateaus of Ladakh are wide and therefore very windy.
Once I found different information on two different websites and the difference was about 5 degrees, which made all the difference. So I suggest you check multiple sites including government websites. One way of trying to figure out the validity of temperature information on a website is by comparing reports with your local weather and a couple of other places that you are familiar with. It can be confusing. But it is alright. It is a routine in awareness. It helps you decide what clothes you should carry for the trip and dressing up depends how the weather is on a given day.
2. The weather in the Himalayan mountains is fickle. It's true about HP. In Ladakh even more so. During my trek in HP, when it seemed like a normal summer, green and mildly cold day, we got hail. On another trip, this time in Ladakh, one day saw everything, heat, dust, wind and ...well snow. In an hour, you could come across cold, rain, snow/hail. Minimal dressing decisions gets complicated.
In general:
Valleys will be hotter than the peaks.
You may dress up for the cold and you'll have hot sun.
You may dress up for the hot sun and you might have cold wind.
A. Dressing up for the COLD
Keep your ears, nose, neck, fingers and crotch warm. :D Jackets/windcheaters, half sleeves-inner top-if you wear T-shirts, full sleeves-inner top, when it gets cold and inner pants-when it gets cold.
-Hot or cold, I always had my jacket on. I opened the zip or zipped up depending on the weather. It also shielded me from the direct sun when it got hot. It worked well for me.
-Avoid leather because it can get pretty hot when sunny. I also wore a sweater when I went out. That I'd remove and tie around my waist if it got hot.
-I found the muffler to be very useful because its form was flexible. You can wrap yourself with it in different ways to protect your neck, ears and nose. One of the people on my trek wore a balaclava, which again could be used in different ways to cover the neck, nose and ears individually or together. The balaclava is smaller compared to the muffler.
- Newspapers are good insulators. So if you're under dressed for cold, you can tuck it into your jacket and cover your chest. It is very effective.
B. Dressing up for the sun
I wore a wide rimmed hat because my wife got me one. At first I thought the rim was too wide. But it turned out to be very useful in the sun. Another feature in my hat that I found very useful was a cord within the rim, which helped the hat stay in place when there was a lot of wind.
C. Dressing up for the rain
During my last trip to HP, it rained pretty regularly. Since I didn't get take any rain gear, I bought ponchos from HP but that could be because I was at a hill town of a trekking base camp. Ponchos are of two types:
First I'll describe the one you shouldn't buy, if you have an option. It is the kind you see people at tea gardens wear. Think of it as a rectangular plastic that goes down from the top of your head to your shin. It opens on two sides: front and bottom. This type has poor plastic, which tears easily when it gets tangled with twigs. It is also difficult to manage when your hands are occupied.
The second type is more modern. It's like a button-less coat with a hood attached. The one I got was transparent. It was covered on all sides. The plastic is softer and it doesn't tear easily. You wear it like a baniyan. It goes all the way down to your shin.
Both ponchos can be rolled into less than the size of an iphone, which you can neatly tuck into your waist pouch along with other things. If you decide to carry a tiny backpack, ponchos are still alright but if you carry a medium to big-sized one, you need to carry a separate rain cover for your bag. Also carry a plastic packet within your pouch, which can hold your electronic stuff.
Some other things to remember for the mountains.
1. Avoid going through the main Shimla bus stand if you can. It is yuckiest place I have come across. Any place you keep your bag or feet could have... (don't even want to think about it.)
2. In case you decide to travel long distances, cars will turn out to be expensive (for me at least). Take the local buses. It kind of helps you 'get there' and interact with locals.
3. Don't depend on ATMs for cash unless you are parked at one or are visiting towns.
4. You won't get fancy hotels when you go away from mountain towns. More often than not, you'll have to pay in cash. Carry your own lock for your room in case, you have valuables. HP is relatively safe. But the holiday season gets in a lot of people from everywhere. Avoid dorms. My rechargeable batteries got stolen by a couple of smart, educated young boys, who I had some fun conversations with.
5. Carry multi-pin plugs so that you can plug in as many electronic instruments as possible. Test all the points of the pin before you leave. Check the points in the room as soon as you get it, else you'll end up having to change it after you settle in.
6. Get hold of a local SIM card if you stay for long. BSNL has the best network. Airtel seemed to be good too. I also used Vodafone. Confirm with SIM card vendors. But don't depend on their call centres. I didn't get through to a live person even once. Their IVR was basic. So you might have to depend on a local vendors for all your queries.
7. It is highly unlikely that you'll take walks on tar roads. You should preferably wear shoes with high ankles so that you don't end up twisting your ankles. Compared to the other good brands, the Quechua brand is cheaper and popular and available in Mumbai. Carry your chappals for short walks to stores or within the room.
8. Couple of yoga exercises help generate heat in the body when you feel cold. And the fist and finger exercises I mentioned earlier will also be useful. Always prepare your body with walks and other exercises before any trip. I found walking on the mountains the best way to tone your stomach.
9. In case, you go or land up in a place where it has snowed, you need to wear glares. A few colors don't work. I just remember one of them-blue. I was carrying blue glares when I went. When our instructors told us about the colors, I confirmed with him about my glares and I bought cheap green one from the local stores. I have had orange and brown glares before but this green one had a special quality of bringing to attention some qualities of light.
During the snow part of my trek, an elder woman inadvertently gave away her glares along with her bag to the porters, who slid down a snow slope. And she started feeling unwell because of the light. So I gave her my green glares and wore my blue ones... just in case :)
Within a couple of minutes I got blinded too. I have heard the effects of this kind of blinding could last for about 2 months. Thankfully that didn't happen with me.
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