Mridula’s post on sunburns provoked me to make this entry. She says – “Every trip in which we trek, I get sunburned.” That’s very likely to happen to everyone who is at the mountains because of rarefied air and strong sun up there. But some preparation helps to avoid it completely. Here is a list of everything you need to be prepared for the mountains.
1. Carry a sun screen. This is a necessity because of the strong sun in higher regions. If your journey takes you above the treeline, you must have this with you. It is generally recommended to use sunscreen with SPF 30, but I have seen that anything more than SPF 15 will do. For the uninitiated, SPF is Sun Protection Factor, a measure of how much your lotion can protect you from the sun. The larger the number the more protection. Products available in the market usually have SPF from 15 to 30. And when you apply the sunscreen, along with your face, don’t forget to apply it behind the neck too. This is an area most people forget to apply sunscreen on, and end up with burns.
Update(16-Jun-07): From my recent experience in the mountains, may be it is better to use sunscreen of SPF 30 and above. A SPF 15 worked fine but needed repeated re-application through the day.
2. Goggles. I recommend using them every time you go out anywhere in summer, not just mountains. And if you are likely to touch snowline, never ever go without these. Intense snow can hurt your eyes so much that spending four hours in sun where there is plenty of snow can cause swelling in and around the eyes. Use good quality stuff, not the cheap plasticky ones.
3. If your skin is sensitive to sun, carry a good, wide hat that ensures shade all over your face.
4. If you have dry skin or likely to get skin problems in winter, carry moisturizer and a lip gel. You can easily suffer from dry skin in cold weather and your lips could bleed.
This is pretty much all that you require to come back home with your skin completely unharmed. But I often wonder how people in the mountains manage to do without any of these. May be it is in their genes?
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
+Previous: Tawang Monastery
+Next: In and around Tawang
+Go to the beginning of the series
When we headed towards the region above Tawang towards the country’s border, we were not sure what we are up to seeing. The road went up steep and within no time we had gone really high from Tawang. We had to pass several military barricades on the way, and we noticed that army had cut down a large number of alpine trees all over the slope. After 30 minutes of drive we started seeing snow which was melting fast, and plenty of water flowing down from each snow pile.
A little later, the road was getting flat again and the slopes had mellowed down. Thats when we saw our first surprise. I shouted when I looked at the beautiful lake amidst the snow – ‘look there..!’. We got down for a few photographs of the pretty lake and walked all around it. What I did not know was that there are many more to come. As we moved forward, we kept seeing lake after lake, each one surrounded by thick snow, and each one prettier than the previous. It all looked heavenly. I never imagined seeing so many beautiful water bodies in such a short distance.
There was no one around to tell, but from whatever I gathered from the signs, I think the region is called PTSO, whatever it stands for. We kept driving and stopping at short distances. We would hop into the jeep for a few minutes and then someone would shout a ‘look, one more..!’ and we would stop again and walk around another lake. It was evening when we headed back. On the slopes, the waterways created on the snow melting through the day had made some beautiful scaly patterns.
It was an incredible and short lived experience high in the mountains. The beautiful region was access controlled by the army and we have little freedom of movement. It depressed me to think of the neighbors that we have, who have forced our warriors to live in the harsh environs like this to protect our lands, be it in Siachin, Arunachal or Sikkim. It depressed me to think that such beautiful regions have to be restricted from us who worship the beauty that these mountains are. And C’est la vie is all I could say about it.
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
+Previous: From Eaglenest to Tawang – II
+Next: At Tawang – Snow and Lakes
+Go to the beginning of the series
The first thing that comes into the mind when talking about Tawang is the the monastery. And that is where we headed next morning.
The monastery, blue skies and the snow caps
Tawang Monastery is said to be the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India and second largest in the entire world. It did not look very big in size though. When we went there, the morning prayers were finished and it was quiet inside. We were the only people inside, though we found a few people and monks wandering around the monastery.
Buddha statue at the monastery
We walked in and spent a few moments in its beautiful interiors. Every inch of the monastery is decorated in bright colors. Several lines of mats are laid out in parallel as seating for prayers, between a tall statue of Buddha and the main entrance. We lit incense sticks and sat inside quietly for a while. I love the prayerful feeling emanated from the interiors of a place of worship, and the quietness of the monastery made it all the more charming.
The Monk’s Assets
We struck conversation with a monk student when we came out. He told us a few things about the monastery, and when we requested if we can walk around with him and see his room, he was very obliging. He was happy to help us around, treated us like worthy guests and served us coffee and snacks when we were in his room. The approach to his room was through a narrow wooden staircase that led to his small but warm wooden dwelling, shared by two monks. It was a neatly arranged place with many books, tools of prayer and pictures of worship. A tape-recorder and a some Hindi movie tapes were a few things that seemed out of place!
Smiles..
More Smiles..
and more smiles..
even more smiles..
One thing that often strikes me with the Tibetans is how friendly and open they are. I see them smiling and happy all the time. They open up very easily and without any qualms, and seem to be comfortable with anyone at any time. It is the same story I have seen with the Tibetan Buddhists in all places. I don’t know if it is something in their blood or if it is their practices that keep them so alive. Even children are friendly, open and smiling all the time. The monk we met was also extremely humble and seemed to follow the phrase ‘athithi devobhava’ in every instance, even with us strangers. We saw so many smiling faces all around Tawang in the day, it would take many months to see so much smiles anywhere else!