Steal Your Soul

When I visited Ladakh, altitude sickness took an awful toll on me. I spent the first days sitting in the hotel’s terrace and avoiding almost any unnecessary movement.

August, 16th, 2006

The night was a real nightmare. Nausea, I couldn’t breath properly. My blanket was heavy as a one ton boulder on my stomach. I tried to puke, but nothing came out. I went a bit outside, looked at the flowers under the bluish light of my LED lamp. Not even some fresh air helped. I took two aspirins and that helped me to fall asleep. My awakening has been like waking up from a coma, a long apnea in which I found shelter not to rest but to consume less oxygen.

It looks like most of other tourists in the hotel ignore my presence and snub my greetings. Probably the presence of other tourists disturbs their idea of the “small Tibet”, where they could have found the truth about life?

Fucking mountain, I miss Delhi’s chaos.

When I thought it was over, one day early in the morning, I went out with my camera and took some pictures of the morning activities. The streets of Leh get invaded by dust and every morning Nepali immigrants are sweeping the streets.

Unluckily, I moved a little bit too much. Later that day, it came in a sudden: I couldn’t move anymore. I had to stop for an hour or two before I found the energy to get back at the hotel. It was a reasonable price to pay for this photograph.

Leh, India ©2006