Taking Parents to Ladakh at 65 and 70: What We Did Right

My father is 70. My mother is 65. Both are reasonably active, healthy for their age, with no cardiac conditions. My mother takes blood pressure medication. Neither had been to any altitude above 2,000m before this trip.

I took them to Ladakh in September for 8 days. Here is the honest account of what happened and what I'd do differently.

Before the Trip: The Medical Consultation

This is not optional. We saw our family physician three weeks before departure. She was not alarmed by the plan but gave specific guidance:

• Mother's BP medication was adjusted (some blood pressure drugs need modification at altitude — do not skip this conversation)
• Both prescribed Diamox as an option to use if altitude symptoms appeared
• Advised maximum activity in Leh city only for the first 3 days
• Gave clear "return to lower altitude" thresholds: sustained headache after 24 hours, confusion, difficulty breathing at rest, chest pain

I also purchased travel insurance that included high-altitude medical evacuation. This is important — if something goes wrong at Pangong at 4,350m, getting someone to a hospital requires either a helicopter or a 5-hour car journey. The insurance was ₹4,500 for all three of us.

The Itinerary We Chose

We deliberately did not try to do everything. Our 8-day itinerary: 3 days in and around Leh (Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace, Thiksey, Hemis, Spituk — all at 3,500–3,600m). 1 day Nubra Valley. 1 day Pangong day trip (not overnight — return same day). 2 days free in Leh. 1 day fly out.

We skipped: overnight at Pangong, Tso Moriri, Hanle, any passes other than Khardung La and Chang La (briefly). This was deliberate — higher altitudes and overnights at extreme altitude were not necessary to have a wonderful trip.

What Actually Happened

My father had mild altitude symptoms on day 1 (headache, fatigue, poor appetite) that resolved completely by day 3 without medication. My mother felt slightly breathless on the stairs at Thiksey on day 2 — we stopped, rested, she recovered in five minutes. No Diamox needed for either of them.

By day 4, both were genuinely enjoying themselves in a way I hadn't seen them on a trip in years. My father — a retired engineer with no particular history of emotional responses to landscapes — sat at Pangong Tso for twenty minutes without moving or speaking. My mother bought sea buckthorn jam, dried apricots, and a thanka painting and was deeply pleased about all of it.

What I'd Do Differently

Book better accommodation. I was cost-conscious and chose mid-range guesthouses. In hindsight, for a trip with older parents, the comfort of a well-heated room with a proper attached bathroom is worth more than it costs. One night we had a room where the geyser didn't work — cold shower at 3,500m at 7 AM is not ideal for a 70-year-old. That was my mistake.

Also: take more unscheduled time. My parents most enjoyed the mornings sitting in the guesthouse garden with tea, watching the mountain light change, talking. I had over-programmed the days. Leave space for doing nothing in extraordinary places.

The Verdict

Entirely, unambiguously worth it. My father has mentioned the Pangong sunrise three times in the two months since we returned — not as a travel anecdote but as a point of reference, the way you reference something that genuinely changed how you see things. My mother is planning to come back. She wants to see Tso Moriri.