Well this might be a wierd topic, but I would like to hear from people who've done this before.
I have a fear for creeping crawling stuff. I am soon going to be in the Himalayas, and the lower parts are supposed to have leeches, with certain parts like the trailhead towards Kanchenjunga base camp near Yuksom and Bakhim teeming with leeches.
I appreciate your views and opinions a lot!
Posted by Vandit Kalia on April 8, 2007 at 4:26 PM
I go hiking in that area a lot. How many leeches you encounter will depend what time of the year you go.
From May to Sep - teeming is a good way to describe it. Oct onwards it isnt so bad.
For prevention, try wearing long pants and gators (available at any outdoor store, including REI). It also helps to run tobacco all over your pants - it is said to keep them out. Keep some salt and matches on yourself as well, in case you need to get them off.
Also note that leeches apply an anticoagulant to the bite - so if you force a leech off with matches or salt, the wound is going to bleed on for about an hour. Nothing serious, but looks nasty (I've been out wearing shorts and had my entire leg caked with blood by the time I got back). So carry some gauze and disinfectants as well.
Don't let them bother you too much. They are a minor irritant. Sikkim has some great hiking and birding.
I've heard people found themselves sleeping with tens of leeches even in the huts and tents, with leeches boring through their eyes and ears and nose while they were sleeping.
That sounds plain nightmarish.
Do you encounter leeches beyond Bakhim? And have you done the Goecha La in the winter? (December-January timeframe). I'm a predominantly winter hiker than a summer one, and would appreciate doing this trek in the winter instead of summer; if keeping leeches away that way is a better solution, so be it.
Thanks, Ashutosh
Posted by Vandit Kalia on April 8, 2007 at 5:48 PM
Leeches boring through their eyes? That sounds a wee bit like overkill - it isnt all THAT bad! There are leeches, but it isnt as if the whole place is crawling with them. With gators and stuff, you'll get maybe 1 leech, if that. Just avoid clambering off the trail in bushes and grass. And if you do go there, keep checking those gators.
As for sleep - zip up your tent, you'll be fine.
I havent really done Goecha La in Dec/Jan - depending on where you are going (there are a couple of nice side trails as well, although they arent too well known), you can get well over 5000m in that area. It gets painfully cold and as is, waking up for sunrise is a struggle for me, nevermind getting out of a warm sleeping bag, never mind the effect of altitude on top of that. November would be a better time, imo - you'll get frost but still relatively warm.
Go. It is far too beautiful to let leeches keep you away.
Ashutosh,
Of course I'm being sarcastic, and I think so is Nancy. I'm also a Nature Photographer, but the place you're planning to visit is a bit too much for me to handle.
Gene
Andover, New Jersey USA
Ashutosh, I was joking as well and also admiring both you and Vandit for being brave enough to go into "leech" land. I hope you have a great leechless trip!
Nancy
Posted by Kent Staubus on April 8, 2007 at 9:56 PM
Gee, it almost sounds nice that the wildlife come looking for you instead of the other way around! The correct spelling is "gaiters." I don't normally like to play spelling police, but if someone tries to do a google search on "gators" they'll end up wondering if they are looking for pants made from alligator skin or something. Anyway, I wonder if wearing long pants and taping the bottoms closed with duct tape might work too? Funny no one has made some kind of repellant.
Yes it's supposed to be 'gaiters', I was initially wondering what the Florida Gators had anything to do with leeches
From what I've heard leeches are much less of a 'real' problem than say bed-bugs. Bug bites sting, and hurt, whereas leech ones don't hurt at all. The leeches secrete anti-coagulants, and anasthetics at the same time ... ensuring smooth undisturbed and unnoticed flow of blood from ... you to itself. Even the parasites carried by the leech are harmless to humans. Forcefull removal of a leech will cause lots of bloodletting, however. In addition to that, forcefull removal of a leech may make it re-gurgitate stomach bacteria into the host.
But my problem with them is the whole creeping crawling thing. I hate snakes and I hate leeches. Fears are fears and there's no solution for them.
You make a good point, Ashutosh, about fears being fears. It's funny, but I find standing next to a grizzly bear preferable to contemplating a leech stuck to my leg, so I can see what you mean that it's about one's own fears. I hope those gaiters do the trick for you. And it's got to be beautiful country where you're going, so will probably be worth dealing with it if you have to.
Nancy, I have this particular wierd fear too. I have no fear of heights, and no fear of flying whatsoever, and actually love to do it and eagerly look forward to doing it again.
However, I cannot cross a bridge across a river if the height is too much (more than tens of meters). If I were to walk across the bridge and there was no water in the river, I would have no problem. If the bridge is very close to the ground, I have no problem. If the river is not too wide, I have no problem. If it's a swing bridge, I have no problem. If I'm flying over the Atlantic, I have no problem. Go figure
On a side note, I must say that I must be literally blind to have failed to notice your work here earlier. You have some beautiful photographs of the flying and furry stuff
BTW, is this your portrait on this page? http://www.nancywagnerphotography.com/aboutnancy.html
Thank you for your kind words about my photos - having looked at your incredibly beautiful landscapes, I'm truly flattered. Another thing I really liked about your own website was your About Us page. Very well written, really pulls people in.
As for my about us page, I wish that WERE me on there, if only I could fly because I had wings, that would be the utmost in adventure! Then again, I'd rather be a raptor of some sort that has no predators in the air, then I could just soar all day without fear!
Posted by Vandit Kalia on April 9, 2007 at 2:54 AM
Oops, sorry about the typo. Serves me right for posting after midnight local time! It would indeed be quite the fashion statement to have a gator attached to your leg, I guess.
Anyway, Nancy & Eugene - it isnt that bad. There are occasional leeches - a few more in the rainy season - but it isnt something one tends to think about too much. I dont like snakes either - they creep me out, regardless of their "poisonous" status, and I am not a big fan of leeches either. But it simply isnt a big enough reason to give this beautiful part of the world a miss.
Vandit
PS: Gotta worry about the sun melting your wings, if you are a soaring raptor :)
Discussion
15 repliesI have a fear for creeping crawling stuff. I am soon going to be in the Himalayas, and the lower parts are supposed to have leeches, with certain parts like the trailhead towards Kanchenjunga base camp near Yuksom and Bakhim teeming with leeches.
I appreciate your views and opinions a lot!
From May to Sep - teeming is a good way to describe it. Oct onwards it isnt so bad.
For prevention, try wearing long pants and gators (available at any outdoor store, including REI). It also helps to run tobacco all over your pants - it is said to keep them out. Keep some salt and matches on yourself as well, in case you need to get them off.
Also note that leeches apply an anticoagulant to the bite - so if you force a leech off with matches or salt, the wound is going to bleed on for about an hour. Nothing serious, but looks nasty (I've been out wearing shorts and had my entire leg caked with blood by the time I got back). So carry some gauze and disinfectants as well.
Don't let them bother you too much. They are a minor irritant. Sikkim has some great hiking and birding.
Vandit
I've heard people found themselves sleeping with tens of leeches even in the huts and tents, with leeches boring through their eyes and ears and nose while they were sleeping.
That sounds plain nightmarish.
Do you encounter leeches beyond Bakhim? And have you done the Goecha La in the winter? (December-January timeframe). I'm a predominantly winter hiker than a summer one, and would appreciate doing this trek in the winter instead of summer; if keeping leeches away that way is a better solution, so be it.
Thanks, Ashutosh
As for sleep - zip up your tent, you'll be fine.
I havent really done Goecha La in Dec/Jan - depending on where you are going (there are a couple of nice side trails as well, although they arent too well known), you can get well over 5000m in that area. It gets painfully cold and as is, waking up for sunrise is a struggle for me, nevermind getting out of a warm sleeping bag, never mind the effect of altitude on top of that. November would be a better time, imo - you'll get frost but still relatively warm.
Go. It is far too beautiful to let leeches keep you away.
Vandit
Of course I'm being sarcastic, and I think so is Nancy. I'm also a Nature Photographer, but the place you're planning to visit is a bit too much for me to handle.
Gene
Andover, New Jersey USA
Nancy
Kent in SD
From what I've heard leeches are much less of a 'real' problem than say bed-bugs. Bug bites sting, and hurt, whereas leech ones don't hurt at all. The leeches secrete anti-coagulants, and anasthetics at the same time ... ensuring smooth undisturbed and unnoticed flow of blood from ... you to itself.
But my problem with them is the whole creeping crawling thing. I hate snakes and I hate leeches. Fears are fears and there's no solution for them.
However, I cannot cross a bridge across a river if the height is too much (more than tens of meters). If I were to walk across the bridge and there was no water in the river, I would have no problem. If the bridge is very close to the ground, I have no problem. If the river is not too wide, I have no problem. If it's a swing bridge, I have no problem. If I'm flying over the Atlantic, I have no problem. Go figure
On a side note, I must say that I must be literally blind to have failed to notice your work here earlier. You have some beautiful photographs of the flying and furry stuff
BTW, is this your portrait on this page? http://www.nancywagnerphotography.com/aboutnancy.html
Thank you for your kind words about my photos - having looked at your incredibly beautiful landscapes, I'm truly flattered. Another thing I really liked about your own website was your About Us page. Very well written, really pulls people in.
As for my about us page, I wish that WERE me on there, if only I could fly because I had wings, that would be the utmost in adventure! Then again, I'd rather be a raptor of some sort that has no predators in the air, then I could just soar all day without fear!
Anyway, Nancy & Eugene - it isnt that bad. There are occasional leeches - a few more in the rainy season - but it isnt something one tends to think about too much. I dont like snakes either - they creep me out, regardless of their "poisonous" status, and I am not a big fan of leeches either. But it simply isnt a big enough reason to give this beautiful part of the world a miss.
Vandit
PS: Gotta worry about the sun melting your wings, if you are a soaring raptor :)
About those wings...it's always something, isn't it, no free pass without paying a price of some sort :)