Best Ways to Adapt to High Altitude in Tibet Tour Quickly

Tibet, or the Tibet Autonomous Region, lies on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, the highest plateau on the planet. Known as the Roof of the World, this vast land lies at altitudes of more than 3,000 meters above sea level, with some areas of the region hitting as much as six thousand meters in height. This means the plateau is a place where people tend to suffer the effects of altitude sickness when they arrive from low down, closer to sea level.

Altitude sickness often occurs for people that travel up to high altitudes from lower ones, and few people get away with not feeling any effects at all. However, there are ways that you can help to reduce the effects of altitude sickness before travel, when you arrive, and whilst traveling in Tibet to higher altitudes.

Before Departure for Tibet

Before you depart for Tibet, there are certain things you can do to help your body be able to better adjust to the higher altitude.

1. Ease your nerve and mood

Stress is a killer, or so they say. And in Tibet, stress, nerves, and low moods can actually have a greater effect on increasing the risk of altitude sickness. Stressed or nervous people tend to be a little more susceptible to illnesses than those that are not, and this can also be seen in cases of altitude sickness if you are stressed or nervous about it. Try to relax your mind a little more, and reduce the amount of stress you feel, as well as not feeling nervous about getting altitude sickness, and you may find that the effects are not so severe as if you are stressed.

2. Check your body and take doctor’s advice

Before traveling to Tibet, you should visit your personal physician for a general check-up, especially if you are taking any medication or have any pre-existing medical conditions. While Tibet can be visited by anyone, you do need to make sure that your personal health is up to the task of traveling at high altitudes. Certain medical conditions can be aggravated by high altitudes and the effects of altitude sickness. Always get checked by your doctor before traveling to Tibet.

On the Way to Tibet

Your journey up to Tibet is an essential part of the trip, and can actually be beneficial for reducing the risk of altitude sickness when you arrive, though not in the way you may be already thinking.

3. Acclimatize in Xining before you travel by train

Traveling Tibet by train from lowland Mainland China is often said to be beneficial to tourists. It is said that the slow gradual climb up to the plateau from near sea level can help you to acclimatize gradually and reduce the risk of altitude sickness once you reach Lhasa. This is actually nonsense, and the “slow gradual ascent” that they talk about is not beneficial for several reasons.

Enjoy the breathtaking scenery along Qinghai-Tibet Railway

The main reason this will not work is that the ascent is still done in an oxygen-rich environment. As the trains pass through Golmud, where they start their climb up to the high plateau, the internal oxygen supply system kicks in, and the train is flooded with pure oxygen to increase the oxygen levels of the air as you ascend. This means that your body has no reason to try and adjust to lower oxygen levels, and arriving in Lhasa by train is really no different than arriving by flight in a pressurized aircraft. You will also find that the body cannot acclimatize to the higher altitude if the altitude is constantly changing.

If you really want to reduce the risk of altitude sickness during the trip to Lhasa, the best option is to stop off in Xining, at an intermediate altitude, and acclimatize there first for a day or two. This will allow your body to adjust to an altitude halfway to Lhasa, making it easier to adjust once you arrive.

Travel in Tibet

While traveling in Tibet, there are ways to reduce the risk of altitude sickness after you have already arrived and are touring to higher altitude areas of the region.

4. Avoid getting cold

Getting cold, believe it or not, is one of the ways the risk of altitude sickness can be increased. Cold affects your ability to not only shrug off illnesses with a better immune system, but also to adapt to the higher altitude. When you are cold, your heart already has to work harder to maintain warmth in your extremities. This means that the body has less strength to increase the red blood cells that are the body’s way of adjusting to thinner air. Lower increase in red blood cells means less oxygen intake per breath, which in turn means a higher risk of altitude sickness.

5. Have good rest rather than strenuous activity

Strenuous activity is one of the most common reasons for an increase in the risks and effects of altitude sickness in tourists. The increase in activity makes the heart work harder, decreasing the amount of oxygen you take in and reducing the amount of oxygen that passes to your major organs. Reducing your oxygen intake due to high train activity can see an increase in not only the risk of altitude sickness, but also in the severity of the symptoms for those already suffering from it.

Have good rest rather than strenuous activity when you travel Tibet

6. Ascend gradually and overnight at lower place

One of the best ways to stave off altitude sickness is to ascend gradually and sleep lower than your highest altitude of the day. Ascending slowly means that you will have more time to acclimatize as you ascend in smaller stages. Once you reach a certain altitude above your starting height, normally around 300-400 meters per day at most, you should refrain from ascending higher, and sleep at an altitude slightly lower for the night. This allows you to adjust to the increased altitude a little at a time, and reduces the risk of altitude sickness from happening.

7. Drink Tibetan sweet and yak butter tea

It is generally said in Lhasa that drinking the Tibetan Sweet Tea or Butter Tea can help you to acclimatize more rapidly and with less effects after arriving. Since there are hundreds of teahouses in Lhasa, there is plenty of opportunity to try out this theory. There may be no scientific proof that this works to help reduce the risk of altitude sickness, but tea is known to have some effective properties that are not fully understood. So it is definitely worth a try, and can have no harm, since a nice warming cup of tea is often the perfect medicine to make you feel better in yourself.

8. Take proper sun protection and warm clothes

Sunstroke, sunburn, heatstroke; all are causes of an increase in the risk of altitude sickness on the plateau. To reduce the risk of these ailments from increasing the effects or risks of altitude sickness, you should stay covered up against the harmful UV rays of the sun using hats, sunglasses, and a good SPF sun block. Cold can also trigger altitude sickness, so staying warm at all times in an important factor in reducing the risk of altitude sickness while traveling in Tibet.

If it happens, how to deal with altitude sickness in my Tibet tour?

While not everyone does feel the effects of altitude sickness when they reach Lhasa and Tibet, almost all travelers from lower altitude regions of the world will find they will suffer from some of the symptoms at least for a day or so when they first arrive. The standard treatments of staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water, eating healthy and nutritious foods with high protein levels, can work well to help you get over this ailment. However, if you are traveling in Tibet and you find that you get altitude sickness, then there are certain things to remember to make the trip better for yourself and everyone else around you.

The first thing to do is to let your guide know that you think you may be feeling the effects of altitude sickness. Since these effects are often very much like a hangover, with headaches, dizziness, nausea, etc., it is important not to shrug it off as just a headache, etc. Make sure that you inform your guide, so that he or she can take the appropriate steps to make sure you can still enjoy the trip.

If the symptoms are more severe, and you are feeling worse than you think you should be, then you can have your guide contact the local medical center or hospital to have you checked and treated is necessary. However, since medical centers are few and far between in Tibet, it is best to let the guide know as early as possible, rather than the next day when you are already a thousand miles from the nearest doctor. And always, always, head for a lower altitude than where you are if the symptoms persist and get worse. Sometimes, descending can be all you need to recover.

Conclusion

Altitude sickness may occur in almost all tourists traveling to Tibet due to the extremely high altitudes, but it is not the end of the world. There are several ways to reduce the risk of altitude sickness, both before and during your trip to Tibet. Acclimatize halfway up, maintain hydration and good eating, and tell your guide if you feel ill at all. Just follow a few handy guidelines on dealing with altitude sickness, and you can make sure your trip to Tibet goes without a bang.