Altitude Is the First Problem, and Most People Arrive at It Too Fast
Kaza, the administrative centre of Spiti, sits at 3,800 metres. Kibber, one of the villages travellers push toward, is above 4,200 metres. The human body needs 24 to 48 hours to begin adjusting to each significant gain in elevation, and the fastest route into Spiti, through Shimla, Narkanda, and Nako, compresses that gain into a single long driving day. The result is acute mountain sickness: headache, nausea, disorientation, and in serious cases, pulmonary or cerebral oedema.
