Worth Every Gasp A lone woman’s journey in the Himalayas Worth Every Gasp is the unique perspective of an Indian woman trekking alone through the Western Himalayas. The author sets out on a trek in Ladakh accompanied by her husband and a couple of friends. This trek is aborted when she develops pulmonary oedema, a potentially fatal form of high altitude sickness. Largely undaunted by this inauspicious start, Anamika bids farewell to her companions and embarks on a series of treks in Ladakh, Himachal, and Uttaranchal. She is accompanied, chaperoned, and sometimes bullied by her loyal guide Ballu, who is sometimes mistaken for her husband. As she meanders through the remote mountains, broad valleys, tiny villages, and high passes of the Himalayas, Anamika comes face to face with a wide range of landscapes, people, and improbable situations. She navigates through it all with the grace and elegance of an elephant on a dance floor, and emerges largely unscathed… apart from an irreparable scar to her reputation.