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Altitude sickness was my concern for this trip, partly because of my hypertension. Read more about it here ; I started getting sick when I got to 4,000 meters, there are those who suffer from it much earlier. Years later in Bolivia, however, I dealt with it differently and had no problems.
My general practitioner was unfortunately unwell, for months I could not meet with him, and each time there was a different substitute. The one I asked what was the remedy for dealing with altitude sickness with my health situation did not turn out to be up to the mark; in fact, he simply changed the medication I used to take, and this I later learned was wrong.
Chewing coca leaves
When I found out that there were even two cardiologists (recent graduates) in my group, it seemed like great good fortune. I was reassured in no small measure when they confirmed that they also thought I was doing well by chewing coca leaves, as the locals have been doing for centuries to combat what is called soroche. Except that they are bitter as hell, this remedy is completely legal. Natural coca (also used to make herbal teas, or sold as candy) is not a narcotic and not addictive.
After arriving at the Colca Canyon, I began to experience a slight headache that increased, so much so that when we arrived for lunch in Chivay, I said goodbye to everyone to go lie down. I thought it also depended on the early rise and having had little sleep, and that with a little sleep I would recover great.
Altitude sickness knocks me out
Instead, after a couple of hours of heavy sleep, my head felt like it was about to burst.
Of my companions there was no one around, and I decided to leave the hotel to look for a pharmacy. For every step I felt like I was climbing a mountain. At the pharmacy they sat me down and called the medical guard, who, although not far away, picked me up by car.
In the special clinic for tourists I found a very kind and caring nurse, a typical Andean weasel with a round face and an immense smile that filled her whole. Soon the doctor also arrived, obviously a luminary in altitude sickness. He explained that all my accouterments had been wrong and to throw out the coca leaves and candy that as a hypertensive person, they were not for me.
They attached me to the oxygen tank and took me back to the hotel. I was supposed to be at rest, and I couldn’t do otherwise; We would redo the stitch the next day. If my blood pressure had not stabilized, I would not have been allowed to move. I decided not to think about it, although in that case it would be a big trouble.
That is why on my next trip to those areas, I decided to go alone so that I would not have these thoughts. If you are unwell, it is better to be able to stay in your room without worrying about others.
The room of the sick: the lazaret
I was also very cold. I got into bed at 4 p.m. with all the clothes and blankets I could scrape together: soon I was no longer alone. Another boy had the same problem, also in bed with an oxygen tank. A third who had come down with fever and a cough also came to the same room. It was a lazaret! And fortunately we all took it for a laugh.
As agreed, the nurse showed up at dawn to take my blood pressure. She used google translator to communicate with us, I had a sleepy voice, slurred mouth and spoke softly so as not to wake too many people. I don’t really remember the words I used, however the concept was that I seemed to be feeling better and I expressed it in a polite way.
But the automatic translator who knows why came up with an ugly universal bitch; we burst out laughing thunderously, both we and the other two half-dead people: yes, we were better off!
Visit to Lake Titicaca
However, I would not enjoy my visit to Lake Titicaca as much because of my state.
It lies on the border between Peru and Bolivia and is the highest elevation navigable lake in the world (3812). The landscape around it is always beautiful thanks to the mountains of the Andes that are omnipresent. There are villages teeming with the usual stalls and artificial floating islands that have always been inhabited by the Uros people. These islands are built from the reeds that grow in the lake waters, as are the houses and boats. It would be a very special thing if it were not for the fact that you have the feeling of being in an act and of course you feel like a wallet with legs.
We stayed overnight on the island of Amantani hosted by local families, and I found this experience to be less than genuine as well. I have to say that I had risked not even seeing Titicaca, and in any case I was not in good shape at all, as I was coming from a difficult night and I was not the only one, so much so that the three of us sat in a small bar most of the time. Perhaps that is also why the visit to Lake Titicaca did not rank at all among the top of Peru. The most pleasant thing I remember was when a flock of sheep passed by the little square in front of the bar. These eagerly and voraciously pounced on the flower beds, with the mistress trying to dissuade them and lead them away.
Altitude sickness, feeling like Che is not enough
During a trip to Peru, the reasons for having health problems are many; of the dozen of us, no one made it to the end of the trip unscathed.
First of all, there is the risk of some intestinal discomfort because of the change of climate and less than optimal hygienic conditions. The best time to go to those places is our summer, which corresponds to their winter, which is dry, so no rain or snow, but definitely cold, especially because you are far above 3,000 meters and because, at least in the cheaper accommodations, they have no heating. So various colds are very likely. As I had unfortunately predicted, I had problems with the altitude, partly because although I tried, I arrived unprepared.
I had read a lot about a character who in these parts even more than elsewhere is considered a hero; Che Guevara. It had stuck with me that it was his habit to drink a lot of mate de coca, I also chewed a lot of coca leaves; both were supposed to protect me from high mountain sickness.
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