News and Views

Last post I mentioned in a comment that Derek and Gisele had gone up the mountain and were feeling the altitude. It got worse.

They went through a 16,000 foot pass before they dropped back down to about 12,000 feet where their hotel was. Derek got sicker and sicker, terrible headache, vomiting, and they finally took him to the emergency room. Altitude sickness, of course. They gave him an injection and oxygen, and he was ready to go back to the hotel within an hour or so.

However, while Gisele was there with him, she mentioned that she didn’t feel well either, so they took her blood pressure — 170/something. So they gave her an injection too. She was well enough to go back to the hotel in an hour or so too. They had headaches for a while, but after getting back the next day to where Devon and I were at the low altitude of 8000 feet, they both felt fine.

Tonight we are in Cusco, in the heart of the Inca territory, at just under 12,000 feet elevation. So far everyone seems to feel fine. Those who might have had problems have become more aclimated, so hopefully all will be fine.

Tomorrow we catch a 6am train to Machu Pichu, about 3 hours away.

I’ve been drinking lots of coca tea — tea made from coca leaves. It sounds bad, but it’s really milder than the caffeine in regular tea. Everyone here says to drink it for altitude sickness.