I knew that some kind of elevation sickness was a risk in traveling to Machu Picchu. Not so much at the site itself; after all, it sits just a bit less than 8,000 feet above sea level and that's not much higher than somewhere like Santa Fe, NM. But I knew we'd have to go through Cusco to get to the old Incan citadel and Cusco is a little bit higher up in the Andes. Like 3,200 feet higher. I just didn't think it would happen to me as badly as it did on that first night in Cusco.
People are generally susceptible to altitude sickness when they travel above 8,000 feet. I'd been there a few times before. Most recently, I'd spent four nights in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito at 9,350 feet above sea level in 2016 and earlier that same year I'd driven straight up two volcanoes in Hawaii, topping out at 10,023 feet at the summit of Haleakala which was the highest I'd ever been with my two feet planted firmly on the surface of the Earth.
Although maybe not so firmly; walking around at that elevation when having been at sea level less than an hour earlier was disconcerting. I was dizzy and needed to step slowly. Holding hands helped. My experience in Quito was better, although the first night I was there I woke up halfway through the night gasping for breath. My lungs just weren't getting enough oxygen I guess. I figured I'd be OK in Peru but there was admittedly a little concern to be had.
My first night in Cusco was worse than either Quito or Haleakala. I was curled up in bed like a baby with a severely upset stomach and a crushing headache right at the base on my skull. It came on all of a sudden after being fine most of the day. We'd been warned that altitude sickness would feel like the worst hangover you've ever had. I've had some pretty bad hangovers in my life and thankfully this wasn't like those. But a headache this bad and an upset stomach would make the rest of the week awfully inconvenient.
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| There are mountains all around in Cusco and everywhere else you go around there. |
The traditional Andean cure for altitude sickness is to stuff a few leaves of the coca plant in your cheek and chew away a little bit. The leaves are rich in chemicals (calcium, potassium and phosphorus) and vitamins (B1, B2, C and E) which I suppose helps in staving off the effects of the high elevation when it gets into your saliva and absorbed into the body. The guides who showed Hiram Bingham the "undiscovered" ruins of Machu Picchu way back in 1911 apparently had cheeksful of coca leaves during that trek for just general well being and we saw an estimate that 360,000 kilograms of the stuff were consumed during the building of that site all those centuries ago, although I have no idea how anyone surmised that with any degree of accuracy.
If you want to study up on all the benefits of the coca leaf while you are in Cusco, there's a whole museum dedicated to this plant. The Andean people used this stuff for way more than just countering the effects of being way way above sea level. Headache? Yep. Nosebleeds and cuts? Sure (the chemicals in the leaf do actually constrict the blood vessels). Malaria? No problem. Ulcers? That too. Digestion issues? Apparently handles that easily. Painkiller during skull surgery? Got that covered but yikes! I don't necessarily believe you are covered completely here for all these ailments with a single leaf but it has been proven to have beneficial effects.
Of course, it's also the source of cocaine which makes its production banned in certain areas. The Museo De La Coca covers all this stuff, including its use in Coca-Cola, the known first case of sniffing cocaine in 1919 (it was in the United States! surprise!) and a little something about famous cocaine users. This section includes Diego Maradona, Amy Winehouse and Freddie Mercury along with a little narrative about their use of the drug. There's also a diagram about how to make cocaine from the raw coca leaf. I took a bunch of pictures in the Museum but declined to snap one of that display. No way was I coming back from South America with a diagram of how to make cocaine on my phone.
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| The Museo De La Coca, Cusco. |
So I can imagine what you are wondering: why didn't I just stuff a wad of coca leaves into my mouth and have done with it and get rid of that nasty headache and upset stomach? Well, I did. Sort of. Our hotel lobby had a pile of remedies for altitude sickness just sitting around waiting for folks to use, including a big dish of dried coca leaves, an always full canteen of coca leaf tea and even an oxygen tank on standby complete with (perhaps less than sanitary) mask for sucking some extra air into your lungs. And earlier that day I'd crunched on a coca leaf (kind of bitter and eating a dried leaf isn't pleasant) and had three or four cups of coca tea (sort of like green tea).
It didn't work.
I'm sort of willing to admit that the upset stomach was caused by our meal that night of Peruvian junk food, including Inca Corn (Carolina BBQ flavor, if you must know), Chitzos and Tor-Tees but I don't know that for sure. And my private theory is I overdid it on the coca leaf tea entirely. I'd just have to wait until the morning to see if it was still there. So I slept it off, like I would any good hangover.
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| Pick your altitude sickness cure: coca leaves, coca leaf tea or oxygen. Taypikala Hotel, Cusco. |
Miraculously, sleeping it off worked. We'd descend out of Cusco that next morning into the Sacred Valley of the Incas and then to Machu Picchu. The headache and stomachache never came back, despite our return to Cusco later that same week and a day trip to the town of Chinchero, which at 12,360 some feet above sea level is my new high point for having my feet on solid ground.
I'm assuming it was just acclimatization and I just needed a day or so to really get used to the higher elevation. I certainly didn't have any issue in Quito three years ago after the first night and that pattern held for our time in Peru. But it is difficult to breathe there. Despite the lack of noticeable effects after night number one, every so often I'd need to take a deep breath of air into my lungs to make up for the shortfall of oxygen available in my however many prior regular length breaths. This sort of thing went on all week. It's unnerving and the deep breath solution comes with its own concerns because taking a deep breath in the Andes is not like taking a deep breath somewhere lower down. There's just not enough air. Remembering to breathe is a funny concept.
And running or climbing stairs? Do it slowly. I got winded easily. I know I'm not the fittest individual but the lack of oxygen was noticeable here. As it was when bending over and standing back up. Head rushes were never so painful.
And running or climbing stairs? Do it slowly. I got winded easily. I know I'm not the fittest individual but the lack of oxygen was noticeable here. As it was when bending over and standing back up. Head rushes were never so painful.
I am supremely grateful that I was fortunate enough or healthy enough to not have breathing issues at altitude last week, particularly because the best thing we did while in Peru was to hike for a day in the Andes. I saw a woman in our hotel lobby who had to go for the oxygen tank and she seemed to be sucking down that air forever, at least as long as we were waiting for whatever we were waiting for. I stayed off the oxygen tank entirely and after that first day, I refused all coca based altitude treatments as well. I did just fine after that first night.
I can't imagine I'm heading anywhere higher than Peru any time soon. I'm certainly not heading to Everest base camp or anything silly like that. But if I do head back there, I'll at least know I can breathe on my own. And I guess that's comforting.
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| Chinchero, Peru. My new highest point above sea level. After a few days at altitude, I felt no ill effects. |
How We Did It
There's not much to doing what we did in this post. Go climb up a mountain and see what happens. But if you do find yourself in Peru, there's plenty of help available. We saw altitude sickness remedies all over the place in Lima, Cusco and elsewhere.
If your hotel doesn't offer coca leaves or coca leaf tea (I think there was coca leaf tea available in every hotel we stayed at including in Lima although the bowl of leaves was unique to Cusco if I'm remembering right), you will find a couple of alternate cures. We did buy altitude sickness pills in Lima just in case we needed them when we traveled to Cusco. We bought them at a pharmacy over the counter after some pointing and writing of numbers on pieces of paper (we needed help with the dosage) but ended up not using them. They are not super expensive.
There are also coca based candies, including chocolate and gum. We did buy some gum but I can't speak to its efficacy because (a) I didn't use it and (b) other than a little shortness of breath there was nothing I needed curing. I certainly wouldn't rely on anything I've written in here to help you through your own altitude sickness issues. Talk to someone more qualified than me if you really want to know what to do to make sure you are healthy in the mountains.
The Museo De La Coca is located at 618, Cuesta de San Blas on a small square in the San Blas area of Cusco. It's not going to take you long to get through the place and it's not going to cost you much either (10 soles or about $3.00 US as of this writing). I found it worthwhile I guess and it got us to a part of town that we wouldn't have gone to anyway which I guess is always good to do. Skipping it is not going to hurt you much either.
There's not much to doing what we did in this post. Go climb up a mountain and see what happens. But if you do find yourself in Peru, there's plenty of help available. We saw altitude sickness remedies all over the place in Lima, Cusco and elsewhere.
If your hotel doesn't offer coca leaves or coca leaf tea (I think there was coca leaf tea available in every hotel we stayed at including in Lima although the bowl of leaves was unique to Cusco if I'm remembering right), you will find a couple of alternate cures. We did buy altitude sickness pills in Lima just in case we needed them when we traveled to Cusco. We bought them at a pharmacy over the counter after some pointing and writing of numbers on pieces of paper (we needed help with the dosage) but ended up not using them. They are not super expensive.
There are also coca based candies, including chocolate and gum. We did buy some gum but I can't speak to its efficacy because (a) I didn't use it and (b) other than a little shortness of breath there was nothing I needed curing. I certainly wouldn't rely on anything I've written in here to help you through your own altitude sickness issues. Talk to someone more qualified than me if you really want to know what to do to make sure you are healthy in the mountains.
The Museo De La Coca is located at 618, Cuesta de San Blas on a small square in the San Blas area of Cusco. It's not going to take you long to get through the place and it's not going to cost you much either (10 soles or about $3.00 US as of this writing). I found it worthwhile I guess and it got us to a part of town that we wouldn't have gone to anyway which I guess is always good to do. Skipping it is not going to hurt you much either.
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