Altitude Sickness

So it begins...Shiz wasn't feeling well already, and now I'm feeling the same thing. I think Shiz described it best, its a huge hangover, minus the fun part. I can't breath fast enough to get enough oxygen and my mouth is always dry and my head is pounding like its going to explode. But besides that I'm ok. This is what they call altitude sickness. We are currently in Puno, Peru. We are schedule to go on our cultural exchange stayover on Lake Titicaca for the next two days. How the cultural exchange works is we are brought by ship across Lake Titicaca to an island called Amantani, where we stay with a local family for a night. We live, eat and sleep like them. And throughout the 2 days are filled with cultural education and visits.

11/29/08 - We are greeted by Fernando, our private escort for these 2 days, he is a very nice guy and speaks a bit of english, it was enough to get by. So we were shuttle to the Puno pier where there were about 15 others that went on this trip with us. We were given 5 minutes to by suppiles for the families we were staying with. We bought a pack of rice, sugar, oil, and evaporated milk, total 15 soles = $5. We also brought some other stuff for the family like pens, pencils, calculators and hand crank flashlights. First we took a short boat trip to the floating islands of the Uros people. The Uros people fled from the mainland thousands of years ago to avoid slavery so their ancestors started living on their reed boats. Now these islands are made by a bouyant soil totora reeds (see pictures) and then tie them together with reed ropes, then they lay layers of reeds on top. These islands really do float, so in the rainy season, when water levels are high, they will adjust properly. Walking on these islands was a new experience also, it felt like my feet sunk 6 inches with every step and at one time they dug into the island to show that its only about 1 foot of reed between us and the water. The Uros people have lived like this for thousands of years and will probably continue to do so.

Then we continued by boat, 3 hour ride, to the island of Amantani. Shiz and I slept the whole way, the water was surprisingly calm. We grabbed all our stuff (backpack and gifts) and started our trek up to where the families lived. That was probably the worst experience I've every experienced so far in my short 23 years. My head of throbbing from so much pressure and lack of oxygen, carrying a light backpack and gifts. I also felt like I was dehydrated but I've been drinking tons of water (I did check my pee-pee and it was clear, haha). I feel dehydrated because of the extremely dry atmosphere and because I can't breathe fast enough through my nose to compensate so that's how I get dry mouth. So we had to take several breaks before reaching the house. Anyways, the family we are staying consists of Roy, father, Maria, mother and Jacquline, daugther (4 years old). They live in a nice house setting with bedrooms on the second floor and kitchen on the first floor. The bathroom, one of the nicer ones that we've seen, is a short walk from the main house. During the day it is very sunny and hot, but come evening, it is cold and windy. So after we got there we rested for a bit and then lunch was served, we had a soup, and rice with potatoes and omellette. We also finished with Muneos tea which should help with the altitude sickness. We then gave them the gifts and food supplies, they were really greatful, they hugged and cheek-kissed both of us. I think they only make it to the main port (Puno) once a week as a community, ~4000 people in the community. After lunch we went back to take another break, just sitting and breathing in this high altitude will take it out of you. Around 4pm Roy and Fernando took us to their small library where they had some basic learning tools, ie. blackboard, tables, a few books and some posters. Part of our cultural exchange was to teach english to some of the kids there. There were 3 total that came. They were very enthusiastic to learn and actually knew alot. We went through numbers, colors, family members, classroom items, and we also gave them some pens and notepads, which they loved. Then I "attemped" <- keyword, to climb their local mountain. Shiz was tired so she went back to the house, so Fernando and I started the trek up. What a fool I was to even think I could climb that hill. We were staying at about 3800m (12,500 ft), and the summit of the mountain was at 4100m (13,450 ft). I got to the foot of the mountain and called it quits. Fernando and the other locals were climbing that mountain like it was nothing, while I was heaving and huffing trying to get that elusive oxygen. After that short trip we went back to the house. Once dinner came around I didn't feel so good, I was nauseas and had a headache, I ate a bit and went back to sleep. There was a fiesta that they put on for us and Shiz was our representative. I couldn't even move without thinking about throwing up. So they dressed Shiz up in their local dresses (I will post pictures of Shiz later) and partied all night. Throughout the night I tried to keep my self warm but trying to use the sleeping condom for the first time, very fustrating. It was very constricting and didn't allow for much room to move in, and any adjustments took a lot of energy that I didn't have. I would have to lay there for several minutes before moving one leg.

11/30/08 - So came morning at 5 am there was light outside already and everyone was up, except Shiz and I. We just woke up to use the restroom, very primative, and thank god I only had to go number 1. Then breakfast came and we were off back to our boat to go to our last stop before we went back to Puno. It was overall a great experience and you can see from the photos that the sceniory was beyond words. Every direction I turned it was a great view. Then we went on an hour rocky baot ride to the next island. It was so rocky I almost lost it and threw up, but I just concentrated on breathing. Once we got on the last island some of the people on the boat hiked to the top of the island where there was a plaza, but others, myself and Shiz, stayed in port and just enjoyed the weather on solid, non-moving ground. That whole time we were sitting there we were thinking how much money we would pay for a single orange. Obviously there were none being sold around there, but we finally came up with 50 soles (~$17) for one. That is how much we wanted one orange. So finally we made it back to Puno and parted ways with Fernando and the rest of the people. We returned back to the same hotel we stayed at before.

It was on this trip when Shiz and I realized that we weren't going to make the 4 day hike to Machu Pichu, so it was decided to change our itenerary so that we will take the train into see Machu Pichu and miss out on the death-hike. Oh well, more to follow next time. And I'll post our new itenerary. Dinner calls now. Ciao