Peru - Cuzco
Before visiting Peru, I had never spent any considerable time at a high altitude, so I was really curious how I would react to it. I was prepared for one or two days of feeling tired and headachy, but I was hoping after that I would get back to feeling normal. Oh how wrong I was. Altitude sickness starts occurring at 2400m above the sea level. Cuzco lies at 3399 meters, and Lima at 150-400 meters above the sea level. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to start my first high altitude experience by flying from Lima straight to Cuzco, thus racking up the altitude by 3385 meters in 1,5 hours. Straight off the plane I felt lightheaded and tired, and the expected headache set in very shortly after. At the hostel, I proceeded promptly to having multiple coca leaf teas and chewing the dried leaves themselves, but this proved to provide no visible relief. Instead of getting better, my symptoms worsened the next day and I spent most of my time in Cuzco in bed, feeling absolutely mise