Symptoms of Altitude Sickness:
Fatigue, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, shortness of breath, pins and needles.
Side effects of my Altitude Sickness Pills:
Fatigue, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, etc.
Anyone else see a problem here?
Thought so.
Katie and I just returned from our adventure to Huaraz, a city about 8 hours North of Lima by bus. Our first day we went on a tour that took us through the Cordillera Blanca y Negra.
Some highlights included finding beer flavored ice cream in Carhuaz, seeing a beautiful memorial/cemetary in Yunguay for the 30,000 people that died in a 1970 earthquake, trying Cancha (toasted/seasoned corn) in Caraz, and hiking around Laguna Llanganuco (even though we got rained out).
That night we laid low at our hostel, meeting a crazy Irish guy who told us to go to Bolivia because "La Paz is a coke den. You go to a bar, and instead of ordering a drink, you order a line."
Excellent.
We woke up at 6 am the next day for our Trek to Laguna Churup. Along with us on our hike was a boy from England named Oliver, and a guide whose name I absolutely cannot spell or pronounce. We were told it was a simple, easy hike. Hah. Not only did we hike up to 4,500 meters, or 14,850 feet (which for you back home, this is higher than the highest point in all the Rocky Mountains), we also lept across rapids and scaled vertical rock walls, without ropes. To make this all more fun, it was the rainy season in that area, so all the rocks were wet.
Although I had taken my clearly useful altitude medication, I still got altitude sickness, and had to stop a few times on the way up so I did not pass out and fall down the mountain. That might have been sliiiightly embarrassing. The pins and needles thing? Totally true. My whole face and both my hands tingled even 3 hours after the hike was completely over.
Once we reached Churup, it was all worth it. We could see for miles, and the lake was a gorgeous clear teal. (The picture on the right of my blog under the title was take in front of the lake!)
After our sandwiches con queso and bottles of water, we realized somehow we had to get back down. Let me tell you, scaling vertical rock walls going UP is one thing. Going down? Whole different ball game.
Then it started to sprinkle: No biggie, we were hot after the hike.
Then it started to rain: Eh, Dad always said I wasn't so sweet that I'd melt.
Then it started to pour: Okay, kind of hard to see.
Then it stared to HAIL: No longer okay.
Then the wind picked up: FUN FACT: the wind on top of a mountain hits you a lot harder than on the flat old plains of Wisconsin.
Clearly we made it down okay, since I am here to write this oh-so riveting blog.
Tired from the hike, we spent the night with Oliver learning English card games and their ridiculous lingo. Dodgy.
Our last day in Huaraz was a lazy one, and before we knew it, we were back on the bus home to Jesus Maria, with some attractive Israelis to chat with about how lame the on-bus movie was (Matrix reloaded. Boo to Keanu Reeves. Enough said.)
Below, just a couple of the hundreds of pictures taken:
Fatigue, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, shortness of breath, pins and needles.
Side effects of my Altitude Sickness Pills:
Fatigue, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, etc.
Anyone else see a problem here?
Thought so.
Katie and I just returned from our adventure to Huaraz, a city about 8 hours North of Lima by bus. Our first day we went on a tour that took us through the Cordillera Blanca y Negra.
Some highlights included finding beer flavored ice cream in Carhuaz, seeing a beautiful memorial/cemetary in Yunguay for the 30,000 people that died in a 1970 earthquake, trying Cancha (toasted/seasoned corn) in Caraz, and hiking around Laguna Llanganuco (even though we got rained out).
That night we laid low at our hostel, meeting a crazy Irish guy who told us to go to Bolivia because "La Paz is a coke den. You go to a bar, and instead of ordering a drink, you order a line."
Excellent.
We woke up at 6 am the next day for our Trek to Laguna Churup. Along with us on our hike was a boy from England named Oliver, and a guide whose name I absolutely cannot spell or pronounce. We were told it was a simple, easy hike. Hah. Not only did we hike up to 4,500 meters, or 14,850 feet (which for you back home, this is higher than the highest point in all the Rocky Mountains), we also lept across rapids and scaled vertical rock walls, without ropes. To make this all more fun, it was the rainy season in that area, so all the rocks were wet.
Although I had taken my clearly useful altitude medication, I still got altitude sickness, and had to stop a few times on the way up so I did not pass out and fall down the mountain. That might have been sliiiightly embarrassing. The pins and needles thing? Totally true. My whole face and both my hands tingled even 3 hours after the hike was completely over.
Once we reached Churup, it was all worth it. We could see for miles, and the lake was a gorgeous clear teal. (The picture on the right of my blog under the title was take in front of the lake!)
After our sandwiches con queso and bottles of water, we realized somehow we had to get back down. Let me tell you, scaling vertical rock walls going UP is one thing. Going down? Whole different ball game.
Then it started to sprinkle: No biggie, we were hot after the hike.
Then it started to rain: Eh, Dad always said I wasn't so sweet that I'd melt.
Then it started to pour: Okay, kind of hard to see.
Then it stared to HAIL: No longer okay.
Then the wind picked up: FUN FACT: the wind on top of a mountain hits you a lot harder than on the flat old plains of Wisconsin.
Clearly we made it down okay, since I am here to write this oh-so riveting blog.
Tired from the hike, we spent the night with Oliver learning English card games and their ridiculous lingo. Dodgy.
Our last day in Huaraz was a lazy one, and before we knew it, we were back on the bus home to Jesus Maria, with some attractive Israelis to chat with about how lame the on-bus movie was (Matrix reloaded. Boo to Keanu Reeves. Enough said.)
Below, just a couple of the hundreds of pictures taken:
Gorgeous cliff in the Cordillera Blanca:
Flower field in Yunguay:
Memorial in Yunguay:
Boats on Laguna Llanganuco:
A view from the beginning of the Churup TREK:
A little further...
Laguna Churup..Before rainfall (hailstorm):
Myself in very becoming hiking gear with Katie and Olly looking happy as ever.
Rock wall on the hike back to Huaraz:
Besos y Abrazos!
We're going out with you wearing that hiking gear next year.
ReplyDeleteJust FYI.
fun story, beautiful pics, wonderful pants (wow, are they the kind that zip off to make shorts? SO cool)
ReplyDeletexxoo
That is a really nice back pack!
ReplyDeletethe pictures are fantastic. i hope you've had a great a great first week and a half
ReplyDelete-Nick Daar
why are your eyes closed in that pic?
ReplyDelete