Peru, day 5 (Sept 13)

This day was a little....tense in the morning. Several people on the trip were very unhappy with how the trip was shaping up. The veeeery long bus ride, feeling like they were being "lied to" about things, feeling like the hotel we were staying at was not up to par...the list goes on. They wanted to have a group meeting and get everything out on the table, and "nip the problems in the but." (or is that "bud"?) I did not take part in the meeting. I didn't feel that anything was wrong, and didn't want to spend several hours of my day talking about it! So I read, wrote in my travel diary, checked email...kept myself busy. Evidently it went ok, and everything was fine, but gotta tell ya, it did put a damper on my day.

Once all that was over, we had lunch and then took a longer hike. I think Wilbur wanted to see how we were acclimating, and see if he was going to have to change anything about the trip. We walked up to Sacsayhuaman (pronounced sexy woman). I don't seem to have any pictures of that day though! :( I know I took a ton, but I cannot find them. Oh well. Mom didn't come with us today...she was having her elevation sickness day. Not fun for her. Or us really. She also got a really bad nosebleed from the elevation and dryness. Kim, our roommate at this hotel, had been really sick the day before, but did come with us to Sacsayhuaman. She got worse that evening though. What we didn't know until we got back to North America is that she had the beginnings of high altitude edema! Ick.

Sacsayhuaman (since I don't have pics) means "satisfied falcon" and is at the head of what the Incas thought of as the puma-shaped city of Cuzco. The fortress itself is designed to look like a puma, with these jagged walls forming the teeth of the puma. It was a long hard walk up. Again, a walk that at home would have been exercise, but not like this! :) Had to stop several times to catch my breath, but all in all was feeling really good about my conditioning.

Back at home I'd been experiencing a LOT of leg pain when hiking, and issues with my asthma. I had NO leg cramps, the entire time in Peru. I did have to use my inhaler several times, but nothing like I thought I might. I was really worried about my health before I went, but it turns out I did better than most people! The rest of the group were all taking Diamox, a medication used to treat or prevent high altitude sickness. I, however, can't take it. It's a sulfa drug, so I'm allergic to it. Everyone was amazed that I was doing as well as I was without it. Not sure why I had none of the problems other did...but it was nice! :)

We also saw Puca Pucara ("red fort") which was a garrison close by, Tambo Machay (a ceremonial spring reported to extend life) and Q'Enko (a shrine, literally meaning "zigzag") which was used for divination. Lots to see this day, but it was great to get out, stretch our legs and get a little exercise. It felt like all we'd done up to this point was eat! I figured I'd be coming back from Peru with extra pounds instead of fit! :)