BEST Cure for Altitude Sickness EVER

After arriving in Cusco yesterday, we realized we could not catch our breath. As the night progressed, we had pounded headaches, rapido heart beats, and felt generally ill. It turns out that Cusco has an insane elevation that is fit for only llamas and sherpas, neither of which we were.

Today, we travelled to Aquas Calientes (in spanish "hot waters") and then went up to Machu Picchu. We were wandering around the trails and took one labeled Montana Machu Picchu. Being the experienced and foolish hikers we are, we ascended up the Montana (which is not flat like the state, rather very steep) rather quickly. After two hours of hiking we came to a flag staked at the very top and realized that we had scaled one of the Andes. All in a days work.

The best part was that we realized that we had overcome our altitude sickness. It turns out rather than meds or rest, what you need to do is go gonzo on a Mountain, gaining as much height as possible in the shortest period of time you can.

Anyway, since our legs were quivering after the hike, we stopped into the thermal springs here in Aquas Calientes. If you have never gone to any thermal springs, they are not the most hygenic experience you will ever have. The hot water felt great on our sore muscles, but we will not be reporting this part of the adventure back to the travel nurse.

Tomorrow, we return to hike more of Machu Picchu, which apparently is not currently considered a wonder of the world. However, they have a very aggressive campaign here in Aquas Calientes, and we are sure that if you visit www.n7w.com, you can make a difference. They are VERY concerned about this, as we have seen about 9 billion signs proclaiming that we should "votemos por machupicchu maravilla del mundo."

After the morning at Machu Picchu, where we will hike Waynapicchu, a slightly shorter mountain than Montana (see photo to the right), we return to Cusco and are going to look into a horseback ride around some Incan ruins. We will keep you posted.

Buenas noches.