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FROM CUSCO, PERU

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Two Faces of Cusco: Sunshine Then Rain (Again)

Altitude Sickness Strikes Elizabeth

FROM CUSCO, PERU, Jan 22-24 - We arrived in Cusco from Lima in late morning on Saturday, Jan 23.  The weather was slightly overcast, but soon turned to sunshine.  That was a pleasant surprise.  We had heard from friends who were helping us with local arrangements that it had been raining incessantly for weeks in Cusco.  So it seemed as if Kon Tiki Wirakocha (the Creator) had turned off the faucet just for our arrival.  Since this was Elizabeth's first visit to Peru, we did not want to waste a minute going for a walk to Cusco's main square, Plaza de Armas (Wakaipata in Quechua - sacred quare).  You don't take sunshine for granted during a rainy season anywhere, and especially not in the mountains.

Plaza de Armas was a good three quarters of a mile away from our hotel - uphill.  I was watching Elizabeth carefully as this was her first experience at altitudes such as Cusco's 11,000 feet.  She seemed to be a little winded but otherwise fine.  Oddly enough, she seemed to take the downhill walk back to our hotel harder.  Then it dawned on me... the altitude sickness had begun to worm its way into her body.

By the time we made it to the hotel, Elizabeth was as sick as a dog.  Here's a message I sent off to family and friends that evening.

FROM CUSCO, PERU 

Hello everybody.  This is just a short note to let you know that Elizabeth and I arrived in Cusco today WITHOUT my laptop.  A last minute surgery by a Lima tech yesterday failed to revive the patient.  So I gave my Toshiba its last rights last night, broke it into pieces so nobody can access my data on its hard disk, and then sent it to the happy hunting grounds for computers and laptop.  Which in this case meant a couple of Lima trash bins.

I figure there was a message in this from higher power: Give it up and carry on without it.  So that`s what I plan to do the rest of the trip.  I will check my email occasionally using public access computers when available at hotels or internet cafes, but don`t count on it every day. 

So please do NOT send me any URGENT messages via email.  If something is really important, send a text message or call me at +1-602-703-2111.  Thank you. 

By the way, the high altitude in Cusco has hit Elizabeth like a ton of bricks. How high?  For those of you in Maui, picture climbing to the top of Haleakala volcano and then add another 1,000 feet to it.  For those elsewhere, Cusco is at about a 11,000 ft elevation.   

From my past trips, I have seen that some peoples' bodies react to high altitude more than others.  It has nothing to do with age or fitness.  I have seen young and very fit people get as sick as dogs over here.  It usually takes a day or two and then they are fine.   

I am sure that will be the case with Elizabeth, too.  She just has to take it easy for a couple of days.  And I'll see to it that she does.  Tomorrow, we are planning a private car tour of sacred sites around Cusco. So it should not be too strenuous for her.

Well, Elizabeth was getting worse as the evening progressed.  She had all the typical altitude sickness symptoms... headache, vomiting, lack of energy... So I did a shamanic ceremony for her, arranged for an hour's treatment in an oxygenated room, and then ran up to a Plaza de Armas pharmacy to get her some medication.  By then, it was pouring rain again.  And even though I had a rainproof jacket, my pants and shoes got soaked so you could ring them.  So much for my  "rainproof" boots.

Quick Recovery, Partly Thanks to Shopping

Anyway, my shotgun approach seemed to work (treating the patient with spiritual and physical healing). By the morning, Elizabeth was feeling better.  Still, there was no question of carrying on with our driving plan (to visit Saqsaywaman and Tipon).  So I called my friends and canceled the driver and the car.  Elizabeth was still weak and did not protest too strenuously.

While she rested, I went for a walk, still in driving rain.  Take a look at a contrast between Plaza de Armas on a rainy day versus yesterday's sunshine...

Plaza de Armas	Plaza de Armas	Plaza de Armas	Cusco cathedral main entrance	Waterfall from church eave
Various wet Cusco street scenes...		Kusipata square - Lover's Square...	Kusipata square - Lover's Square...	Kusipata square - Lover's Square...
Kusipata square - Lover's Square...	Kusipata square - Lover's Square...	Typical hacienda interior

While at the Plaza de Armas, I used the opportunity to attend a part of the church service at the Cusco cathedral.  After all, it was Sunday and the mass was in progress.  I caught the tail end of it.  But it did not matter.  I had my own spiritual business to carry out there, asking the Creator and the spirits for Elizabeth's continued speedy healing.

After that, I walked around the city center, visiting all my favorite spots.  The most favorite among them was Plaza Kusipata (see above, with a fountain in the middle).  Literally translated from Quechua, it means a place of happiness.  Locally, it is known as Lovers' Square.  It is right next door to Plaza de Armas.

Cusco Sunday Market

From there, I proceeded to the Cusco market.  Being Sunday, it was bustling.  Take a look...

If picture's worth a thousand words, as they say, then you don't need any additional words to describe the above scenes.  Just focus on each of them and enjoy.

I spent about an hour at the market.  The only thing I bought was some Palo Sante, a wonderful incense for shamanic ceremonies.  As I walked back to our hotel through some back streets, the rain was starting to ease up.  So was Elizabeth's illness.  When I told her about what I had done, and showed her some of the pictures in my camera, as soon as she saw the ones from the market she wanted to go there with me.  Nothing like a prospect of shopping to perk up a woman... I chuckled as I teased her.

Second Walk through Cusco

And so she got dressed and off we went again into town...

Back at the market, Elizabeth bought me a beautiful leather hat (right).  By the time we left the market, for a second time in my case, the rain had stopped.  So we proceeded to walk through old town Cusco.  The store I wanted to show Elizabeth where her Inca dress came from last year was closed, being Sunday.  But she spotted the Inka Wall restaurant that was offering a special Inca show for dinner.  It sounded good to me, too.  So we made a reservation.

"She is already thinking dinner," I thought. "That's good.  The sickness must be waning."  I thanked the Creator again for such an expedient healing.

Second Walk through Cusco

After resting up at the hotel in the afternoon, we trotted off to our dinner show at the Inka Wall again in driving rain.  It didn't matter.  Elizabeth was feeling well again and we were having fun walking through puddles and small rivers running down Avenida El Sol from the main square.

Every table had a flag of the guest's country	First, there an Inca music band played	...then a dance show started
Dancing was quite vigorous at times...	...as you can see			Elizabeth dancing on stage in show's finale
Elizabeth dancing on stage in show's finale

Three Inca Music Video Clips

And now, here are three short music video clips from this Cusco concert...

 Cusco Inca musicians/dancers show (1 24 10; Part 1/3; 2:38 mins)

 Cusco Inca musicians/dancers show: El Condor Pasa (1 24 10; Part 2/3; 2:31 mins)

 El Condor Pasa... continued (1 24 10; Part 3/3; 2:03 mins)

At the end of the evening, I sent out the following message to our friends and family...

FROM CUSCO, PERU 

First, I want to say thank you to so many of you who have showed concern about Elizabeth and offered your suggestions for how to deal with altitude sickness. She has made a rapid recovery and is feeling quite normal again. 

Last night, I decided to use a shotgun approach in treating her illness - using spiritual and physical methods. 

As most of you know, I am an Inca trained shaman.  So the first thing I did yesterday afternoon was a shamanic ceremony for her healing.  Then I went on to try to help her in this physical realm. 

I also got her some high altitude meds from a local pharmacy last night, and had had her spend an hour in an oxygenated room at the hotel spa.

By this morning, she was feeling much better.  Headache and vomiting were gone.  We had breakfast together.  She was still weak, however, so I canceled our trip plan for today hoping she would just rest.  And tomorrow, we move to the Sacred Valley.  That`s about a 8-9,000 ft elevation, so it will be easier on the body than Cusco`s 11,000 ft.

Furthermore, I had also already scheduled a healing session in the Sacred Valley for her even before we left home with one of the best Inca shamans I know around here.  There have been books written and films made about him.  He and I became friends by heart on our two mountain expeditions last year and the year before, even though we could not speak each other`s language. 

During my Sunday morning walk, I also prayed for her at the Cusco cathedral at the Plaza d`Armas.  

By midday, Elizabeth was getting stronger by the hour.  We even went out for a long walk this afternoon.  It seems a visit to the Cusco market and other shopping activities did about as much to reenergize her as any meds or prayers.  Women...  :-)

And for this evening, she picked out a restaurant with a dance show (Inka Wall).  Before the show, I wrote to a friend of hers saying, it would not surprise me if she joined the show.  We had an impromptu dance like that in Lima as in Rome, a few months ago.  So why not in Cusco?

Bingo!  At the end of the show, one of the male Inca dancers asked her to dance with him, as did other dancers with some other people in the audience.  So Elizabeth had a blast. A former ballroom dancer, morphed into a belly-dancer, moved on to hula dancing... and now also hooping it up the Inca style.  And I have some pictures to prove it. :-)

Guess you can conclude from the above that the shotgun treatment worked, and that Elizabeth is back to normal.

On to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley tomorrow.  Good night!

And that's all she wrote on the first two days in Cusco.

Also check out...

2009

• The Altomesayok Journey (May-June 2009)

2008

• Communing with Holy Mountains in Peru (June-July 2008)

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