Packing for Adventure

We actually booked this trip through TripMasters. The agents Chris spoke to were very insistent that we stop in the Sacred Valley first. Apparently a top complaint from visitors is altitude sickness, so travel agents strongly suggest booking your trip to Peru in a specific order:

1. Sacred Valley – elevation ~9,400 feet
2. Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu
   • Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo) – elevation ~6,700 feet
   • Machu Picchu Citadel (the ruins) – elevation ~7,970 feet
   • Top of Machu Picchu – elevation ~8,920 feet
3. Cusco – elevation ~11,150 feet
4. Puno/Lake Titicaca – elevation ~12,560 feet

Lima is basically sea level, which is where we first landed. The idea here is that you need to acclimate yourself to the high altitude. You start in Sacred Valley, which has a pretty high altitude. Then you give your body a bit of a break by going down in altitude when you visit Machu Picchu.

After a couple days in Machu Picchu, you move on to Cusco, where the altitude is higher than the Sacred Valley. The idea is that by now the high altitude won’t be such a shock to your system. Then last comes Lake Titicaca, the highest elevation of all.

We were not especially concerned with elevation as the elevation in Utah is not exactly low. We are sitting at maybe ~4500 feet, but Chris’s favorite mountain peak (Ben Lomond) is ~9,700 feet. That being said, we spoke with tons of people visiting Peru who were suffering from altitude sickness. Specifically a couple from California who sat across from us on one of the trains. They were feeling it pretty bad!

Everywhere you go, Peruvians will offer Coca Tea as a remedy for altitude sickness. Luckily we never felt like we needed it.

If you are planning to visit Peru and you are coming from an area that is sea level or low elevation, make sure to plan for this. Peru is breathtaking in two ways; beautiful to behold AND tough on your lungs. Plan ahead so you can enjoy the views, not just gasp for air.

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