Man Down!

Let's have a discussion about altitude sickness.

Here's how to prevent it:
- ascend slowly
- stay hydrated
- don't do any strenuous activity within the first 24hrs at altitude

Here's what Matt and I did:
-went from sea level to 4000m in a few hours
- didn't drink enough water
- went on a strenuous trek the morning after we arrived in Huaraz

AMS (acute mountain sickness) has a delayed onset, which began kicking in for the both of us the evening we got back from our trek. We were both paralyzed with similar symptoms to the flu or food poisoning, roaring headaches, and literally no energy. We managed to get ourselves out of bed at 7:30pm last night because our nausea subsided enough that we could eat a meal. Oh yes, living the dream! Today was a little better. We met up with our friend Rob (who came surfing with us in Lima) for breakfast and walked around the town a bit. He reported having a similar day to ours yesterday- ha!
I'm amazed at how winded I feel just walking up the tiniest little hill. I've had a persistent headache and waves of dizziness. Although miserable, I want to stick out this acclimatization process because there are so so so many great treks around this area. Matt and I want to do the Santa Cruz trek - a 4 day, 3 night adventure in the heart of Cordillera Blanca. We keep postponing our departure date in hopes that we'll feel up for the trek. Wish us luck!