Worried in Cuzco

We did it! The Inca Trail is over and we are now relaxing back in Cuzco...relaxing being the operative word as we feel we haven´t done much of that in the last couple of weeks (sorry I really shouldn´t complain about travelling but it IS tiring!!) The rush and spending days on buses getting up here for the Inca Trail wasn´t too relaxing, then being in Cuzco and trying to sort out all the equipment we need for the trek that we didn´t even think about packing when we left in January (walking boots, waterproofs, walking poles?!) was a little bit stressful too..oh and then there was the altitude sickness. Not fun.

We arrived in Cuzco 4 days before the start date of the trek to acclimatize as Cuzco is 3,300m above sea level. As a practice run for the trek we decided to do a hike to some ruins high up on a mountain walking from a little town called Pisac, about an hour bus ride from Cuzco, in the stunning Sacred Valley. The walk was hour and a half all very steep uphill. This hike would have been a very easy hour and a half if we were in the UK or somewhere that wasn´t over 3000m above sea level, but as we were so high up it was pretty difficult, I felt awful and had to stop for a break every 15 minutes-RUBBISH! It was great to stop and look at the amazing views of the valley and various ruins though! After all the hikes we managed in Patagonia I really thought I´d be fit enough for the Inca Trek and wasn´t too worried about my fitness. However, my breathing was terrible and my chest felt like it was going to explode it hurt so much, not a nice feeling at all. In fact I felt like I was about 90 years old with severe heart problems, not 25 years old and relatively healthy! I was worried.

That evening my breathing got worse and I felt awful. I was convinced that this wasn´t altidute sickness though as I didn´t feel sick in the slightest, just very dizzy (yes dizzier than normal!) and it was pretty tough to breathe (slightly worrying). We looked it up though and it seemed these were also symptoms of altitude sickness, I was slightly releieved that I hadn´t just aged about 60 years in one day and there was a medical explanation for it! So Chris rushed out and found me some pills to take and I went straight to sleep.

The next day I did feel a little better and we decided to take it easy (still no relaxing time though as we had so much to sort out for the trek), I still found it really hard to walk around without getting completely breathless and had to stop for breaks just walking 3 blocks! I was absolutely terrified at this point of the Inca Trek, how on earth would I be able to walk for 4 days if I found it hard walking 3 blocks?! I was secretly thinking of how I could get out of doing the trek, I was so scared as it felt so horrible not being able to walk with ease. Luckily the day after my breathing got better still and walking around became much easier. I was still very apprehensive about the next 4 days though- the word ´dread´comes to mind!