Acclimatization

Today I stayed at the hostel all day as I have to acclimatize myself since I have symptoms of altitude sickness: fatigue, headaches, weakness (everything is more tiring). However, I feel much better than last night or this morning, and I was able to recover well. During this time, I wrote all these blog posts, which takes a lot of time ⏰, cooked for my sister and mother, and rested. Additionally, I learned about the daily life of the hostel, which you usually don't know when you're out all day.

It's important to rest well, drink a lot, eat easily digestible food ...

The best medicine is to chew coca leaves or drink them as tea. Coca leaves are sold in Andean countries from northern Chile to Colombia, mostly by indigenous people, in markets or on the street. Here, the dried leaves have been "chewed" or soaked in the mouth for thousands of years. To avoid dependence, some plant ashes or lime are added. Coca leaves contain essential oils, trace elements, minerals, vitamins, and alkaloids - one of the latter being cocaine. In Switzerland, these leaves are apparently banned, so I won't import them. But that doesn't stop me from taking them here. 😂

My sister and my mother are feeling better, so they enjoyed the sunny day and visited a nearby ruin.

Now I'm going to make my way into the village and enjoy the sun ☀️ before it sets in an hour and it gets cooler here at the hostel. 😉

Warm greetings from San Pedro de Atacama, Claire 🌈