acclimatizing in Cusco??

[annette54]

We will be flying into Cusco from Lima on a Thursday & wanted to do a Sacred Valley tour that day in order to see the Pisac market while it is open. We fly back out at 4:55pm on Sunday. A travel company has told us they don't recommend this because they say we should spend the day in Cusco to acclimatize. We would then miss the market which we have heard so much about. Can someone give us their thoughts on this?

Thanks, Annette

[gannyvan]

We will be flying into Cusco from Lima on a Thursday & wanted to do a Sacred Valley tour that day in order to see the Pisac market while it is open. We fly back out at 4:55pm on Sunday. A travel company has told us they don't recommend this because they say we should spend the day in Cusco to acclimatize. We would then miss the market which we have heard so much about. Can someone give us their thoughts on this?

Thanks, Annette

 

The travel company is correct. We did a 2 week land tour in Peru and acclimatized 3 days in Cusco doing the Sacred Valley and other sights. Diamox helps ( a glaucoma rx) , coca leaves, and coca tea which the hotels provide. We were ready for Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu after acclimatizing.

[dileep]

If you are concerned about altitude sickness, take the pills as directed the day before you get to Cusco. There is a nice indoor market in Cusco. We did go to one in Pisac at it was not much better! Just walking around Cusco on the first afternoon was tiring for some people in our group.

 

Machu Picchu is much lower than Cusco.

[annette54]

Thank you both your comments. We knew about the Diamox but I guess as you both suggest, we'll just tour around Cusco that first afternoon. Glad to hear about the indoor market in Cusco & that the one in Pisac isn't that much better...we're not real big shoppers anyway. We'll just do the Sacred Valley tour on Friday. Thanks again, really appreciate your help....happy cruising :o)))

Annette

[greatam]

Thank you both your comments. We knew about the Diamox but I guess as you both suggest, we'll just tour around Cusco that first afternoon.

 

Your travel agent doesn't have a clue. Cusco is OVER 11,000 feet. The Sacred Valley is about 1500-2000 feet lower and Machu Pichu is about 3000 feet lower.

 

The touring around Cusco the FIRST AFTERNOON brings on a VERY good chance of AMS. I have spent a lot of time in the area (business) and have seen MANY, MANY sick tourists. The tours that first afternoon drag you all over Cusco, up and down steps, up over ruins, to Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like "sexy woman"). Leaving Cusco you climb to almost 15,000 feet. A VERY good way to get AMS-trying to do too much, too fast when you have flown from sea level to 11,000 feet in an hour.

 

My advice-Start drinking coca tea the MINUTE you get off the airplane (there is a little kiosk at the back of the parking lot that sells both tea and the leaves). KEEP DRINKING the tea about every two hours. DO NOTHING except maybe a mild walk through the plaza at a VERY slow pace. Have some dinner and go to bed.

 

You can take Diamox but be prepared to pee A LOT. You must drink gallons of water because Diamox dehydrates you tremendously. You also CANNOT take it if you have ANY type of allergy to sulfa drugs. AND everything you drink tastes either metallic or like "fizzies" if you are old enough to remember "fizzies"

 

Glad to hear about the indoor market in Cusco & that the one in Pisac isn't that much better...we're not real big shoppers anyway. We'll just do the Sacred Valley tour on Friday. Thanks again, really appreciate your help....happy cruising :o)))

Annette

 

You would be far better off going straight from the Cusco airport to the Sacred Valley (if for no other reason than it is lower in altitude) and going to the Pisac market ONLY on that first afternoon rather than staying in Cusco. DO NOT take a "tour" that has you climbing ruins and going to Chincheros climbing MORE ruins. Just take a taxi or hotel supplied car DIRECT to the Pisac market, then back to your hotel and have dinner and go to bed. Walk very slowly through the market and you should be OK if you are drinking lots of coca tea.

 

The market in Pisac is a real market (with vegetables and meat and great empanadas cooked in an outdoor oven to eat) while the indoor market in Cusco is strictly set up for the tourists. There is better stuff in Pisac (the hand carved chess sets out of stone are truly one of a kind). I import stuff from Peru and I rarely buy in Cusco. Not only is it more expensive to buy there but often there is some really unusual stuff in Pisac.

[dabear]

If you are concerned about altitude sickness, take the pills as directed the day before you get to Cusco. There is a nice indoor market in Cusco. We did go to one in Pisac at it was not much better! Just walking around Cusco on the first afternoon was tiring for some people in our group.

 

Machu Picchu is much lower than Cusco.

 

We disagree. We started taking the pills 1 day before flying to Lima and then on to Cusco same morning. That afternoon we toured Saxywoman( sp) etc and we felt some altitude sickness. The next day we were fine. We also visited the 2 markets and Pisac was better than Cusco. Agree that MP is about 3000 ft lower than Cusco. We also toured at altitudes higher than Cusco and we were fine. For most people, it takes a while to adjust even with the coca leaves and tea.

[Islandattorney]

Is it practical to fly from Lima to Cusco & then go straight on to machu picchu the same day, to limit time at the higher altitude? We have a very short time in Peru & were wondering if this can be done if we fly in the morning. You seem to know so much about the area, so any advice would be appreciated.

[greatam]

Is it practical to fly from Lima to Cusco & then go straight on to machu picchu the same day, to limit time at the higher altitude? We have a very short time in Peru & were wondering if this can be done if we fly in the morning. You seem to know so much about the area, so any advice would be appreciated.

 

IF you take the earliest flights out of Lima (5-7AM), you should be able to do this with ease. You will have to arrange with whatever hotel you choose in MP to send a car to Cusco to pick you up and take you to the Sacred Valley for the train. Then you can take the afternoon train to MP at 1:30 or 3:30.

 

But check the schedule closely. The rail service is NOT running a lot of trains from Cusco to MP between now and sometime in April BUT they are providing bus service from the Cusco train station to Ollay and then you board the train there.

 

On the return, this could be problematic due to the train schedule. There are no planes flying out of CUZ after 5:30PM and I sure wouldn't take a chance on that plane (just too much chance it will be canceled due to the cloud cover and reduced visibility). So you will have to return from MP, spend the night in Cusco to get back to Lima.

[Fattony]

You're getting medical advice from total strangers whose qualifications (including mine) you don't know, but I gather you're interested in past experiences. Sensitivity to altitude varies greatly from individual to individual, even those in similar physical condition. We didn't have trouble in Cusco (which I thought was a bit higher than the Sacred Valley and is definitely higher than Macchu Pichu), but certainly did in La Paz, Bolivia, which is about 3,000' higher. The travel agency is being cautious, whichis probably a good idea since some individuals could in fact need that extra time.

 

If you have no experience in higher altitudes, and so don't know how you'll deal with the altitude, I'd probably err on the side of caution. "The pills" are not magic and, of course, at best ameliorate, not do away with, effects of altitue. I took sulfa pills before we went to La Paz, but my wife is allergic to sulfa and so could not. Some people drink coca tea (there are varying opinions on this). Years ago when I used to backpack in the Sierra Nevada of California, I got at least some mile altitude sickness as low as 9,000' in one case, and certainly felt it at 14,000' on 3 occasions. My wife felt quite winded at 10,000' on the rim of Haleakala Volcano on Maui, Hawaii. Have you spoken with a physician?

[greatam]

The travel agency is being cautious, whichis probably a good idea since some individuals could in fact need that extra time.

 

The travel agency that gave advice to stay in Cusco rather than go to the Pisac market is either STUPID or GREEDY.

 

Pisac is lower in altitude. And MP is even lower. The travel agency is looking to DRAG their customers on a "tour" of Cusco that first day which is one of the best ways to get AMS that I know of. Tours take people through the Cathedral, up and down the steps on the south side of the square, out to Sacsayhuaman (which is even higher than Cusco itself and requires a ride to almost 15,000 feet to get OUT of Cusco).

 

If you are worried about AMS (and yes, it does affect people differently but older, more sedate people are generally much more susceptible than 20 something back packers) and are NOT going to a lower altitude (Sacred Valley or direct to MP) IMMEDIATELY off the plane in Cusco, then take it VERY, VERY easy that first day. Do NOT go on a "tour". A very slow gentle walk around the Plaza and dinner is about all I recommend that first day.