I think this was my favorite day. I felt good, I had been at 4400m with just a tiny headache for a short time, and the trail to Lobuge was the best it had been. A gradual uphill, no loose gravel, no big rocks to pick through, no dust. Easy walking and great views. I’ve been drinking about 1 gallon (4L) of water a day and I think this has been helping me. One of the main causes of High Altitude Sickness symptoms is too much carbon dioxide in your blood. Because of the reduced oxygen, your body tries different things to compensate, one of which is to breathe less, which means breathing out less and not getting rid of the already too ample CO2. Your body can get rid of it in urine, but it is not so water soluble and not very efficient. The more you pee tho, the more you get rid of, so drinking a lot helps. I did not do this in Bolivia. And now that I know more about it, that Salar tour was crazy, they took us from 3000m to 4800m to sleep in ONE day. The HRA doctors don’t want you to ascend more than 300m in one day, and we went 1800!!

Typical guesthouse evening around the stove

Had an interesting conversation at the guesthouse about natural health and immunizations with an Ozzie pediatrician and the rest of the guesthouse joined in. We all remained friends.