I took a couple of busses and then a train to a small town almost all the way to the Argentine border. This area is also high altitude and called the Altiplano. It’s a vast area of salt plains that stretch into infinity as far as you can see. One of the main destinations I wanted to see was the Salar de Uyuni area. A little slower perhaps and breathing hard, but mostly unfazed. Young and fit climbers were having trouble at that altitude, but I was still going strong. I didn’t even have to take any of the altitude pills that you can easily find anywhere in La Paz.Īfter about 5 days of acclimating myself, I even went up even higher to over 18,000 feet with a small group. I kept waiting to feel faint or sick, but all I got was a mild headache that lasted a couple of days. Evidently I’m one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have a problem with altitude. I stood up and put one foot in front of the other… fully expecting that I’d likely be going down too. I was seated toward the front of the plane so I was able to make my way off the plane after the emergency staff had passed. Many were throwing up all over the place and there were Bolivian airline employees rushing onto the plane with small oxygen tanks. I read all I could, took all the recommended precautions and hoped for the best.Īs soon as the plane landed there were several people on the plane having severe problems. What are you supposed to do if your brain is swelling, you’re traveling alone and have just stepped off the plane in La Paz, Bolivia at 12,500 feet above sea level… how are you supposed to get yourself down to lower altitude while your brain is swelling and being crushed inside your skull? Seems like under those conditions you might not exactly have your wits about you. Most of what I read said that if you have certain symptoms that you must get yourself down to lower altitude immediately. I had seen an English doctor on a previous trip, turn white as a ghost and go down hard at Machu Picchu in Peru, so I knew high altitude was definitely something you have to watch out for. Scary.Īt the same time I knew that Bolivia was a popular country to visit and that if the altitude reactions were really all that dangerous I likely would’ve heard more about it. I mean, your brain swelling inside your skull and shutting down vital organs and such. Much of what I read about what happens to some people at high altitude was sketchy and inconsistent. Admittedly, I was very nervous about how I’d handle the high altitude there. Vista in the Salar de Uyuni, Bolvia © 2019 Skip HuntI’d been in Bolivia for a couple of weeks and it was every bit as grand as I’d dreamed.
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