| One way to fight Altitude sickness is to drink copious amounts of water. 3 liters minimum. We drank and drank and drank. And had to invariably use the terrible smelling restrooms. We would be in such a hurry we wouldn't mind.
Getting out of the sleeping bags at night to use the restroom was the worst. We would shiver in the cold. And there would be no light. Head lamps to the rescue.
First night at Namche Bazaar I woke up feeling like shit. I drank some water, burped and was immediately able to go back to sleep. Water gels flush out the bicarbonate the body produces more of at high altitudes due to low oxygen. As I mentioned, I was borderline anemic, which I believe aggravated my symptoms. But body is an amazing thing. The way it gets used to the less oxygen by producing more red blood cells, is Gods wonderful creation.
At 4400m in Dingboche when the earthquake hit, all of us were headache ridden, with a fuzzy head, I was super cranky and irritated, our guide had just told us to start taking Diamox. We never had to take it.
Nature can be as cruel and cold as it can be beautiful and peaceful. Makes your mundane everyday problems look small. My life in the US feels superficial. More on this another time. |
