Cusco Travel Forum

hallo to everybody.can anyone tell me if the weight its important,i mean if plays some role in the attitude illness?i am 100 kg and this is a very good reason to loose weight!!i will be in cusco in august.in the near past i had some problems with cholesterol..thank you

smoking and/or heart problems and/or high blood pressure can "play better some role", not Cholesterol. :)
Enjoy Peru.

I presume you mean ALTitude! Neither cholesterol nor weight have anything to do with altitude sickness, and neither do they have anything to do with each other (I know 2 pêople with cholesterol problems, neither is overweight and one is distinctly underweight). However, being overweight can put strain on the heart, and so can being at altitude, therefore it would be a good idea to take more exercise. However, "altitude sickness" is something else, and as far as I know, it's impossible to predict whether someone is susceptible to this: fit people can suffer from it and extremely unfit people, not at all.

As you are overweight and have high cholesterol levels I would want to try to make you believe that you would get the altitude sickness for sure and should absolutely lose weight. However, too many other factors play a role, and even the fittest athletes can get altitude sickness. Still, if you lose weight and do some cardio workout would surely have a positive effect on your cholesterol levels.

It is always better not to carry a 20kg suitecase with you all the time, isn'it.
If you succeed, you ll see how much energy you have.

Hello

Altitude sickness can affect anyone and many factors are involved. It is always better to consult your doctor first, however here are some recommendations to any person regardless of age, weight or health condition.

- Eat light since the night before and during the 1st day and the 2nd if possible (avoid eggs, meat, fat or anything that will make your stomach work harder) Carbs are ok.
- drink a lot of water
- rest at least 2 hours upon your arrival, it's hard to be quiet while there is so much to see, but your body need those hours.

Starting your Cuzco trip from Sacred Valley is also a good idea, stay there for 1 or 2 nights if your itineary allows you, is much lower that Cusco city therefore has less cases of altitude sickness. Do Cusco city at the end.

Anyway if you can start a health program it will be better, because whether you get altitude sickness or not you will need to walk a lot on uneven surfaces, lots of stairs in Ollantaytambo, etc and you will keep up the group's pace.

Losing weight is a great idea altitude sickness or not. Other than that to handle altitude sickness better, do the following if possible:

1. descend to the sacred valley and stay there overnight instead of at cusco. We did the same thing and were glad that we had decided to do it that way.

2. rest the first 12-20 hours after you reach there - absolutely no sight seeing or anything else.

3. get medication from your doctor before you go for altitude sickness. Diamox is one such medicine, but it has a lot of side effects. So you can go to a naturopathic doctor and get herbal medication. The medicine we were prescribed are 'Coca 30' and 'Arnica'. Coca 30 is the most effective and I am glad we took it!