Cuzco and the Sacred Valley, Peru

After we spent a week exploring Lima, we boarded a plane to Cuzco. The first thing some people will notice upon disembarking in Cuzco is the change in elevation. At 11,000 ft above sea level, altitude sickness is common. Right off the plane, one of my companions was feeling dizzy. Luckily, Cuzquenians have a remedy on hand. Coca leaves(yes the leaves from which cocaine is derived) are chewed or brewed into tea. The stimulant and diuretic effects of the coca leaves help to offset the dizziness and headaches from the change in altitude. The natural leaf form of coca does not produce a high like cocaine would. Use of coca leaves is legal in Peru, and they sell the tea in most restaurants.

Coca Tea and a Pisco Sour

Local food includes alpaca and guinea pig

Me at Qorikancha

Posing with locals

While the high altitude didn't leave me breathless or dizzy, it did have one very odd effect... on my BOOBS. After a day in Cuzco, I noticed strange gurgling sounds coming from my chest. It sounded like water splashing around, and sometimes like air bubbles moving about. In a panic, I googled 'breast implants at high altitudes' and the first thing that pops up is the story about a woman on a plane whose implants explode from the altitude, killing her. Yikes! This is, of course, an urban legend. Rest assured my breasts never exploded. What actually happens is, there is less pressure at high altitudes, the lower pressure allows gases in the body to expand, the expanded gases form bubbles. I don't believe the bubbles were inside the silicone shell of the implant as this membrane should be impermeable. My hypotheses is that the gas bubbles form around the silicone shell, in the space between the implant and the membrane that the body forms around the implant pocket. In low pressure, expanded liquids and gases are able to move about the pocket, creating the colorful noises I heard. This is my best guess anywho, its not as if we will find any peer reviewed studies on the subject at hand. In the end, ladies with breast implants can be assured that once you go back to a normal altitude, the odd sound effects go away and your boobs return to normal.

Street market on the way to the train station in Poroy

View from the Vistadome train. A boy works on the farm.

Next I'll blog Machu Picchu and my much awaited topless flash from the top of the mountain!

More travel blogs:
Lima, Peru
Florida and the Bahamas
Barbados

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