Symptoms of altitude sickness
Headache, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, tiredness, vomit.
If you are feeling any of these symptoms, the best thing to do is to rest and take a pain reliever medicine. In a couple of days you should feel better.
High Altitude Acclimatization tips
1. Drink a lot of Coca leaf tea or “Mate de Coca” in Spanish. This is a cultural tradition in Peru. For Incas, the Coca leaves were sacred and a natural medicine for sickness such as headaches, sore throat and stomach issues. You will find the Coca Leaves almost in every corner: restaurants, small stores, hotels.
2. Eat a reasonable amount of food since digestion becomes much slower. There are a lot of great restaurants in Cusco but I strongly recommend you to eat light on your first days. Observe how your body feels and if you are ok, eat a little bit more on your third day but do not exaggerate.
3. Rest and relax the first day you arrived. Try to schedule activities in crescendo, on your second day do something that doesn’t require a lot of effort. Probably a city tour would be fine. The third day you can do something more challenging and if you are into hikings and trekkings, start to do it on your fourth day.
4. Sleep 8 hours a day.
Will give to your body a proper time to rest.
5. Limit alcohol drinking in your first days.