Tilcara, Jujuy, Argentina
According to Google: The leaf of the coca plant is the raw material used for producing cocaine. When chewed, coca acts as a mild stimulant. It suppresses hunger, thirst, pain and fatigue. And it’s also used to prevent altitude sickness. The traditional method of coca leaf chewing consists of keeping a saliva-soaked ball of coca leaves in the mouth. This action extracts cocaine from the leaves.
The town of Tilcara, in northwestern Argentina, sits nestled in a valley at an altitude of 2,500 metres. There’s nothing scarier than waking up in the middle of the night with a wicked headache, unable to breathe. Sandiego, the guy who runs the hostal where we were staying gave us a bag of coca, told us what to do with it, and then sent us to the mountain. We couldn’t have cared less about the suppression of hunger, thirst, fatigue, or pain for that matter. For us it was all about the breathing. If we were having a tough time at 2,500 metres, how would we handle 4,170 metres?
We were panting just a little as we pointed our car upwards and began our ascent. Elenka popped open the bag and we each took half a dozen leaves, folded them once, then placed them between our gums and cheeks. In just minutes the leaves began to work their magic. The higher we went, the better we felt. As we peaked out at 4,170 metres I jumped out of the car and tried to kiss a llama. When we reached the famed mirage-like salt flats of Salinas Grandes, it seemed like we were in Heaven. There’s nothing like getting high, to go high, someone had said back at the hostal.
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We had a few shaky experiences that had nothing to do with the altitude when we first arrived in Argentina. Just moments after finding the maximum ATM withdrawal was equal to only $100 US$, and the fee for such a transaction was 10 percent, the banking machine told us that our ATM cards would not be accepted. Then, without warning, the banks went on strike for two days - there’d been another such strike the previous week. We were scheduled to pick up our rental car the following morning and we didn’t have a single peso. We went to our hotel room just off Parque Central in the launch-pad town of Salta and prepared for a dual panic. As I was about to bury my head in a pail of sand, Elenka demanded that I give her our US cash and then left the mold ceilinged room with a Supergirl glint in her eye. Half an hour later she returned with a thousand dollars worth of pesos. She’d found a reputable travel agent who was happy to change the bank notes and save our day. Will the bundles of pesos that I now have jammed in my back pockets - she did the dirty work, so I’m the mule - be enough to last us another whole month? Where we can, we’ll be making all purchases of $3 or more with Visa.
David
2018-02-24
Are you allowed to bring some home? :-)
Peter
2018-02-25
hahahah its good to go high now and again Thanks Jack this blog made my Sunday
Renate
2018-02-25
Lucky guys. We have here in Bavarian now minus 11 degree.
Irene
2018-03-01
Hey guys! beautiful pics and taken from such a high - err - height haha! while on the subject, have you been to the mountains of Peru? I have lost track of all your travels! I do envy your adventurous side - both of you, you have found your soul mate for sure! hugs