June 5: 3,243 steps in Cusco, Peru

Before I left the states, someone told me to get an altitude sickness pill from the doctor before going to Machu Picchu. You are supposed to take the pill 24 hours before you go to the high elevation. Machu Picchu is 8,000 feet elevation, which is ironically the lowest elevation we will be at for the past week. I didn’t know going to La Paz that we would be at 12,000 feet, so I didn’t take the altitude sickness pill beforehand. And since I haven’t really been sick since we have been at these high altitudes, I haven’t taken the pill yet. But since we are going to Machu Picchu tomorrow and that was why I got the pill originally, I went ahead and took it this morning, since that was 24 hours before we go to Machu Picchu.

This morning when I woke up, I didn’t feel the greatest. I didn’t feel sick or anything, I just felt weak and had no energy, which is most likely a result of the altitude. So after eating a light breakfast Kristi and I stayed in the hotel room this morning to recuperate. We watched The Planet’s Funniest Animals in Spanish, and then found an English channel. We spent the morning watching TV, playing games on our phones, blogging, and taking cat naps. It was very relaxing.

At 12:30pm we decided we felt good enough to go explore the town some more. We went to one of the markets to look at souvenirs and bought a few things. I don’t know why but it wore me out, so we went to a café where I had water and bread. After that I was still pretty tired, so we went back to the hotel to rest some more. We continued watching the English channel and got to watch Two and a Half Men and Friends! I stayed in for the rest of the night to pack and relax. I eventually found Harry Potter in Spanish, which was fun to watch.

I’m hoping I will feel back to normal tomorrow for Machu Picchu. Luckily we are taking a train there, so we don’t have to hike up any mountains to get to it. And we will be at a lower altitude, so hopefully that and the pill will help!