Having got over the novelty of consuming Guinea Pig, Alpaca and Pisco Sour it was time to move on to headier heights. Don't get me wrong, I highly recommend Pisco Sour. It cures most ailments. So far it has cured a bad back, headaches, stomach cramps and tiredness! Peruvian Penicillin! Guinea Pig? I can take it or leave it.
Our guide has been chewing Coca leaves throughout the trip and now after using all my energy to climb a rocky track to 4200 meters and faced with a trek on foot to the bottom of the glacier it seemed appropriate to try chewing the coca (the alkaloid contents of coca leaves is low and so chewing the leaves does not produce the same intense high as with cocaine). A ritual not dissimilar to chewing tobacco. You grab a handful of leaves, stick it in your cheek, add a little flavoring (not sure what it was. The details were slightly lost in translation), then chew for up to 2 hours. It tastes foul but it certainly does lift your energy levels. Perfectly legal of course and commonly practiced by the locals. The only problem was deciding how much I was being affected by the altitude and how much by the coca. For this reason, after half an hour of climbing, chewing and general lightheadedness I decided the coca had to go.