Life in Hostile Environs part III
I discovered, about an hour after my arrival in Tibet, that high altitude is a hostile environment to me. This was quite a blow to my self-esteem since I grew up not twenty minutes away from the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains, and I like to keep in relatively good shape. But the Tibetan Plateau, at an average altitude of 12,000 feet, is higher than all but the highest of the Rockies, and physical fitness is not a factor. Plus I flew there from sea level or so, which is not really a good idea- you need to acclimatize. So after about an hour I started feeling funny and then I just fell over, unconscious, knocking my head on the cement, much to the alarm of a watching lama. I was okay- though I was apparently twitching and turning blue. I was a victim of altitude sickness. It was very unpleasant- puking and headache and even a touch of narcosis (? or whatever you call symptoms similar to intoxication). I would wake up in the middle of the night, my heart beating at lightspeed, hardly able to breathe. It was worse than any hangover. But after a few days I adapted to it and I thrived. And when I went back down to more normal, more mortal altitudes I was in supershape. I zoomed up the Great Wall of China. Not so much anymore, but it's good to know that life can adapt. Life is pretty resilient. I am pretty resilient. (You are, too ;)