On April 20 we sadly bid farewell to the Asia/Australia time zones – our home for the past three months – and entered a new chapter:  South America! 

We were all excited to see a new continent, but first we had to get there.  The itinerary called for a journey on April 20 from Shanghai, China connecting in San Francisco and then arriving in Lima, Peru – a flight distance of 10,700 miles or nearly half the circumference of the earth.  

This is possible to do all in one calendar day.  The trick is that the Shanghai to San Francisco leg actually arrives before it takes off!  Even though you spend 12 hours in the air, the magic of the international date line means you can leave at noon and arrive at 8am the same day. 

Once in San Francisco, we had a three-hour layover.  We then boarded a 9 hour flight to Lima, reaching Peru at midnight and viola!  Halfway around the earth in one day.

Yet the journey was not complete.  Our final destination was Cusco, the prior capital of the Incan empire – at an elevation of 3500 meters.  So upon the midnight arrival in Lima, we rolled out of the airport and across the street to a hotel for a short night of sleep, then rolled back into the airport and hopped 400 miles to Cusco, arriving about noon on April 21.  This was followed by a van ride south for about 1.5 hours to reach a hotel in the Sacred Valley, where we checked in and promptly collapsed.

In hindsight, shifting a dozen time zones while simultaneously elevating from sea level to high altitude was not a good move.  Cusco is at roughly the same elevation as the summit of the Jungfrau in Switzerland and the air changed the moment the airplane doors opened.  We all felt immediately ill – headaaches, nausea, difficulty sleeping, easily short of breath. 

As the kids started to fall asleep during the van ride, it was hard to know what was jet lag and what was altitude.   And we were a bit concerned this morning as well, when Katherine stood up suddenly from the breakfast table pale and shaky. 

In theory most people will acclimate to high altitude if given some time to adjust.  Your body needs to make extra red blood cells since the air is so thin.  In the meantime we were advised to drink lots of water, eat lightly, walk slowly and take aspirin for the headaches. 

This we did, and Gina stayed home with Katherine for extra rest while Carter and I went off to look at an Incan ruin.  By the middle of today we were feeling better and starting to really appreciate the beauty, gastronomy and local color of Peru.  Of this, more to come.