Toiletries and first aid kit Having a wash in

 Toiletries and first aid kit

Having a wash in Pomacanchi in July is quite an experience. It's very cold and the water is, at best, slightly warm. We all washed our hair the first day, we were all ill the next. After that, washing was only for when the sun was at it's hottest or we used baby wipes...... you will decide which when it's your turn. In any case, you can have a long hot shower in Cuzco every weekend.

So apart from the wipes, I took the usual toiletries - to which I added anti lice shampoo..a good idea. Several of us had light weight travel towels which were very handy and they dried far quicker than ordinary towels.

It's hard to advise what to take in the first aid kit as you need a minimum of things. You can buy everything in Cuzco but if you fall ill during the week, there's not much to be had in Pomacanchi. So, I'll explain the symptoms we ALL had, above all I think, because of the altitude: bad headaches and migraine, nose bleeds, laryngitis, colds and runny noses (all the time) sunburn (bad for those who didn't use sunscreen when they arrived) feeling sick (not really a tummy bug more lack of appetite) we all lost quite a bit of weight....not always a bad thing, tremendous fatigue and short of breath with the slightest effort ( this only lasted a while and tea with coca leaves helped a lot). It wasn't too bad but most symptoms lasted for about two weeks for everyone. One girl was very ill with a tummy bug so we called the doctor.

We also cut ourselves pretty often with the kitchen knives. It's a good idea to disinfect several times a day and keep the wound clean and covered until healed. The children hurt themselves now and again too and there's not much in the first aid kit. I found myself cutting Abel's hair with the kitchen scissors around a cut several inches long and mopping up the blood with a paper hanky. Giovanni proposed the kitchen sponge!!

There are no mosquitoes in July but there are plenty in Machu Pichu. We all used tablets in the water for the whole stay. It's a bit of a nuisance as you always have to remember to have a second bottle prepared but nobody took any risks. We also boiled water for ten minutes every morning and used it during the day. You can buy water in the shops in the village. Beware if you travel to touristy places, the price of water can be 8 times higher.

I took multi vitamins for the whole stay as the food is not very well balanced: bread, milk jam (like fudge) oranges, eggs and soup. We bought our own butter, meat, cheese and fruit but we never ate it in front of the children. Either we waited until they were not around or we shared it with everyone.