Admittedly, the pre-ceremony diet has not been too much of a shock to the system. No red-meat, no pork, no fermented foods, no coffee, no chocolate.
9:20 am - I get a call from hotel front desk, "Hello Derek, there's somebody here to see you". I leave the warmth of my room and walk to the hotel reception. A young short man is standing in the reception. He looks like a thug, or like Andean muscle. He's holding a big plastic container. He smiles, "Derek?". The receptionist takes his ID and he follows me to my room. The World Cup is playing, Round of 16: Mexico vs Brazil.
He unscrews the plastic container and begins to fill up a plastic cup. "You have to drink 8 glasses of this water". I look at the cup, it's filled with murky gray water, I drink it down in one gulp, it's lightly salted; does not taste too bad. So begins the volcanic water cleanse. He pours another cup and places it on the table. I drink the second cup. We sit at the edge of the bed watching the football. I drink a third cup. My stomach is pretty full. He pours another cup and drink it down in two gulps. My stomach is bloated and I feel my body temperature start to drop, I pull on a fleece. He tells me to take my time we watch the game.
I force down part of the fifth cup, it's starting to get a little uncomfortable. My stomach beings to protest, I run into the bathroom and the evacuation begins. I re-emerge from the bathroom, he's still sitting there, a cursory smile and a glance back at the football, "You OK?". I put down the remainder of the fifth cup. I feel so cold, I turn the heater up. The next 20 minutes are essentially me running to the bathroom, and me emerging sheepishly from the bathroom, then me running back to the bathroom. This is awful.
I'm distressed, my body is expelling everything from the system. He doesn't seem too concerned. His eyes shifting between me and the TV. We casually talk about shitting and football. His English is limited, as is my Spanish. I eventually finish the sixth glass, I can't drink anymore. The second half has commenced and Brazil are up 1-0. I run back into the bathroom, at this point, it's no longer solid. Liquid passing through me. I come out of the bathroom, defeated.
"OK, what colour is it?" he asks. "Clear. The same colour as the water going in" I reply. "Ok, that's enough. Wait one hour, then you can drink and eat, make sure you eat a lot, you need a lot of energy tomorrow". He packs up the equipment and I walk him out. I crawl back into bed. I feel my ass pucker. I run to the bathroom. This continues like a series on repeat. The World Cup continues in the background. Brazil are through to the Quarter Finals. I take a nap. Each time I feel a movement my ass puckers and my system goes into critical alert mode. An hour later, my stomach seems to have calmed down. What a stressful ordeal!
Lunch is a huge salad and a big smoothie. I walk around Plaza De Armas and find a walking tour for 30 Soles. Nico, the tour guide has two university degrees and is a professor and part time tour guide. He takes us through the Cusco Cathedral, Convent of Santa Domingo and Sacsayhuamán; loving this Cusco and the Peruvian countryside.
The evening consisted of the most relaxing two hour yin and meditation class, followed by a big dinner at Limo; Quinoa and Ceviche - This cuisine is out of this world!
9:20 am - I get a call from hotel front desk, "Hello Derek, there's somebody here to see you". I leave the warmth of my room and walk to the hotel reception. A young short man is standing in the reception. He looks like a thug, or like Andean muscle. He's holding a big plastic container. He smiles, "Derek?". The receptionist takes his ID and he follows me to my room. The World Cup is playing, Round of 16: Mexico vs Brazil.
He unscrews the plastic container and begins to fill up a plastic cup. "You have to drink 8 glasses of this water". I look at the cup, it's filled with murky gray water, I drink it down in one gulp, it's lightly salted; does not taste too bad. So begins the volcanic water cleanse. He pours another cup and places it on the table. I drink the second cup. We sit at the edge of the bed watching the football. I drink a third cup. My stomach is pretty full. He pours another cup and drink it down in two gulps. My stomach is bloated and I feel my body temperature start to drop, I pull on a fleece. He tells me to take my time we watch the game.
I force down part of the fifth cup, it's starting to get a little uncomfortable. My stomach beings to protest, I run into the bathroom and the evacuation begins. I re-emerge from the bathroom, he's still sitting there, a cursory smile and a glance back at the football, "You OK?". I put down the remainder of the fifth cup. I feel so cold, I turn the heater up. The next 20 minutes are essentially me running to the bathroom, and me emerging sheepishly from the bathroom, then me running back to the bathroom. This is awful.
I'm distressed, my body is expelling everything from the system. He doesn't seem too concerned. His eyes shifting between me and the TV. We casually talk about shitting and football. His English is limited, as is my Spanish. I eventually finish the sixth glass, I can't drink anymore. The second half has commenced and Brazil are up 1-0. I run back into the bathroom, at this point, it's no longer solid. Liquid passing through me. I come out of the bathroom, defeated.
"OK, what colour is it?" he asks. "Clear. The same colour as the water going in" I reply. "Ok, that's enough. Wait one hour, then you can drink and eat, make sure you eat a lot, you need a lot of energy tomorrow". He packs up the equipment and I walk him out. I crawl back into bed. I feel my ass pucker. I run to the bathroom. This continues like a series on repeat. The World Cup continues in the background. Brazil are through to the Quarter Finals. I take a nap. Each time I feel a movement my ass puckers and my system goes into critical alert mode. An hour later, my stomach seems to have calmed down. What a stressful ordeal!
Lunch is a huge salad and a big smoothie. I walk around Plaza De Armas and find a walking tour for 30 Soles. Nico, the tour guide has two university degrees and is a professor and part time tour guide. He takes us through the Cusco Cathedral, Convent of Santa Domingo and Sacsayhuamán; loving this Cusco and the Peruvian countryside.
The evening consisted of the most relaxing two hour yin and meditation class, followed by a big dinner at Limo; Quinoa and Ceviche - This cuisine is out of this world!
