So as I was looking through my pictures of this day and I could not remember what I did!  Why did I take so few pictures!

And then I remembered.  This was the day that I got horribly sick because of the elevation.

The day started off okay.  We were visiting Ta’er Monastery and had a monk touring us around.  The Monastery sits at 8,000 feet.

I wasn’t feeling that great to begin with.  I was still in the middle of my cold which left me with a large headache, a cough, and a runny rose.  As we walked in and out of the buildings in the monastery, I noticed I was having more and more trouble breathing.  This monastery used yak butter (butter made from yak milk) as candle wax.  I quickly learned that I hated this smell.  Just walking into a building with the candles burning made me uncontrollably nauseous.  I covered my mouth and nose with my scarf the entire time. 

Then the interesting effects kicked in.  At this point, I still thought I was just sick.  I started to get light headed and knew I would vomit soon if I didn’t get out of the yak butter scented buildings.  I asked the program director, Han Bing, if I could sit outside for a bit to get fresh air.  He took me by the elbow and had me sit on some steps.  I started to breathe heavier.  It was just like hyperventilating. I took very short but quick breathes.  I physically could not take a deep breath.  At this point I got very worried and Han Bing stood me up and we started walking. 

I don’t remember where we were walking to because I was focusing solely on trying to breathe normally.  As we were walking I started to slow down.  My legs got heavy. Really heavy. I was wearing my big boots but I was having difficulty lifting my feet to walk.  Things started to get bad pretty quick.  Han Bing and one other program directors took me by my elbow and essentially carried me up a hill.  I guess my body was trying to preserve energy because I didn’t lift up my head.  I simply stared down at my now very heavy shoes.

While everyone else ate lunch with a Tibetan monk, I was directed into a small bedroom where I laid down.  A local family at the monastery brought me a cup of yak butter tea.  I know I was a bit out of it but within two minutes of drinking that tea I started to feel warm and tingly inside. 

Yak butter tea is a local drink for those living in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.  Nobody knows how or why but it does wonders for elevation sickness.  However, most people think it is not the most appetizing drink.  It is thick because it is made of yak milk, tea leaves and salt.  You cannot buy this drink anywhere.  They don’t sell it.  Families make this drink and because of this, every cup of yak butter tea you drink is slightly different.  One this day, I had tea that had chunks of something in it.  No matter how unappetizing this tea may seem to people, because of the state I was in, I loved it!  Between 2 and 10 minutes later, I was breathing normally, the color returned to my face, and I was sitting up.  Han Bing joked that I should be the spokeswoman for yak butter tea.  After having 3 cups of the tea, I was back to normal and felt fine the rest of the day (still at the same altitude). 

After this experience, I have a whole new appreciation for those with asthma.  Not breathing normally and having no control of it is very, very scary. I also understand how mountain climbers can take hours to climb 200 feet.  For reference, the hill that the two grown men had to help me up looked like this…

Yeah, not so much of a hill huh?  It was just a very small incline. This picture of me is after the 3 cups of yak butter tea.  I don’t know why but I didn’t have any signs of elevation sickness before this day.  It just hit me all at once and hit hard.  I don’t know what it is about the tea but I can now swear by it.  Never in my life have I felt so bad so quickly but then felt back to normal in such a short amount of time.  The rest of our trip to Qinghai was at lower altitudes but I never had another symptom like that. 

I think the scent of yak butter is ruined for me.  The rest of the monasteries we visited that used it instantly brought back the bad memories and I started to feel sick.  Sick from the memories, not the altitude.  Yet, I’m okay with that because I know that yak butter tea helps.  As long as I can get some yak butter tea, I’m not scared of traveling to any height in Qinghai!

P.S. Sorry that I don’t have any pictures of the actual monastery.  Guess I’ll just have to return another time!