Packing for high altitudes
Posted on: Tue, 2006-04-18 20:25
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Packing for high altitudes
I just recently visited Bolivia and Peru, flying into La Paz. Before leaving I was advised to pack all of my cosmetics, perfume, creams etc. in plastic ziploc bags before putting it into my luggage. What excellent advice. Apparently, the high altitude and air pressure cause the contents to expand and leak!
Good for you. Somehow I didn't even think about this possibility. So when I opened a tube of handcream it literally exploded in my face. Needless to say I lost most of the cream to the bathroom sink.
While driving on a pass of 4900m I opened a bottle of coke and took a sip. Again I forgot where I was and the carbonhydrate exploded in my mouth so violently that I had coke squirting out my nose and mouth.
Yes, a ziplog bag is always a good idea. Fortunately I do this anyways, since the luggage compartments in airplanes are not pressurized that much either.
Since I went to Peru in December (Summer is the rainy season there), I had tons of Ziplog bags to protect all my camera equipment, Lenses, Image Tanks as well as important Travel Documents, in case one of my backpacks would leak through.
Important for high altitude is also to get some medication such as Diamox. Many people around us got sick and had to be put on Oxygen. Fortunately due to the meds we felt fine.
Andre