Living la vida coca

Coming of age in the Reagan era, I was taught early and often to "just say no." While Nancy and I didn't see eye to eye on much, one aspect of her message did hit home: I avoided cocaine and all it's derivatives like the plague.

That is, until we arrived in Peru.

While I have known for a while that the coca grows prolifically here, I didn't realize how intertwined it is in Peruvian culture.

Before I go any further, let me clear something up: There is a big difference between the cocaine of the Reagan Era (known as blanca down here) and the coca leaf (coca), the ubiquitous product of Peruvian culture. As our tour guide so eloquently explained the other day, "cocaine is bad, coca is good."

In Peru, coca leaf is made into products such as tea and candy, and it is chewed directly. In all forms, it is said to possess medicinal qualities that alleviate the effects of soroche, altitude sickness.

And it is available everywhere. Every restaurant serves mate de coca (coca tea). Every corner store sells coca leaves and candy. When we arrived at our hotel in Cusco, we were greeted with cups of coca tea.

Until a couple days ago, I had not chewed the leaves themselves. However, with our tour to the Colca Canyon slated to hit 16,000 feet, our guide was strongly recommending everyone chew the coca. When in Rome...

Sadly (or perhaps, happily), the experience was anything but pleasant. Tasting a bit like rancid spinach water, my first reaction was an involuntary gag reflex. While nausea was one of the symptoms I was trying to address, I couldn't help consider the irony of the nausea I felt as soon as the gnarly leaves entered my mouth.

However, as I chewed I noted a tingling, numbing reaction on my tongue and cheeks. The closest feeling I can compare it to is Novocaine, which I suspect is derived from a similar product.

Other than numbness and nausea, I really didn't feel much else. But perhaps that's a good thing, since I also avoided headaches, vomiting and other common effects of hitting such a high altitude.

Now that I have experienced the gateway drug in it's purest form, I can honestly say I am happy to let that dog lie. Sure, the Peruvians worship the coca, but for me the experience was best left in the Andes.