Chewing coca leaves is a strong tradition in Andean areas and it is regarded as an aid to the prevention of altitude sickness. Coca leaves are the base ingredient for the production of cocaine, but in their unrefined state they contain only a minimal amount of the active cocaine element and they are not illegal in South America. They produce a slight stimulant effect and make the inside of your mouth go numb, like when you are at the dentist.
The dried leaves are wrapped around bica, which is a baking soda, or something else similar, and then placed in between the outside of your teeth and your cheek and held there for a short while to soften the leaves so that they don't break when chewed. After that you start chewing, but keeping the leaves in the cheek. The chewing releases the juices. Generally people chew for half an hour, but sometimes for more, in which case they add fresh leaves to the wad.
Our guide brought along some leaves so some of us gave it a go. Personally, while it was OK, I wasn't keen, so chewing coca leaves is not for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We like to hear from you too, so please leave us a message here. We are also happy to answer any questions if we can help. Comments are moderated so will not appear straight away and there could be some delay in replying if we are travelling.