Man visits closest town to space where there’s less than 50% oxygen to show what life is really like there
Locals have adapted to the altitude sickness
Featured Image Credit: Ruhi Çenet/YouTube
La Rinconada is the closest habited place to the sky on Earth, so high that its residents basically live above the clouds.
At an altitude of 5,100 metres (6,700 feet), the air is so thin that oxygen levels are less than half of what we're used to, making it very difficult to breathe if you've never experienced it before.
YouTuber Ruhi Çenet took a trip to this extreme location to see what life is like up there.
'Their bodies have evolved to produce two times more blood cells than ours,' Ruhi explained.
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'Not even a single tree can survive because of the low air pressure.'
On the journey to arrive at La Rinconada, Ruhi began to feel the effects of altitude sickness with feelings of headaches and nausea.
He later learns that coca leaves, which are illegal in many places, are chewed by locals to help with altitude sickness. They're used to numb the locals' mouths and ease the symptoms.
As Ruhi and his crew continued their journey up to Abra La Pampilla, they could see mountains as tall as clouds.
Because they are so high up, there is still frost on the ground even during summer. So, it's always cold all year round.
'In this place where the nighttime temperatures drop to -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), people are living in metal shacks without electricity or heating,' Ruhi points out.
'No kitchens or bathrooms in these houses.'
Instead, thousands share the same public toilets and baths.
The area is also known for its gold mining operations, which use 'deadly chemicals like cyanide and mercury.'
It might seem like a quiet, quaint town but crime is quite common because of the high quantity of gold, leading to many stabbings and theft.
'Locals typically keep their cash and gold with them as there are no banks available,' the YouTuber said.
Among that, there is trash everywhere.
'The town is literally surrounded by tonnes of waste stretching for miles,' Ruhi described. 'Nature has given place to piles of garbage.'
Besides that, the city centre is much like any other, 'full of local cafes, markets and people.'
But most people aren't native to La Rinconada, instead they came from other regions of Peru 'with the dream of finding wealth through mining.'
Ruhi also spotted figures near the mining site decorated with 'dried flowers, fruits and alcohol bottles' which represent mountain gods. Workers tend to come and worship these gods to avoid work accidents and hope for success in finding gold.
People have shared their amazement at this unique lifestyle.
'The fact the people in that town actually micro evolved to handle that oxygen quantity is amazing,' one user wrote.
'Runners who grew up in this area would be absolute monsters at sea level,' another added.
Other users chimed in: 'I got shortness of breath just watching this.'