At what temperature does water boil?

It boils at about 90c in my apartment, and the vegetables never quite soften up. This is a consequence of living in one of the highest altitude cities in the world. Denver in the USA is know as the mile high city, but is pretty low altitude in comparison to Quito. The height above sea level here varies because the city sprawls across a valley. The Altitude is said to be about 9300 feet (2850 metres) in the central area, but go up to the suburbs on the valley sides and you will be closer to 10,000 feet up. If you were piloting a light aircraft at that height you would be required to use oxygen tanks for safety. You can go even higher. A main tourist attraction here is the Teleférico, a cable car ride up the side of Volcan Pichincha, to over 4,000 feet. Up there the air really is scarce. I felt sick and had to return to the city, but that was only a week after I arrived here, so I may not have fully acclimatised.

When you first arrive it can be a bit of a shock, your fitness drops considerably and a stroll to the shops can leave you feeling woozy and out of breath. You get used to it, somewhat. The body makes lots of changes to adapt, such as increasing your red blood cell count. For this reason, high altitude living is popular with some athletes, as it is thought that these physiological changes give a competitive advantage when competing back at low altitude. However, it is my impression that the body can’t fully adapt to the lack of air up here. I’ve started some fairly intensive batto-jutsu (Japanese sword training) classes. Although I expect to feel tired afterwards, the fatigue is much longer than anything I’ve experienced at ground level.

At least I'll be fit when I return to the UK at Christmas, thanks to all those extra blood cells.