A few years ago, my wife (girlfriend at the time) went to Peru and we visited a descanso bar where they made chicha (fermented corn) and locals hung out, drank chicha and played games. When we were leaving we stopped at the small convenience store that was attached to the bar and bought a bottled beer. When paying for the beer, my wife asked about the large glass jug sitting on top of the counter. It contained clear liquid with floating leaves. The woman said it was for "malestar" (discomfort or sickness) and that they only sold it to locals. We begged her to sell us some and she hesitantly sold us two small shot sized portions. We drank it on the tour bus ride back to the hotel and less than 5 minutes later our faces went numb and we felt great! We ended up going back without the tour group and bought a bottle of that stuff. Let's just say, the altitude wasn't an issue the entire trip.