What along day and half. After the finak packing check my brother dropped me off at Dublin airport for the long haul of flights. Dublin to Paris, pick up Luc - a member of our hiking group and the 13 HR flight to Buenos Aires. Being slightly delayed nearly made us miss our connecting flight to Mendoza as the domestic airport is the other side of the city. As the taxi driver said "welcome to Argentina"meaning that this normal disorganisation. Nice and friendly driver with little english but he tried.
Arriving in Mendoza 24hrs after leaving dublin we meet our guide Gonzalo. Full of talk and gives us a good overview of what is to come over the next 2 weeks. I'm excited now even though severely tired.
After 1 HR of rest we headed to the rental store to pin up the last of the essentials - crampons, ice axe, sleeping bag -30 degrees cellsius, ski goggles and mitts. I feel ripped off leaving the store but this seems to be the norm. My bank account has taken a serious hit during to preparation for this expedition. Hope it's worth it.
Resisting the mini bar in my hotel room is my first challenge on this trip as dinner only starts at 830, 2 hrs away and I know it'll be worth the wait. I made it and it was worth it's wait in gold. Fillet steak Argentinian style.....delicious.
During dinner we learnt more about the expedition and the scary thing to learn is that only 50% of people.of people make it to the top. Mainly the altitude is what gets most people. Gonzalo is all about going slowly and drinking lots of water which is good to hear. Gonzalo is a good talker and loves to tell us about Argentina and Mendoza. Fascinating stuff.
Funny thing today was finding a regatta picture in which Luc, our French hiking buddy thinks he is in AZ hee was part of race on the year it was run but he couldn't be 100% it was him
Anyways one and half days of travelling and I'm exhausted. Need a crazy long sleep and onto day 2 where we hit the road.
Apologies about any typos. I'm writing this on my phone and it auto corrects spelling.
I was at : Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza,
Hey guys, only now realising the extent of the craziness, wow what a challenge, my challenge today was trying to leave the couch (didnt succeed). Best of luck with the remainder and look forward to reading all the updates.
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