Pasta and rice here we come.....!!

After the trekking in El Chalten and some down time back in El Calafate where I basically did nothing for three days, and the fact that Patagonia went so swimmingly, I couldn´t resist another opportunity to trek some more. On that basis I planned to leave the South of Argentina and head to the centre, namely that of Mendoza (randomly via Buenos Aires!!).

A minibus to the airport, five hour (two take off, two landing) flight to BA, a local bus to the ´omnibus´ terminal, a four hour wait, fourteen hour overnight semi-cama bus to Mendoza and then an hours mission to find a decent-but-also-cheap hostel...and I was relaxing after my 28hour journey in Hostel Independencia in Mendoza. It was a little disappointing due to the 42ps a night price tag, but seemed like one of the best options for sure. It was also basically the most expensive hostel so far, but looked ok.

The intention was to meticulously organise and then efficiently execute a four day trekking plan through some of the mountain range of the Aconcagua Provincial Park. This mountain is the highest in the Western Hemisphere and the highest outside of Everest I´m led to believe.

It appeared that I wouldn´t have enough time to get to the summit, nor the skills probably and so I looked at shorter treks as the long one would be 17days to circa 7000metres!! Mega high!! I had seven in Mendoza before I wanted to leave for Iguazu Falls so that I could make it for my birthday!

Mendoza appeared to be quite a sleepy town at first glance. I later discovered that this was due to the fact that it was their public holiday on the day I arrived! Man, I have some unlucky arrival days. It was going to delay my trekking by a day. Hate sitting around.

Nevertheless, I went to the local tourist office where a helpful assistant gave me a map and told in broken english ´tourist die´....!! ´What?´ I asked...trying to get clarification! A tourist had got to the summit of the mountain and died that very morning! They were just receiving news over the radio. Not a good sign eh? Unfortunately these things happen and so I knew I needed to be mega careful with my planning of this trek. Granted, my trekking was going to be far easier at 4000 odd metres than the 7000 the hardcore climbers go to!!

A few hours later and I´d confirmed details for the four day trek where I planned to stay three nights in two different camps. The first night would be spent at Camp Confluenzia, which sits at around 3300m. I´d trek the second day to the South Face, or Plaza Francia which sits at 4250m (or roughly 13,000feet!). I planned to go back to Confluenzia that night and sleep in a Geodome...not really sure what they are, but they´re 10US a night and a heck of a lot warmer than a tent! Learned my lesson from El Chalten!

Day three will consist of a 10hour hike to Plaza De Mulas which is at an elevation of 4370metres. A night spent at this high altitude and I planned to trek back on Day four all the way to the entrance (roughly 13hours) and take the 4pm bus back to Mendoza...arriving at around 8pm. Wowsers...set those sights high you say. Probably. I have one day to play with in case the weather turns also.

I think this trek will certainly be challenging as when filling out the permit application I had to provide my blood type, insurance details and emergency contact! Crikey! I´m sure it´ll be fine though. I now just need to go and buy all the necessary food supplies for the four days. Pasta and rice here we come!!