...we get up, have some nice buffet breakfast at the hotel and start on the formalities;
...we exchange € and $ cash into Argentine pesos and once again feel the thrill of changing money with shady guys on street corners (even though after last year's government change here the parallel market all but disappeared)
...we get the permits, arrange the mule transport (we go with Lanko, the same guys I went with last year), print a little Polish flag for that summit shot and rent our gear (ice axes, crampons, plastic boots) - we hesitate a little about the boots but the clerk says this summer is very wet and cold high up so we take them.
...I buy some alfajores at a roadside gas station determined to not leave them behind on a plane this time :)) and I discover coffee in Argentina is still as lousy as ever
...we leave in a hurry for Puente del Inca to make it before the park closes but after loading the stuff in mule sacks we find out we are late; aggrieved we check into a nice hostel nearby (a homey place converted from an old train station) and go for an acclimatization walk 200m up the hill (we're at 2800m asl);
...we test our gasoline stoves (one of my US purchases), have dinner with nice hosts and go to sleep. Long day tomorrow.