Over the last few days......I idle around the hot hot city, doing shopping, relaxing, fixing my boots and backpack....I plan my onward trip to Chile....I enjoy my first real Argentine steak (excellent) and the first real Argentine pizza (awful) on this trip....I get ripped off on change (petty amounts, 0.10-0.30€ mostly) in restaurants more times than I can count. A bit short-sighted really because I would have left a much bigger tip if they had been honest...

...I get ready for 7am like they said I should and nothing happens until 8.30am like I knew it wouldn't. After that a beautiful 4'30" flight saves me 8 hours of walking....I go back to Penitentes, get my bags and load them on the bus to Mendoza....I arrive and take a taxi to the hotel only to have it go bust on me and wait for another taxi to come in....I check into a hotel recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook for want of better choices. The hotel p...

Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! Happy New Year! Bonne Année! Feliz Año Nuevo!Pozdrowienia z base campu! Greetings from base camp! Bises du camp de base! Saludos del campamento base!

...I wake up with a terrible headache which I wish had been caused by excessive drinking....I develop pulmonary edema (HAPE) and am supposed to be helicoptered back to lower altitudes....I send a porter to fetch my things from the high camp (a luxury!)....In the meantime, however I spend my day idling about waiting for the chopper to come, more and more convinced that because of the white wind it won't come today....When it finally comes in the evening they g...

...I (and the tent) survive a very windy night and what happens to be a minor hailstorm....I meet my first mouse while cooking breakfast in the tent vestibule. Luckily no food in the tent....I make another attempt to carry part of my stuff to one of the high camps (Nido at 5.550) and would normally have succeeded but for a sudden whiteout that came literally out of the blue (sky). One minute it's Copacabana, the next - Alaska in winter. Put it this way: when ...