Before reading this blog, we must point out that we are on holiday and here to enjoy ourselves - honest! We caught the bus back up the road we came down from Chile - a four hour journey. The bus seemed to be struggling all the way, then with about 6 miles left to go to our stop the bus broke down (in the middle of nowhere). Some passengers decided to walk or try to hitch, we sat it out. About an hour and a half later a minibus arrived to complete the rest of our journey. Arriving at the refuge (mountain hostel) they weren't expecting us until the next day - their mistake not ours. Fortunately, they had a snug room for two with bunk beds available. After Donna's attempt at getting on the top bunk and kicking me in the face in the process we decided I would go on top! Most people do this three day walk as an organised trek - being picked up in Mendoza and driven to the National park then start walking the same day and carrying just a day sack - with tents & food provided and heavy kit taken up by donkey. We decided to do it independently and stopped at Puente del Inca (2900 metres) for a night and start walking in the cool of the morning the next day. We set off - but had an hour walk up the road before we reached the National Park office where we had to check in. A stray dog followed us all the way from the refuge to the National Park office, waited outside then continued to follow us for another 30 minutes up the National Park road before the trail actually begins (that's where the organized parties start from). Dogs aren't allowed in the park - for good reason. The dog spotted a rabbit and was in quick pursuit for his breakfast at which point Donna fell out with him. The bunny found a hole before the dog caught up with him. At the official start of the track our permits were checked again and a ranger had to hold the stray dog to stop him from following us - we aren't the first that he has followed! The weather was great, the views were superb, Aconcagua was clear. Not wanting to suffer from altitude sickness we carried and drank loads of water as there is none available until the end of the first days walk. We rested in the shade of huge boulders wherever possible. The day got hotter the track got steeper, the last hour was the hardest. After walking 8.5 miles and climbing 500 metres we arrived at Confluencia camp - home for the next two nights. We checked in with the rangers and were told to report for our compulsory health check the next day after walking to Plaza Francia (4000 metres) and back to Confluencia. We rested a while, ate and drank plenty. The campsite is fine dusty dirt, scrub and rocks, we pitched and set up camp in slow motion as too much exertion left us lightheaded. Getting tent pegs into dirty sand was challenging, Donna kept ferrying rocks back and forth to hold each peg in. Organised trekkers arrived to pre-pitched tents, dining areas with tables and chairs and sinks to wash at! We used the toilet available for independent trekkers - a portaloo with mountain water tapped into the toilet bowl (but not the sink) and a bag for you to put your loo roll in (after you have used it of course) - nice! We had the rest of the day to relax but as the hours passed we both developed headaches, Donna used the toilet many times (had the trots) and I developed a dry cough (synonymous with altitude). We brewed up, sauntered up to the campsite view point, returned to camp, drank more, took some Diamox and still felt like shi#. We lay down for a nap, I went into hot and cold flushes - my body was on fire one minute and I was shivering the next. We were too ill to cook and couldn't have eaten it if we did. More tea with biscuits and cake - we had to get something inside. We were peeing plenty and it was clear so we weren't dehydrated but we felt terrible. It was too late to go down, we weren't high enough for acute mountain sickness so we weren't going to die but we were in for a restless night. Tomorrow we should wake up acclimatised. The night was bloody awful, we both thought it would never end, our heads were banging. It started to get light, I thought thank goodness for that but it was just moonlight (it was only 3.40am). We both tossed and turned, didn't sleep much. At 6.10 I put the kettle on - it was still dark but we had both had enough of lying down and feeling bad we thought we would sit up and feel bad instead. A brew went down well and gave a slight reprieve to the banging heads. There was no way we were walking up to Plaza Francia feeling as we were and not eaten a decent meal yesterday evening. I went off to the toilet - OMG it got worse. The used toilet paper bag had been filled by me, Donna (lot's of times) and other trekkers the day before (pooh) and there was no water running into the toilet bowl, so I shi# on shi#. Donna refused to use the toilet again! Donna had a strange sensation in all her fingers - not pins and needles, but a buzzing! She called it bumble bee fingers, whatever it was it subsided thank goodness. We forced some breakfast down and slowly packed up to head back down the mountain. Our permit was only for 3 days so if we stopped at the site all day we would have to go down the next day anyway. I went to fill our bottles for our descent only to be told by another trekker that the water was frozen (that explains the lack of toilet flush). The trekker could see we were ill and heard me coughing all night - he and his mate had experienced the same on their first visit to Confluencia and just wanted to kill himself during the night. I had the same thought but overcame that feeling by thinking about what Stalin put innocent people through in his Gulags (for years not just one night). The trekker gave us 2 litres of water and we headed down. The more we descended the better we felt but we had to stop often and eat a little. We were so hungry, but at the same time felt sick. We checked out at the NP office and asked about a bus down to the refuge, failing that we would try to hitch instead of walking. No buses, no traffic - there had been a landslide closing the road further down the valley. So, we walked and sat and walked and sat and nibbled and finally arrived back at Refuge el Nico. They managed to find us a room with double bed. We snacked, rested, snacked, snoozed, had dinner, washed, had cereal (as dessert) and then went to bed - still not caught up on food but feeling a whole lot better than the previous evening. Don't know why we both felt so bad at Confluencia, we drank plenty and didn't ascend more than recommended. I'm guessing that it was a mixture of sunstroke and altitude sickness. After a night at the refuge the road re-opened but we stayed another day and relaxed. Whilst editing photos on our netbook I was called upon for IT support by the lady running the refuge - she had bought a cordless mouse but couldn't get it to work. Even though everything on her display was in Spanish I managed to resolve the problem and we were given cakes as a thank you. The trek didn't go as planned but we are still glad we attempted it. This was Donna's first trekking at altitude and camping in the mountains away from civilization, hopefully our next trek will be headache free. We went for a beer and some churros on our unofficial day off. The beer was good but the churros were like rocks - and I politely complained about them. To which they gave us a refund and apologised, so we spent a few more Pesos there, everyone was happy. Talking to some trekkers who went on an organised trip but stayed at refuge el Nico, the day we should have gone to Plaza Francia, it rained, there were no views, the walk was hard and there were rockfalls at Plaza Francia so you couldn't spend any time there. We didn't miss much then. Bus back to Mendoza tomorrow!