Today we woke up quite early and went for breakfast around 8 a.m., enjoying some delicious pastries to start the day. Once fueled up, we ventured into the city to collect our equipment. Since we were early, we took the opportunity to visit the iconic Mendoza sign and snapped some photos before heading to the shop.
At the shop, we realized we were missing a few essential items, including pickaxes and foam mattresses. After gathering all the equipment we had booked, we rented pickaxes and decided to buy foam mattresses since they were about the same price as renting.
Once everything was sorted, we brought the equipment back to the hotel and placed it in a meeting room, where the rest of the group was having their gear checked. After bringing our own bags down from the room, we unpacked everything, letting the bags “explode,” to double-check that we had everything we needed. Luckily, we weren’t missing anything—though we almost forgot a hat!
Repacking all our gear took about 45 minutes to an hour and marked the fourth time we’d repacked this equipment. With that done, we headed back into the city to visit a supermarket to buy snacks and, hopefully, my favorite tea, passionfruit tea. Unfortunately, the store didn’t have it, and the total cost for the snacks came to £60, likely due to a poor exchange rate.
Back at the hotel, I managed to call G for an hour before deciding to make another attempt to find my passionfruit tea. I ventured out to a different supermarket and, thankfully, found it. While out, we also looked for souvenirs, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find anything that could conveniently replace Yakson.
At 2 p.m., our bus arrived to take us to Penitentes. We loaded all our equipment—which seemed excessive—onto the bus and started the four-hour journey. Upon arrival, we were welcomed with snacks and drinks. After a short break, we were asked to open our bags yet again to split our equipment into two separate packs: one for base camp, which would be sent ahead via mule, and another that would stay with us for immediate use.
After organizing our gear, we were shown to our apartment, where we dropped off the bag we’d need for the next day. Later, we headed to dinner, where we were served a gigantic leg of chicken, which was quite tasty.
By the time we finished, it was around 11 p.m. We went to bed, ready to recover and prepare for the next day.