Fated meetings

Traveling is full of such meetings. I was boarding my flight to Buenos Aires feeling incredibly relieved; I would not, as I had feared, be delayed by the snow by 2 or 3 days (as flights out are not daily) and I would arrive in time to start the acclimatization process. I was musing about the 18 hour bus ride to Mendoza. I would be able to finish the trash novel I had brought for this purpose; I was keeping the good stuff (climbing books) for the actual journey. The guy walking in front of me was talking on the phone about his own relief with the flight situation and his confidence that he would now catch his connection to Mendoza.

Mendoza? People go there for 2 reasons: the mountains, or the wine. I quickly looked at what he was wearing. Jeans, a bulky sweater, a small pack useful for the city but not for the mountain. And talking into a blackberry. A wine amateur. Or maybe a mountaineer in disguise? Of course, we struck up a short conversation, just enough to realize that he and I were embarking on the same expedition, although a few days apart. Predictably, exhausted as the entire plane was, Ryan and I did not continue chatting until this morning, when we enthusiastically compared gear and routes, travels and goals. I suddenly wanted to be there NOW, I wanted to get in it all right away. I knew the flight was pretty cheap. What prevented me from taking it was the excess weight fee; I was allowed 2 pieces of 23kg each out of Canada, but internal flights here allow for half that weight. Each additional kilogram gets a charge of 12 pesos, potentially making the surcharge more expensive than the ticket.

We landed and met up with another solo traveler who is flying off to Ushuaia tomorrow morning, and planning on sleeping at the airport tonight, as I was still mulling this over in my mind. On a whim I decided to follow them to the other airport, the one for domestic flights. And I am pretty happy I did! I got the cheap ticket, and then we all went into a corner so that Ryan and I could remove some heavy stuff from our main luggage and reduce the weight. We both removed our mountaineering boots, and our food package. The food package (a meticulously selected array of high energy, easy to digest dried fruit of all kinds, nuts, electrolyte pills, gels, gummy bears etc) itself weighed about 7kg. I was happy to see he had at least as much as me if not more, I felt sure I was exaggerating. We checked in, while Kaley kept an eye on (really, hid) our now oversize and overweight carry-on luggage . He was right at 20k. I came in at 28kg (I have my running and kayaking gear, in addition to some stuff I am bringing for others, such as a tent), but for some reason was not charged a thing for this. We quietly took our boarding passes, watched our luggage disappear, and hurried away to our now very heavy carry on luggage and our big boots. I realized I had my crampons with me, ugh! What an idiot! I hope they will let that one pass. Crampons surely qualify as sharp, metallic objects!

And now, relieved, after a great Argentinian pizza, we sit at a locutorio, all 3 of us in front of computers. I had asked almost apologetically whether they minded if I went there, and they both grabbed the opportunity to also get back in touch with friends and family left behind. Ryan is upset his blackberry is not working here. So much for taking a break from technology, travelers! So I will be arriving in Mendoza tonight instead of tomorrow!

Ryan and I on our first night in Mendoza, and the last alcohol either one of us would drink until back down from the mountain; alcohol ruins acclimatization.


Ryan carrying his huge bags from the hostel where we stayed to the hotel where he was meeting his traveling companions.


Ryan renting his double plastic boots for the expedition. Price seem to be set by smell. The cheaper, the stinkier.



Last evening in Mendoza with Ryan and his Summits of Hope travel companions. The next day, they all left for Aconcagua, and I for Vallecitos, to acclimatize. I mentally followed them throughout their expedition and was really happy to see them all again at the end at base camp!
www.summitsofhope.com