Penitentes

Penitentes is a very small agglomeration of hotels at about 2600m, close to the entrance to the park. We are being picked up in a few minutes, and I only now discovered this computer! Too bad, this will be short!

First, thanks for all the comments, it is great to get them!

It is HOT here!! This part of the Andes is a desert, and yuck yuck yuck, sooooooo hot!! Altitude and heat together are something I do not like, I've discovered, can't wait to get to our camp in a few hours' walk time, it should be cooler there. Yesterday, we had the evening off, to rest. We (with my two travel partners) wanted to go for a walk, but since I had slept little the night before finishing up with preparations, I wanted to nap first. When I went back out, I saw them sitting, removing from their pants the hundreds of little prickly things that stuck to them when they tried walking in the desert. That was the end of that plan for me! I decided to spend the evening reading, writing in my journal, and enjoying these last minutes of grand comfort.


Tonight, we sleep in a little refuge, on bunk beds, so we do not need to bring our mattresses. I am leaving with a light day pack with my sleeping bag, some warm clothes (it will get cold at 3500m), some high energy foods (dried fruit, chocolate, the normal, eternal food of the mountains!) and all.

Bus is here, gotta go!