I took a four day trip to Argentina for climb preparations. I left my climbing gear at Puente del Inca, the micro-village from which most expeditions begin. I went for a short run up the trail to see the mountain and met an exhuasted japanese climber who was dragging heaps of gear off the mountain. He summited on New Year´s Day after 20 days on the mountain. More interesting, however, is that Diasuke rode his bike from Chile to Puente del Inca, much like I intended to do. In fact Diasuke has been on his bike for four years. He has been through 60 countries and covered 59,000 km. Yep. Learn more about Diasuke´s journey at http://home.att.ne.jp/orange/Toshi/ . We hitchhiked to Mendoza and spent the next two days cruising together. He accompanied me to buy the $200 climbing permit. Having everything arranged, I returned to Chile to say goodbye to friends and get on my bike.
