The southernmostcity in the world...Ushuaia!

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The journey from Puerto Natales to Ushuaia was pretty uneventful. It was a 14 hour bus ride that required a couple of border crossings (between Chile and Argentina) but all went smoothly. The last hour was stunning as we drove through snow covered mountains and a road that was super slick and snowy. Thankfully our bus (a minivan by this point) had super treaded tires allowing us a safe passage.

We arrived in Ushuaia late....it was about 8pm and dark. The bus stopped right by the hostel that we had been recommended which was rather convenient. It was a gorgeous hostel....Hostel Freestyle....probably the most esthetically pleasing hostel i have ever seen. It was truly like a 5 star hotel and was well welcomed after staying in some pretty shabby places. We checked in and then had dinner with a friend from Spain that we had met back in El Chalten. It was exciting to be sitting in the southern most city in the world!

The next day was a pretty chillaxin´ one...we basically walked around town and took at easy. We really needed a down day after the go go go we had been doing. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the view of Ushuaia from the hostel was quite beautiful. I expected the town to be a shabby fishing village but it definitely was not. It was quite touristy, with modern buildings all set on a hill slanting down towards the water. The town was covered with about a foot of fresh snow but the weather was really quite warm....about +2 Celcius in which I find to be about the perfect winter weather. 😉

The following day we hiked up a local ski mountain to get a panoramic view of Ushuaia. The ski hill was closed but was covered in a good 2 feet of snow allowing the keeners to hike up with their snowboards/skis and ride the hill down. The view from the top wa quite nice and well worth the hike up. It was a total winter wonderland up there! Reminded me of home! Except....there is no way I would have climbed up that hill without my snowboard back home. 😉 We tried to walk to a glacier at the back side at the top....and well, some sign basically pointed us up a mountain. We looked up in confusion and decided to retreat. It was obvious most others had done the same since the path was quite beaten heading to the sign....and then there were only one set of tracks leading up the mountain.

The next day was again....a beautiful sunny day so we caught a bus in the morning to the nearby national park ¨Tierra del Fuego¨. The first 15 mins involved me trying to convince a foreigner (none of them spoke any english) to let me borrow their camera for a minute (sadly, a common scene for me). Since my camera was crushed, I have no LCD screen (nor viewfinder) so I can´t see what pics are on the card (or what I am taking a picture of...lol). I had backed up one of the cards on to a cd the night before but then couldn´t remember which card it was....which card I was able to delete for pics that day. So imagine trying to explain that to someone who only spoke spanish....it was quite hilarious really. But, I finally found someone...a local Argentinian that spoke zero english....that happily handed their camera over to me. He actually thought I wanted to take a picture with my card in his camera cuz my camera was broken. How generous he was to allow me to do that!!! And his battery was almost dead as well. I could not thank him enough for his generosity....how sweet some people can be! So anyhow, I quickly discovered which card I had backed up and was on my way...deleting pic by pic as I walked along the trail (I can´t do a mass deletion of the entire card either cuz I have no LCD screen menu...sigh). The day hike consisted of 8 km´s...mostly along the water. The first 4 km´s were quite beautiful with the snowy trees, ducks hanging out along the shore, and snow capped mountains in the distance across the water. I quite enjoyed the leisure nature walk...until we hit the half way point. Then, I will admit...it got a little boring cuz the trail...for the most part....led you away from the water and up and down the forest with no real impressive views. Normally, I would probably love this, but I think I had been spoiled with spectacular views for weeks leading up to this point...and quite frankly, I think I was getting a little trekked out. 😉 We did see some nice birds though.....a few big woodpeckers that were very similar to the Pileated woodpecker in North America. All in all, it was a nice hike but perhaps not quite as breathtaking as the days leading up to it were. 😉

Now, trying to get out of Ushuaia was another story. I was planning on taking the bus back up to Buenos Aires cuz it was the cheapest option....however....the 48 hour minimum journey was not all that inviting. I started to consider flying since I knew I was going to have another 20 hour journey within a day or two of arriving back in Buenos Aires and I just could not fathom 70 hours on a bus in such little time. I found a flight that was cheapER but not as cheap as they normally are. I decided to put it on hold for a day until I figured out if I could get on the ¨cheap¨ airline (price is half that of the other airline...however....very unreliable and often cancels their flights). I visited the cheap airline the same morning and they made it sound like it was a possibility to get on that flight the next day. So....I took a gamble and decided to not buy the other flight that I had on hold and instead hoped for the best the next morning (my friend did buy the flight....and well.....that did turn out to be the better option). That night I found out they actually had no room on the cheap flight and that there was no way I was going to make it on......and they did end up canceling that flight in the end due to the ash from the volcano in Chile limiting the visibility. So there I was, with neither flights.....stuck in Ushuaia. I tried my luck for standby on Rosie´s flight but did not make it....said goodbye to her and I went back to the hostel to figure out how I was going to get out of the end of the world. The drama unfolded over the next couple of days as flight prices DOUBLED over night. I decided to buy a flight that was for a month later....at a cheaper price....but not as cheap as it would have been had I purchased the other one....and then I went to the airport at 7am to get in the standby line. There are 3 flights per day....first one at 9am. To my surprise...there were already 8 people in line at 7am so I was in the 9th position. Luckily, I made the 2nd flight that day and was on my way to Buenos Aires....finally!!!! And they did not even charge me the ¨flight change fee¨. 😊

There is one other thing I should add......I had a close encounter.....too close....with some, well.....bed bugs. Freestyle hotel was GORGEOUS....but.....sigh.....they were loaded with bed bugs. I woke up after the first night with a few bites on my hip and thought it was strange. Then, when i opened the door to the room, there was a notice saying they were fumigating that afternoon. I thought ¨nooooo!!!¨. I speculated it was bed bugs and that confirmed it. Ick. They fumigated and I stayed another night in the same room.....woke up with MORE new bites. Had to wash everything I had in my backpack and we changed rooms to where they claim they have had no bug issues. Knowing what I know now.....there is no such thing. These critters get into the floor boards and can invade all rooms on the same floor as well as the floor above and below. I was feeling better after my 3rd night cuz I did not get any new bites.....but then that night, as I was about to climb in bed about 2 am.....I saw a bug cruising across the floor. I smooshed it in a kleenex cuz I was worried it was a bed bug. Low and behold, after looking on the internet the next day....it was exactly that. Ick. Ick. So again, I washed all of my clothes.....and then washed them AGAIN when I got to Buenos Aires. What a pain!! My first encounter with bedbugs and it happened to be at the end of the world....in likely the most esthetically pleasing hostel I have ever seen. Go figure.

So that leads me to my return to Buenos Aires. I will start a new page for this. I don´t have Ushuaia pics handy right at the moment so I will add some shortly. Ciao for now!

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Photos

Tierra del Fuego (Ushuaia, Arg)
Woodpecker

Tierra del Fuego (Ushuaia, ARG)
Ducks

Comments

[barrygahan]

Interesting read...
I'm not surprised about the Argentinian guy lending you his camera as they're amongst the friendliest and most helpful people in the world!

[meakah]

So true!!
Argentinian people were definitely kind people that always tried to help....even when they had no clue they would still try....often leading you astray. haha That guy´s generosity definitely did not go by unnoticed.....I could have stolen his camera for all he knew. Nice to see kind trusting people like that still exist..... :)