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Published: October 17th 2008
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Visiting Ushuaia is one of the ´must do´ things we planned at the start of our trip..afterall it isnt everyday you get to go to the end of the world (well almost).
Getting there is a pretty gruelling trip requiring an over night bus to a nothing town called Rio Gallegos, changing bus,going on a ferry and through 4 boarder control crossings as you have to go through Chile. Reaching Rio Gallegos was fine and after a two hour wait we got our connecting bus. It would seem that the cheaper the bus the crappier the music and after a couple of hours of listening to Rick Astley and Banarama (I now know every word to ´Never gonna give you up!) we got stopped at boarder control. The weather had taken a turn for the worst so after various translations back and forth between the bus conductor, a spanish speaking indonesian guy and two equally confused Canadians (another instance where Spanish lessons before we left would have been useful) we discovered we may have to turn back to Rio Gallegos...gutted! However 10mins later we then proceeded to the channel crossing aand told the boat would go but not until 6pm
(it was 12pm!). So along with Jordana and Mike (the Canadians) we settled into the only cafe for a long wait. However at 2pm it was decided we would sail and the bus drove onto the ferry. It was so stormy we thought the boat was going to tip over but thankfully it was only a 20min crossing so we made it safely across to the next town Rio Grande.
From here we swapped onto another bus and started the 13 hour journey (with Rick and a very young Michael Jackson...again!) to our final destination.
Arriving in Ushuaia at 11pm it was pretty hard to get an idea of what it was like but the one thing we could see was snow! Being from our part of the world snow is phenomena of the past and we were delighted! Arriving at our hostel had us even more chuffed as it was really homely and warm,with a great bar and equally aas nice dorm rooms which the four of us had to ourselves. In addition they were playing the cranberries (on repeat) so at Seamus was over the moon!
Waking up in Ushuaia did not disappoint. The whole
place was blanketed in snow and sits on the coast line surrounded by mountains. Although prety small it has enough shops and cafes to keep you occupied enough hiking, snowboarding to make you want to stay the whole of their winter! We spent the first day wandering and relaxing (and getting our end of the world stamps in our passports) after our journey and treated ourselves to an all you can eat buffet (supposedly chinese...I beg to differ!).
On Day 2 we took a boat tour out to lighthouse, sea lion colony and the biggest colony of comorants in the world! Best thing was the fact the beer was on draught,so although after a hike on an island that used to be inhabited by the Yamana people (now extinct...probably froze to death as they wore no clothes!) we were able to warm ourselves up by getting drunk...what more could you ask for!?
In actual fact the story behind the Yamana people was really interesting. They built their shelters in alarge pits in the ground and survived on sealion meat. They didnt wear clthes and so rubbed seal fat on themselves which is though what kept them warm. Sadly
they became extinct due to diseases carried to the island by europeans...
Day 3 and as the snow was still fairly thick we thought we would try our hand at some winter sports. Accompanied by Juan (a fellow hosatel boarder and expert snowboarder) we made our way out to a ski lodge 15km from the town. The whole day cost about 20 quid for our lift pass and ski/snowboard hire ...now where in Europe can you do that!? Thanks to Juan myself and Jordana managed to actually get up on the snowboard and Seamus and Michael were skiing. By the end of the day feeling a little braver we decided to have a go at the proper beginner slope. Seamus after 20 falls and almost skiing of the edge of the moutain (it was at tthis point he realised he couldnt turn or stop) decided it would be safer to walk down the slope much to the amusement of Jordana and myself who were already hysterical after making it to the bottom and on our 12th attempt to get on the ski lift. After much humiliation we decided walking back to the top was our only option. The guy
The strait of Magellan
We nearly didnt sail due to the weather.... operating the ski lift clearly felt sorry for me and even took my snowboard to the top for me on the lift. All in all it was probably the most fun we have had since we got here!
Day 4 and we decided to try our hand at a self guided hike to a nearby glacier with Jordana, Michael and Juan. After taking a taxi we headed up on a chair lift to the start of the trail. We soon realised after about 2mins that we werent reallly dressed ofr the occasion when we found ourselves knee deep in snow. After deciding we couldnt actually get any wetter we decided to carry on up the mountain until we reached what we thought was the top (it wasn´t). By this time the clouds had started to roll in and so we decided it would be more fun to turn back. Jordana discovered wrapping your ajacket around your arse and sliding down would be much quicker than walking and so after making sure she didn´t hit any rocks/die I decided to tie my jacket around mine follow her her example...who needs a sledge anyway,this was more fun than snowboarding!
Seamus
meanwhile decided he didnt want to risk colliding with the jagged rocks and opted for the safer option of walking. He lost his footing however and had no choice but to come down the same way, almost taking two Argentinian hikers with him,much to the amusement of everyone especially me!
Day 5 and Seamus finally got his way and we went to see the airport. It had an old plane (a DC3 apparently) and Seamus quenched his thirst for plane spotting for another few weeks.
In total we ended up staying 6 nights in Ushuaia and were all sad to leave. We left the next day at 4am onward bound for our next destination of El Chalten to see the Fitzroy mountain range. Rick Astley here we come again!
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Johnny G
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Trippin
Well lad. seems like yer havin a ball. Great to see the pics. It brings back great memories for us too. Ragin bout the skiing. I didnt know ya could do it down there. Keep it real. NZ is a good spot too. We bought an aul banger and went from hostel to hostel. rained a lot when we were there. 5 dollar rain gear sorted that though. enjoy.