El Fin Del Mundo - The End Of The World

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We arrived back in BA and to the same hostel we had left three days earlier. We were hungry and didn’t want to eat out. As we had the use of a kitchen we decided on using it. We went to the supermarket and got some pasta and also a bottle of red wine. It was the one we fist had in Puerto Iguazu. It was only 11 peso which is about €2.50 so we knew we couldn’t just leave it there. We had it with our dinner and we sat and talked about how our adventure was to change and become more physical than our previous two and a half weeks. After finishing the wine we decided on having a beer at the bar. Down there we met a guy from Dublin travelling on his own. We had a good chat and a good few of the local beer Quilmes too! There were two other Irish there too, one from Renmore, Galway! We didn’t know each other but he was two years behind me in school in St. Mary’s. They were chatting to two girls from Columbia, so I was of little interest to them! 3am we went to bed and we had to be up by 7:30am to pack and go to the airport. Our heads were a little ropey the next morning and we were glad it was a 4 hour flight and not a 2 day bus journey which it would have been if we decided to go that way. A 4 hour flight would get you from Dublin to Turkey (I think), so that’s how big this country is.

We arrived a Ushuaia airport at 5pm after a nice flight with Aerolineas Argentina. The airport was brand new and if some one told you it had opened the previous day you would believe them. We got a taxi to La Posta, our hostel. It is a little out of town but a lovely place. It is a lot more homely than the previous places with two kitchens and plenty of areas to talk to people. After unpacking our bags and unloading our thermal clothes from their vacuum packed bags we head into town to have a look. Tours here are expensive so we decided not to eat out for the few days and stock up on supplies in the supermarket. For €20 we got enough food for the 5 days and the only thing we need to get is fresh bread for our lunches. When we arrived back the hostel kitchens were very busy so we had to wait our turn. We were in need of some homely food so we got potatoes and carrots for our dinner. To go with it we got steak. Why wouldn’t we. €2 for enough meat to feed 4 people. You’d be mad not too! It took a bit of bullying but I got my place in the kitchen and soon we were underway. I fried the steak for a few minutes on the pan with onions and then put it in tinfoil with a bit of olive oil in the oven for 10 minutes. We had enough spuds and carrots to feed four as well, so we were not going to go hungry. We poured the juices of the meat over the potatoes and tucked in. The plates were cleaned before they even reached the sink! We hung around the hostel that evening and watched TV and went on the Internet. There were a few people in the common area on lap tops and some people were talking. One Dutch guy who knew everything about travel (sarcasm) was letting people know his thoughts on phones and lap tops. He was calling these people Flash packers and basically saying they were not really backpackers. At one stage he said to the group he was talking to, that he should get a laptop and watch a dvd on it as it was more sociable (him been sarcastic) and not talk. He said it loud enough for people to hear, and some he was talking to even turned round to see if there was a reaction. It took all my will power not to say anything, as I would have looked the fool then. I’m not sure if I have talked before about travel snobbery. It works in the opposite way to a rich person been snobby to a poor or lesser person. In travel snobbery, it’s the travellers with little or no positions that judge everyone. They hate ’tourists’ and don’t go to tourist attractions. Any one doing a tour is taking the easy way. If you ask a question they can belittle you for not already knowing. The travel forum’s on the internet are full of people who get all high and mighty telling people that they are not doing it the ‘real’ way because they do not travel in a similar fashion to them. Travel though is for everyone, regardless of how they do it. Whether you like to travel in tour groups, on your own, as a couple, first class, cattle class, by hitchhiking, motorbike, campervan, with your lap top, only a sleeping bag, couch surfing, fancy camera, no camera, by what ever means possible that you like it doesn’t matter. What ever way you choose is right because it suits your needs. End of rant!

We made our lunch for the next day that night because we had to be on the road at 8:30 and breakfast only started at 8am. Ham and cheese rolls, which have now become our staple diet and two yogurts. At breakfast we were using our own tea bags. I was making the tea but Michelle had the tea bag in her pocket. I asked her for it and she gave it too me. I put the bag in the cup and poured in the hot water. It was still clear. I thought maybe the tea bags were going off. I stirred a little more and inspected the tea bag a little more. It was no tea bag. It was Michelle’s snotty tissue she had in her pocket! I have to say we laughed about it for quiet a while. Green tea anyone!!!!!

We booked a cruise in a catamaran along the Beagle Channel to see a sea lion and penguin colony. The scenery was amazing and there was plenty of wildlife to be seen. Seals played around the boat showing off and sea gulls followed us in hope of food. We got to the penguins after about 3 hours and although there was not many there, it was still cool. It is end of season and most of them had left, well, to where ever they go! We had the option before we left that morning to do a walk with the penguins but we would have not been able to do the cruise. I can honestly say it is the first regret of out travels. When we got there I really wished I could walk with them. There was a group of 5 or 6 there and they were laterally sitting inches from them. We chose the cruise as you got to see more but I’m afraid getting to walk and sit with penguins is a bit better than seeing some lighthouses!! Don’t get me wrong the cruise was amazing and would be number choice on any other day but it looked a bit special what the group were doing on the beach. Maybe some other time! We got back to the port and had received some vouchers for free stuff on the cruise. One was a free souvenir from a gift shop and another was a hot chocolate in chocolate shop. We got our souvenir which was a map of Tierra Del Fuego. The hot chocolate was nice and we bought some sweets there too.

Tomorrow we are going to see a glacier, where you can take a chair lift to the top or walk up for one and a half hours. What should we do? After that we are going to see an old prison and some museums. On Sunday we will go to the national park and do a bit of trekking so the next few days are action packed.

In a bit. DH

Song of the blog: Blues Brothers - Everybody needs somebody

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Comments

[carmel]

....'green tea'
ha ha ha........dats hilarious about the 'tea bag!!' ye shuda had sum healthy green tea,ha! :) P.s. maybe ye shud walk half way n get the lift or whatever the rest......now 1.....2........get moving! xoxoxox

[Sara]

Them penguins look so cool!!! Can ye try steal and post me one home pleeeaaassse? Haha green tea eh, bet Shell did that on purpose!!!! Watch out Daz she's trying to hog the tea bags!!!! x x x x