Getting to the end of the world

  Ushuaia, Patagonia, Argentina
Sunday, January 11, 2009

The flight to Ushuaia was relatively uneventful.
We sat beside a guy who turned out to be a captain of Antarctica cruises, but we were so tired we did not actually speak to him until we were getting off the plane which is when we found out he probably could have had a story or two to tell.
The final decent and circle above Ushuaia was maginificent. The mountains and glaciers at the end of the world look great from a plane, scattered among the islands that make up Tierra Del Fuego.

Mountains around Ushuaia from the plane

We landed after 8 local time, the sun still high and shining and got a lift from a Bolivian cabby to our first choice of hostel.
Turned out it was full, so we started our trip on yet another great foot... 36 hours on the road, exhausted, not much cash in the pocket on a Sunday night, wandering around a new city. Thank God it was not gonna be dark for a few hours.
we found the next hostel over and under a few hills, set our bags down, and went exploring before it got dark.

Ushuaia is a very cute little town. Buildings are all sorts of colours and shapes, and everyone has meticulously cared for gardens with these beautiful flowers.

Beautiful plants in front of houses

The main street runs parallel to the water front, a couple of blocks up, and is full of stores with tourist stuff, outdoor gear, and restaurants.
There were quite a few tourists around, but at least 60% of them were Spanish speaking. It seems like Ushuaia is just as much a destination for Argentines as it is for foreigners.
 
The town does give a bit of feeling similar to Darjeeling ( see April 2007 post), as a town that is beautifully located, and has tourists there, but has not proactively invested in infrastructure etc, rather it has spent money after it got here. This leaves a number of unfinished buildings and an all around 'not-quite-finished' feeling.
But it is beautifully situated on the Beagle channel on one side, and surrounded by mountains on all other sides.

Mountains around Ushuaia from the plane

We wandered around for a couple of hours, found a cool place to eat, and got talking to Diego, a fellow from Buenos Aires who is travelling the south of Argentina as we are.
We had a great chat with him, about life in Argentina, and his experiences, his ties to Poland (his girlfriend spent 2 years in Warszawa working, and they both went to a Maximilian Kolbe school as kids).
It really seems like the world is tiny. You fly to the end of the world, to meet a guy who went to a school named same as our church. Crazy.
With that, we called it a day, but not before we tried a few more ATMs, all unsuccessfully of course :(
The new day will bring us money, we were sure!