"For ME this is heaven" part 2 (Ushuaia pt 1)

    We last left off with Mila and I arriving at a Buenos Aires Airport after hitting up the Hard Rock Cafe (#2 for the trip) at the Iguazu airport. We'd scouted a good, (seemingly) quiet spot to crash for our overnight layover before the flight to the southern tip of the continent. Thing is, they shut that portion of the airport down overnight, so we were escorted out past security, swept along with the weary procession of bleary castaways marooned in the same purgatory. People plopped down wherever they could and we were glad to see that there was at least an overnight cafe right there in the lobby. Mila can fall asleep sitting at a table. I, it was proven, cannot. But there was cafecito. 

The flight was obviously uneventful as evidenced by the fact that I can't remember anything about it some 18 months later. We went from the jungle to the literal southernmost city in the world. The city of 80,000 is situated in a bowl between mountains to the north, east, and west, and mountainous islands and Beagle Channel to the south. You've probably heard of the Patagonia in Chile and Argentina - Ushuaia is at the south of that region. What I thought was interesting was that Chile is south of Argentina there. A quick look at a map of South America, you'd think that Argentina is east and Chile is west. There's a hook at the bottom and the border is somewhere in the water down there.

Luckily for us, Uber was easy to come by in Ushuaia. The airport lies south of town so the whole ride to the midtown hotel, we were looking uphill towards the mountains. We stayed at Hotel Austral, a small but centrally-located spot just up the hill from the attractions in town. As hotels often do in tourist hotspots, they also had a list of recommended tours and activities. Not being exactly sure on what we wanted to do in town, we decided to use this list as a scaffolding for our next few days.

view up the hill from our hotel's front door

Just one of the mountains that serve as the wall that secludes Ushuaia from the rest of the continent.

We had been travelling since the night before and were exhausted, so we took a quick nap before heading out to a local park I found online. The park, by the way, is casually called "Park at the end of the world."

The area was surprisingly empty but it was just at the beginning of fall and not enough snow had fallen for skiers. After snapping a couple of pictures, we stepped inside a high-end ski shop. Not really our style. Before heading up the trail to see our first glacier, we stopped at the little mountain retreat for some hot chocolate to keep us warm.

a view from the parking lot

since it was the off season, they were doing some work on the ski runs

There was a lodge at the bottom of the trail where people gathered to warm up. Some people were renting metal mountaineering spikes for their shoes. We were wearing hiking boots and didn't plan on actually going all the way up. Today was just a preview for a later full-on hike in the coming days.

you can see the slick ice covered with a thin veneer of snow

I'm going to take artistic license and just say that this stream is glacier runoff

The temperature was in the mid 30s. Cold, but not brutally so. Snow drifted down in big, fat, fluffy flakes and mixed with crusty slush slowly melting on the ground. The world was quiet, with the only sounds being the running water of the stream. I could smell the smoke from the wood stove in the retreat. As you can see in the pictures, the leaves had started changing but weren't quite yet in full fall explosion. Around this time, I looked at Mila and clarified that for ME this is heaven. 

I don't know how much that hot chocolate is helping her

When I posted on IG back in April 24, I promised to add in some bridge pictures for Gabriel

This bridge was ridiculously slippery. Not that the dropoff was much, but we both thought we were going over the side.

You can just make out the group ahead of us up there

bridge #2 also slippery, this time with more of a drop!

After that second bridge, we decided to turn back. It was only a preview, remember? We had other places to check out before the day was through.

the obligatory little picture spot

the mountainside retreat

lunch!

After making our way back down the path, we caught an Uber down south of town near the airport to the Malvinas Memorial Park. (we also learned that Ubers weren't allowed in the parking lot, so we had to walk a ways down the road to be picked up)

As I wrote in my first Argentina post, the plan is to finish up this series with a post about the Falklands/Malvinas War. I'll likely do a whole podcast series once I get that off the ground in a few years (thanks shutdown for pushing my master's timeline back).

Being as how Ushuaia is relatively close to Las Malvinas, a big memorial makes sense.

We decided to walk back to town along the canal.

and, you know, take pictures with the city's signage

The Wall (looking north)

another section of the mountain chain, east of the city

So Gus Fring didn't die, he just moved to Argentina? I thought he was Chilean

maybe I haven't written about this before, but penguins are a top 5 animal for me and one of the reasons I wanted to go down this far south was to find some

Once reaching town, we set our destination for the local museum, but took time to stop and looked at some displays and monuments sprinkled throughout the downtown area.

The ubiquity of Evita

Eva Peron plaza with a bust and some information about her even though she never visited the area

another reminder of Las Malvinas

a display about the ecology and geology of Las Malvinas situated in front of the city government building

We visited the "History of Tierra del Fuego" museum located in the old city government building. A guided group started just before we got in so we slyly walked close by while I pretended to not be eavesdropping on the interesting (or not) tidbits that the guide was sharing.

the old seat of government

American aggression?

so many birds

mast head, plaque in the following picture

The two-parted museum was interesting and gave us some interesting info on the town and area in general. From there, we decided to go check out the touristy main drag, Avenida San Martin. Ever been to a touristy ski town?  OK, you've basically got it. It's go ski shops, cheap souvenirs, chocolate shops, coffee shops, tour companies, and dozens of restaurants.

3/3, the one we didn't actually stop in

We grabbed some local beer at dinner (Patagonia Amber Lager) before heading back to the hotel fully knackered.

The next day was set to be a big one as we were going to the end of the world at the southern edges of Patagonia (depending on your definition of Patagonia). I really wish we could remember the name of the tour guide because he was one of the best we've had. I dug through my emails and he was never named in there. Sebastian maybe? Anyway, we were part of a little tour group that boarded a little bus and headed to "Tierra del Fuego" National Park.

we immediately went to the beach. That's Chile to the south

and southeast

what's up with my hand?

We were given a while to wander up and down the beach and take pictures before getting back in the busito to head to the next stop. 

the southernmost post office in the world

a nice unfrozen bridge

not posing, taking it in

We took the bus a bit inland before getting off and going for a short walk through the woods. It was on this walk that I started getting annoyed with the other people in our group. They were drunk (still?) and talking loudly about anything but the park and natural beauty they were tramping through. They were also grossed out by the mud.

I think this area is called Lapataia

I think this is Enano Glacier

Lago Roca/Lake Acigami runs to the northeast, crossing into Chile

It was on this beach that Mila started crying, taken aback by the beauty of the lake, fall trees, and glacier-capped mountains.

                                                                            smooth

Again, we were given plenty of time on the beach to enjoy the beauty, take in the calm (well, except for the loudmouths), and take pictures.

I took a few that I sent to friends, extolling it as the most amazing place I have ever seen.

of course

The indigenous Yamana people called this Acigami, meaning elongated bag/basket

The original name was brought back into official use some 15 years ago, but Google Maps still has Lago Roca on the Argentinian side and Lago Errazuriz on the Chilean.

From there, we got back in the bus and headed to the end of Argentina route 3. 

yet another "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" sign

always stopping to read informational signs

The trail and boardwalk goes for about a kilometer over a peat bog to a bay. We also saw calafates for the first time while here. Calafates are small blueberry-like fruits native to Patagaonia. 

she caught me in my happy place, looking at neature

The boardwalk runs about a kilometer and ends here, at a mirador.

National Park Tierra Del Fuego
Lapataia Bay
Republic of Argentina
Here ends National Route #3
Bueno Aires 3,079 kilometers
Alaska 17,848 kilometers

No Trespassing
Bird Nesting Area

But wait, there's more! From the boardwalk, we got back on the bus and headed to the train station. I guess you could call it a polar express. Unfortunately, there was no hot, hot, hot chocolate. On the flip side, we didn't have to deal with any type of uncanny valleys. Only canny ones.

The train, obviously not the original, was small. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to get good pics while inside a train car.

noggins in my way

Here you can see the remnants of the original use of the railway. The train took prisoners from the jail  5-10 miles out from town to cut down trees for lumber export. We all had personal listening devices telling us stories of the tracks' and prison's past as well as area geographical and ecological information. The prison is now a museum and will be part of my next post. 

Halfway through, we stopped for a picture break.

hey, we found yet another waterfall!

two trains had stopped at the time so tourists were milling around, looking for unique picture angles

not exactly the big steam engine they use in their promotional materials

you could buy professional pictures up there

nice bridge

happy about that bridge

end of the line. well, beginning too

look what she found

After getting back to the station, our tour was over. 

OKKKAAAYYYY I think that's quite enough for one post. In the next one, I'll finish up our time in the land of fire at the end of the world.