14-Jan-2004 - We arrived at the airport in Buenos Aires shortly after midnight. Our flight to Ushuaia was scheduled to leave at 5:30 AM. For whatever dinky reason, we had to grab our bags and recheck them to Ushuaia. However, there were some unfortunate complications; Pradip deteriorated from feeling fatigued and lethargic to outright sick.

At this point, Pradip was in outright stomach pain and after a bit of soul searching, came to the conclusion that he needed medical attention in Buenos Aires and would not continue on to Ushuaia with me. Since he was the resident Spanish speaker, Pradip called a hotel in Ushuaia and booked reservations. We talked for a bit on options and discussed possibilities on what to do in the medium to long term.

In any case, eventually my flight to Ushuaia boarded and I headed out to Ushuaia. Flying in to Ushuaia presented quite a view, for the city is tucked between the mountains and the Beagle Channel It looked quite like Alaska. The airport terminal was architected like something like a hunting lodge. Upon arrival, I got a taxi to the Hotel Maitén, where I had reservations. I was unable to fully check in because it was only 10 AM, but I was able to leave my stuff there. I got some lunch at a restaurant called "Opiparo", and learned that the lasagna and wine were still good this far south. I then went to a locutorio to call home, and went back to the hotel to fully check in.

Ushuaia

After settling in and cleaning up, I dropped off my laundry and went to a travel office to get bus tickets to Puntas Arenas. At first, my dilemma was whether I should leave on Friday (the 16th) or Saturday (the 17th.) After exercising my limited Spanish, I learned that all Friday buses were booked so ended up getting tickets to go on Saturday to Rio Grande and there I would board a bus on to Puntas Arenas in Chile. At this point, I was starting to get tired, so I decided that since I was going to be here a full another day, I would take today easy and I went back to the hotel to nap.

After the nap, I was somewhat itching to get moving. I checked my email for any word from Pradip, to no avail. Being alone was starting to get to me, so I went into town to check out the shops and get some food. Checking out the shops, it became evident that Ushuaia is somewhat touristy, and at the risk of sounding pretentious, it bothered me when one shop keeper informed me what some prices were in US dollars.

I got dinner at a place called Tante Sara, a place with a catchy slogan that translates as "Enjoy, it's the end of the world." After that, I poked my head into a casino (yes, there is a casino here, Ushuaia seems more and more like an Antarctic Club Med), lost some money, and then got a drink at a nearby bar. Then I got a taxi back to the hotel.

15-Jan-2004 - Got up, and went downtown. I checked my email and found got an email from Pradip. It seems that he has a serious gastrointestinal infection and will be in Buenos Aires for the rest of the trip, which is a bummer. After that I got some raviolis for lunch and I booked a ticket on a catamaran trip to see some of the local wildlife in the Beagle Channel. I had a few hours so after I got my laundry, I took thing easy until it was time to catch the catamaran.

The catamaran trip was pretty cool; I got to see sea lions, cormorants and penguins, as well as some good views of Ushuaia and Puerto Williams, the Chilean town on the south side of the Beagle Channel that is more deserving of the title of "The End Of the World" than Ushuaia. We went most of the way down the Beagle Channel until Isla Picton was in front of us then the catamaran turned around. On the way back we passed Estancia Moat, the second Estancia established on Tierra del Fuego.

Catamaran trip in the Beagle Channel

Once back in Ushuaia, I went to get some dinner. I ended up getting ñoquis again, with some chorizos on the side. I ended up dining with another traveler travelling alone; this guy was a Sri Lankan that was raised in England, currently living in Germany on a US air force base; which made a for a pretty international experience. He traveled extensively; apparently also to many Middle Eastern countries including Iraq during the 80s, so inevitably politics came up. He asked my opinion on the current situation and I gave it; that the war was neither truly about WMDs nor an attempt at appropriating oil resources, simply because there are cheaper ways to achieve either of those goals. I also dispelled that oft repeated myth (and outright lie) about how a supposed majority of Americans believe Iraq was responsible for 9/11. I explained how Bush is probably going to lose the next election due to fighting the war on false pretenses, and how the true purpose of the war was to end an undeclared war that has been continually fought since 1991, and at the same time to create a "Middle Eastern Japan"; a stable developed democracy, which of course would be an ally of the USA, at which time we would tell the Saudis to screw themselves. He seemed to agree, or more accurately, he did not dispute any of my points, but he said that he believes that Arab democracy is impossible while the populace is as poor as it is, and hence with nothing to lose and at the same time so prone to fundamentalism. I pretty much saw his points, but I pointed out how history seen bigger surprises.

After dinner, I went over to the casino again, lost a few pesos but took comfort in that I was losing pesos and not dollars, and got some sleep.

16-Jan-2004 - Got up, ate breakfast downtown and I checked email. I also got more money and had some converted over into dollars, in the event that the Chileans decide to enforce their fees for land crossings in addition to entry by air. The process of changing money took an absurdly long amount of waiting in line at the bank.

My next activity was to take a hike up to the Glacier Marital, a large glacier visible from Ushuaia and reputedly home to very beautiful view. It turned out to be quite a hike; first I walked 7 km from Ushuaia to the Aerosilla (chairlift.) At that point, there was a nice tea house where I stopped and had an Irish coffee and a piece of cake, and talked with a young German and Swiss couple. I then took the chairlift to the base of the trail and hiked on further. The trail started out relatively easy but got steeper and steeper until I was walking up steep chunks of rock. It was also quite windy; every once and a while a large gust of wind would almost blow me over.

Eventually I made it to the base of the glacier, in other words the point at which there was no other way to go except up sixty degree cliff faces. In many ways, the sight of the glacier was not as impressive as the view of Ushuaia and the bay.

Hiking to the Glaciar Martial

Dinner at the Parrilla; notice the carcass to the right

17-Jan-2004 - I had my PDA set to wake me up at 4:40 AM, but I actually woke up earlier with a stinging sensation in my eye. Upon realizing that nothing was actually in my eye, I figured that I had an infection, presumably caused by the high winds drying my eyes out during the hike. I considered going to the hospital, but I did not want to jeopardize my departure and risk cutting another leg off of my trip. In any case. I went to the minibus office and got the 6 AM minibus to Rio Grande, another town on the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego. I arrived in Rio Grande at 9 AM, and from there the bus to Punta Arenas would leave at 10:30 AM, so I took the time to visit a pharmacy. Through a combination of Spanish sentence fragments and gestures, I communicated my symptoms and they sold me some eyedrops.

From there, the bus ride to Punta Arenas was uneventful. The ride took about nine hours including annoyingly long stops in Argentine and Chilean customs art the border. I would have preferred to enjoy the scenery and to be outside during the ferry ride across the Strait of Magellan but my eye would not have that. Though, I started to feel better by the end of the ride.

Once in Punta Arenas, I went and got a room at the Hostal Carpa Mazano. The place looked tiny on the outside but on the inside, it was much like an American Motel. After checking in, I went and did some errands, such as changing my remaining Argentine money for Chilean pesos.

I also had to plan my onward travel to Santiago. Originally our main reason for visiting Punta Arenas was to try to visit Torres del Paine, a national park where one can hike along side immense glaciers. A few days ago, I was concerned that I might not have time to see Torres del Paine and be able to see Santiago and Valparaíso and make my flight home at the same time. However, the twist of fate caused by pinkeye made it it a done deal. The last thing I wanted was to be hiking around and wincing with pain at a brisk wind. So I decided that I would head to Santiago the following day. Unfortunately, the LANChile office was closed so I could not make those arrangements. So I then got dinner at a restaurant called "La Carioca" and wolfed down an entire cheese and chorizo pizza. I then noticed that I misplaced my eyedrops, so I went to the pharmacy and got more. After that, I went back to the hotel to get some sleep.