The southernmost city in the world!

Sunday, 17th Dec, Ushuaia, Argentina
Ushuaia is everything that the southernmost city in the world should be and more. Although Aerolineas Argentinas made us wait 2 odd hours before we could board our flight from Buenos Aires, the turbulent ride indicated that getting to the Ushuaia will be special.

Our plane seemed to strain to touch the ground as if the convexity of earth at its southernmost point was making it hard for the protruding tyres to make contact. Finally, we landed with a thud and as we stepped out of the shed that passes off as airport terminal, we were greeted by a barren landscape that did full justice to being the last frontier of civilization on earth.

Los Nires is a delightful hotel. Its got a wonderful view of the Beagle Channel one one side and of brown mountains with a smattering of snow on the other. The rooms are cozy and spacious and the people are very helpful.

We spent yesterday walking the San Martin street in Ushuaia town. The town itself is a delight - stuck between snow capped mountains and a colorful port. The weather was cold, a bit windy with a slight drizzle.

Today, we went to Martial Glacier via a chairlift. The chairlift takes you to about a 1000 meters above sea level and then its a couple of kms to the glacier. It was fun to walk on the snow and we met Ashok, Rajendran and Rupel - people who would be with us on the Antarctic cruise. They were amazing fit for their age and actually walked down all the way while we took the chair lift back!

The Train at the end of the world - Tren del fin del mundo - is immensely avoidable. Like a lot of touristy stuff, it was a lot of fluff wiht no substance. Imagine being in a 60cm gauge train that moves at the speed of 10-15km per hour through territory that is nothing special save for a wide expanse of tree stumps and you would know what I´m talking about. And all this for 80 Pesos (abt 27USD) and 2 hours!! Never ever take the tren del fin del mundo even to save your life!

We have hired a car to drive around Ushuaia - there are a couple of good spots in a 100km radius around towm. Will let you know tomorrow how it goes
More later!
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