Ushuaia, The End Of The World
- Far, Far Away…
Traveling to the Southernmost city in the world is pretty exciting. Sure, it´s a silly symbol, but it´s fun to sit by the seaside and imagine Antarctica is right there, barely 1,000 kilometers away. To know that Canada is 13,000 North. To reach the end of the road, literally.
We were not prepared for how bizarre and expensive was Ushuaia though.
The city is built on a hill. We huffed and puffed our way up with our backpacks, trying to find a bed for the night. Hostals downhill had quoted 50 pesos a night, much more than we were prepared to pay. We ended up getting an expensive double room because the dorms were packed.
We walked the main street, San Martín. I felt like I was in a giant open-air airport: expensive restaurants, gear shops, duty free selling flat screen T.V and the latest computers. This was not a city that catered to backpackers. Indeed, cruise ships stop by everyday, crossing Cape Horn, and release hordes of Gore-Tex clad tourists willing to spend a lot of Pounds or Euro (always welcome everywhere) for an “end of the world” tee-shirt and a couple of plastic penguins. They are here for a day and leave.
Meanwhile, we were stuck in Ushuaia for at least 5 days, because… let´s just say that it´s not that easy to get out of the end of the world. We were also having troubles withdrawing money from the ATM. Most we could get was 500 pesos (about $200). However, we like to withdraw money for the week to avoid paying hefty commission fees over and over again. Well, we never truly understood how ATM worked in Ushuaia. It seemed to be the lottery: sometimes you could get 600 pesos, sometimes 300 pesos.
Prices had raised dramatically and nor our guidebook nor the tourist information office fact sheets were up to date. We still tried hard to make the most of our stay but it was not easy on a small budget.
We went to visit Glacier Martial nearby. We were pretty disappointed: there were more snow in our backyard on any given winter than in the valley we had came to admire. We visited the Tierra Del Fuego National Park, despite the 50 pesos entry fee (supposed to be 30 pesos according to the tourist info office…). The 4 hours hike was nice: we faced the Beagle channel, admired forest devastated by Canadian beavers (which were introduced in Tierra Del Fuego and are an ecological disaster), we loved the view on top of the mountain. Yet, the landscape was… very similar to Canada´s. Ushuaia itself was quite chaotic , but the harbor (minus the cruise ships) is nice and on a clear day, the surrounding mountains show the jagged peaks.
Yet, after five days, we were ready to go. Being at the end of the world is a cool experience but since our budget would not allow for Antarctica travel (tickets were sold everywhere in Ushuaia starting from $4,000), we figured there were other places to explore in Patagonia.
So we crossed the border back to Chile… en route to the “Park of Pain”.
 Welcome To Ushuaia! |
 Ushuaia´s Harbor |
 Going Up To The Glacier |
 Mountains And Snow |
 Tierra Del Fuego National Park |
 Tierra Del Fuego Scenery |
 Forest… |
 And Flower |
- Sunset In Ushuaia
This article was featured in the Sharing Travel Experiences travel monthly roundup in November 2009.
Related articles:
- The Road To The End Of The World
- An Argentinian Coin Story
- Costa Rica, Pacific Coast
- Beach Bumming In Uruguay
- Colorful Boca
15 Comments »
5 Pingbacks »
-
[…] first Argentinian city we went to was Ushuaia, in Tierra Del Fuego. Because of its geographical location — it is the Southernmost city in […]
-
[…] Patagonia, the cost of living. Ushuaia is very expensive, and so are the bus rides around. On one side, visiting Patagonia and Tierra Del […]
-
[…] were stuck in Ushuaia where we had to wait for the first bus of the week. From there, we crossed to Chile, stopping […]
-
[…] to know where the southernmost city in the world is? It’s Ushuaia as Zhu wrote in to tell us. What an adventure – go and have a peek, and don’t miss the […]
-
[…] presents Ushuaia, The End Of The World posted at Correr Es Mi Destino, saying, “Traveling to the Southernmost city in the world is […]
Leave a comment!
Expensive as it is, I would die to get to know Ushuaia! To think I’m from Argentina, lived there for 33 years and never got even near the place… I do know some of the Southern Andes area and it’s true, it definitely looks like Canada.
My aunt and uncle did an Antarctic cruise, and a friend of mine is a scientist and just got back from Antarctica, her 3rd year in a row. I’d love to go, but I think it would be more exciting to see the end of the world!
If you can, read Road Fever by Tim Cahill. Two guys set a record for driving from Ushuaia to Point Barrow, AK. It’s a very funny telling of their trip.
@Linguist-in-Waiting — Because we wanted to visit the Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile (see latest post), and the weather was not good at the time… plus it is easier to go through Puntas Arenas.
@Bluefish — I didn´t know the name either, thanks to Diane for educating me!
@kyh — It´s quite wild and different.
@DianeCA — Thanks for the name of the flower, I had no idea.
@silverneurotic — I was amazed myself. I mean, 4000$ is a lot of money but yet it is affordable I guess. But lots of cruise don´t actually disembarque on Antartica, I think they just sail nearby.
@Bill Miller — Yes, it is summer, it could explaint he glacier… yet, I think it is a pretty “lame” glacier compared to those I saw later in Argentina, or even in New Zealand a few years ago.
@Froggywoogie — You are the most spoiled man in the world. Comes with being French
@Sidney — It is fun to reach the end of the world
@Seraphine — Oh, definitely. Problems are just anecdotes, and stories later on… part of traveling.
@RennyBA — I had no idea! I should visit it one day… I meet a few Norwegians in Ushuaia and they found it quite similar to home.
@Gabriel — I think the city only boomed recently with the Antarctica… it was not that popular last time we were in Argentina in 2002. Let´s face it, it is really far and public transportation is difficult. It´s hell to get out of there… I´ll write about that later.
@Kirsten — Thanks for the book, I´ll try to find it. I wish I could have goneto Antarctica, but with a good crew, not on a 2000 people boat…
Salut Zhu,
Même si je n’écris pas, je suis silencieusement tes aventures en Amérique Latine. Ton commentaire a retenu mon attention :
“the Beagle channel, admired forest devastated by Canadian beavers (which were introduced in Tierra Del Fuego and are an ecological disaster)”.
Matias Callone en parle justement dans son blog :http://matiascallone.blogspot.com/2009/02/cinco-invasiones-foraneas-en-la.html
En passant, j’espère te faire découvrir le blog de cet argentin, tout plein de curiosités.
Merci encore de nous faire voyager avec toi, c’est comme si tu nous emmenais dans ton sac-à-dos !
Zhu,
Expensive but beautiful!!
Now you made me curious about Tierra del Fuego — I must find the courage to go there!
Thanks for another fantastic chapter of your trip!
Cheers