Day 2: Tranquility at the End of the World

Finally arrived at Ushuaia around 2:30pm, I was so exhausted, I just kept dozing away even though I had a window seat. Ushuaia airport is so small, it is one of those tiny ones you would find in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota or Idaho. I was told to find the only shuttle bus to town called Four Tourist, of course nowhere to be found, asked a lady at the turismo office, she said there is no bus today, I was not sure it was because it is a Sunday, or there is no such a bus period. Anyway, she recommended me to take a cab, which is really not that much different from the bus, like 20 some pesos more, it is equivalent to 3 US dollars. So I did. Just got me to the B&B, I needed a shower so bad.

The B&B was up on a small hill, about 4-5 blocks from the city center. Not bad to walk really, but for some older people, I can see they would not like this place, too much exercise for a day to walk up and down the hill. But I thought it is really reasonably priced and quite charming actually, especially the host, omg kind of cute. He kept calling me Wai. I am like, OK, fine, be that way, I will be Wai for you today. Breakfast included, serving between 7:30-8:30am. Sounds early, but actually that’s how this town runs I guess, a lot of day tours starts around 8:30 or 9:00am, and then there are also some afternoon schedules as well.

After a shower, I went out to pay for my tours and most importantly to find out if the penguin tour will run tomorrow, and the answer I got was YES. Yay! So, I will march with the penguins tomorrow afternoon apparently. They probably stink like hell, mark my words, maybe I should bring a mask to be realistic. I also will do a Parque Nacional Terra Do Fogo con Tren del fin del mundo tomorrow morning, and Navigation on Beagle Channel on a catamaran to see the lighthose and lazy sunbathing seals on Tuesday morning. I could skip the End of the World train really, supposed to be the old train which they sent the prisoners to hard labor back in the good ol’ days, now a Tom Hank’s Polar Express kind of tourist train, sounded kind of gimmicky to me, I debated for a few minutes, but then what the heck, since I am already here, just 30 dollars difference, might as well just do it all, probably I will be able to take a better pictures on the train than on a bus. Tuesday afternoon I do not have any plan, I think I will just hang around town, eat, drink cafe con leche, walk around town. This city is very walkable.

A lot of shops were closed, Ushuaia is very quiet on a Sunday, made my ears echo kind of quiet. Not to the uncomfortable level, very peaceful actually, almost like some kind of a spiritual experience, a cleansing process, the nature speaks to you in its tranquilest ways. Ok, two days of that is probably enough. The pace of this town is very laid back. The streets are not as well maintained as I imagined, after all it is such a tourist town, I was kind of surprised by the murals on the walls, the countless potholes on the streets, the many many stray dogs hunting for foods on the wet, muddy and quiet streets, those motherless children. Nonetheless, I have not felt unsafe, even I did walk off alone to some quiet pond side to take reflections of the mountains. Nobody seemed to care, not even the stray dogs.

After eating the airplane foods for a day and half, I really craved for some real dinner, so after I got my passport stamped at the tourist office, and got some water and fruits at the supermarket, I walked the main street twice to look for a decent restaurant that serves a regular meal other than sandwich or pizza. Found this one restaurant, they have a king crab risotto on the menu really called my name off the menu, violently.... I went in, but they were not open. Darn, then why the hell were you there to tempt me. Ended up I had a chicken and spinach ravioli in Bolognese sauce in another restaurant. Not a bad second choice. Felt very satisfied. I think I will have to try that other restaurant tomorrow or Tuesday.  

It is only 8:30pm, but I think I will go to bed soon. I should try to catch up some sleeps. Tomorrow will be an early one. 7:30am breakfast, 8:15am pick up to the Tierra del Fuego National Park.