Ushuaia - Part
Dos...
Dos...
| El Tren al Fin del Mundo |
February 12, 2006
9:00am
It seems like so long ago that we were in this city. But now we are back. My bus leaves on the morning of the 14th so I still have a
good amount of time here. Alicia leaves at 10:30am for the airport. We are sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for a café to open but
they are still all closed. Don’t they understand that people need tea and coffee at this hour?
Midnight
I spotted Alex this morning while Alicia and I were at a café. He ended up coming in and joining us. While we were there, Ralph then
walked by. He came in, too. A few minutes later it was time for Alicia to grab a taxi to the airport. Then there were three.
We went out to the mountain where there’s a chairlift. Between all of us being hungover and none of us knowing the translation in
Spanish for ‘chairlift’ the taxi driver had absolutely no clue where we wanted to go. Charades wasn’t working so hot either. In the
final seconds our taxi driver asked “Teleferica?” This got me excited. He knew where we wanted to go.
We got to the top of the mountain and the three of us were wrecked. Most people walk from the top of the mountain to the glacier.
Not us. We walked right into a café and just sat there feeling like we had been hit by a train. Then we took the chairlift down. Yup,
we were good for nothing today.
We went to our old stomping ground – El Tante Sera – and met up with others from our boat. This was also the point where many
good-byes were said.
I thought I was going to be more than excited to have a bit of ‘me’ time. Instead, I found myself in a slight mini-funk. This always
happens. I should have expected it. But I didn’t. Oops. I ended up getting in touch with Naama and we met up for dinner. It doesn’t
really hurt taking advantage of the last couple days where I have friends to meet up with.
February 13, 2007
I decided to spend my last day in Ushuaia doing something more than sitting at a café on the main street. I was going to the Tierra
del Fuego National Park.
I had been seeing signs all over for ‘El Tren Fin del Mundo’ – The Train to ‘The End of the World’. It looked like a cute choo-choo
train and I thought it would provide a great way out to the park.
This was one of those not-so-rare times when I was dead wrong. It has been a while since I have done something so tacky and
cheesy. But I am actually happy that I did it because I would have possibly felt like I missed something cool if I didn’t. I’m
reminded of what my friend in New Zealand said – “I would rather regret doing something than regret not doing it.”
Another man from the boat – Randy – also took the lame train with me. We ventured out together. The hike around the Beagle
Channel in Tierra del Fuego National Park was very easy but at that same time very peaceful. The weather held out with only a few
light showers here and there. Towards the end of the hike, we saw an amazing ‘nature’ sight – there was a fox within five meters of
us with a rabbit in his mouth. He was walking around with it how my dog used to walk around with his stuffed animal toys. Simply
incredible. I now understand that people love nature for simple sights like this. You never know what you are going to see.
Naama met me at my hotel a bit later and then we wandered around running errands before heading out tomorrow morning.
Several of us were going to meet around 9:00pm for dinner at…where else?...El Tante Sera. We were hanging out in my room so I
could give Naama some of my pictures. This also gave us a chance to take advantage of the television that I had. And then at 8:
30pm Seinfeld came on. Naama is a fellow Seinfeld-viewer. It was the episode where George’s worlds collide and also where
Kramer does the Moviephone. We both laid on the bed laughing our a*ses off. Earlier today we were talking about people and hugs.
I told her that my sister’s hugs suck. Alicia’s hug when she said good-bye left a little something to be desired, too. Neither of them
watch Seinfeld. I give amazing hugs. Naama does, too. I was wondering if there was a correlation between being a Seinfeld-fan and
the type of hugger a person is. We didn’t have much time to ponder this theory as it was time to meet some peeps for dinner.
Nancy, Kees, Ali, Naama and I had our last meal together in Ushuaia. I know I will find this ease again with others I meet along the
way…but I am going to miss it in the meantime. It was a great way to leave Ushuaia – hanging out with my new buddies.
Now I am packing up my stuff for an early 12-hour bus ride en route to Chile.
Ciao, Ushuaia.
9:00am
It seems like so long ago that we were in this city. But now we are back. My bus leaves on the morning of the 14th so I still have a
good amount of time here. Alicia leaves at 10:30am for the airport. We are sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for a café to open but
they are still all closed. Don’t they understand that people need tea and coffee at this hour?
Midnight
I spotted Alex this morning while Alicia and I were at a café. He ended up coming in and joining us. While we were there, Ralph then
walked by. He came in, too. A few minutes later it was time for Alicia to grab a taxi to the airport. Then there were three.
We went out to the mountain where there’s a chairlift. Between all of us being hungover and none of us knowing the translation in
Spanish for ‘chairlift’ the taxi driver had absolutely no clue where we wanted to go. Charades wasn’t working so hot either. In the
final seconds our taxi driver asked “Teleferica?” This got me excited. He knew where we wanted to go.
We got to the top of the mountain and the three of us were wrecked. Most people walk from the top of the mountain to the glacier.
Not us. We walked right into a café and just sat there feeling like we had been hit by a train. Then we took the chairlift down. Yup,
we were good for nothing today.
We went to our old stomping ground – El Tante Sera – and met up with others from our boat. This was also the point where many
good-byes were said.
I thought I was going to be more than excited to have a bit of ‘me’ time. Instead, I found myself in a slight mini-funk. This always
happens. I should have expected it. But I didn’t. Oops. I ended up getting in touch with Naama and we met up for dinner. It doesn’t
really hurt taking advantage of the last couple days where I have friends to meet up with.
February 13, 2007
I decided to spend my last day in Ushuaia doing something more than sitting at a café on the main street. I was going to the Tierra
del Fuego National Park.
I had been seeing signs all over for ‘El Tren Fin del Mundo’ – The Train to ‘The End of the World’. It looked like a cute choo-choo
train and I thought it would provide a great way out to the park.
This was one of those not-so-rare times when I was dead wrong. It has been a while since I have done something so tacky and
cheesy. But I am actually happy that I did it because I would have possibly felt like I missed something cool if I didn’t. I’m
reminded of what my friend in New Zealand said – “I would rather regret doing something than regret not doing it.”
Another man from the boat – Randy – also took the lame train with me. We ventured out together. The hike around the Beagle
Channel in Tierra del Fuego National Park was very easy but at that same time very peaceful. The weather held out with only a few
light showers here and there. Towards the end of the hike, we saw an amazing ‘nature’ sight – there was a fox within five meters of
us with a rabbit in his mouth. He was walking around with it how my dog used to walk around with his stuffed animal toys. Simply
incredible. I now understand that people love nature for simple sights like this. You never know what you are going to see.
Naama met me at my hotel a bit later and then we wandered around running errands before heading out tomorrow morning.
Several of us were going to meet around 9:00pm for dinner at…where else?...El Tante Sera. We were hanging out in my room so I
could give Naama some of my pictures. This also gave us a chance to take advantage of the television that I had. And then at 8:
30pm Seinfeld came on. Naama is a fellow Seinfeld-viewer. It was the episode where George’s worlds collide and also where
Kramer does the Moviephone. We both laid on the bed laughing our a*ses off. Earlier today we were talking about people and hugs.
I told her that my sister’s hugs suck. Alicia’s hug when she said good-bye left a little something to be desired, too. Neither of them
watch Seinfeld. I give amazing hugs. Naama does, too. I was wondering if there was a correlation between being a Seinfeld-fan and
the type of hugger a person is. We didn’t have much time to ponder this theory as it was time to meet some peeps for dinner.
Nancy, Kees, Ali, Naama and I had our last meal together in Ushuaia. I know I will find this ease again with others I meet along the
way…but I am going to miss it in the meantime. It was a great way to leave Ushuaia – hanging out with my new buddies.
Now I am packing up my stuff for an early 12-hour bus ride en route to Chile.
Ciao, Ushuaia.
| Back at the port. |
| Tierra del Fuego National Park. |
