Day 49: 18/8/12
So today I flew to Ushuaia. It was my fourth time in Buenos Aires airport- I'm fairly getting the hang of the place!! It's only the domestic airport so it's quite small.
The flight was grand. It was supposed to take 3hrs 45mins but the wind was in our favour so it only took 3 hours! There was a nice guy beside me who took it upon himself to order my drinks for me and pass them into me. Once again he had no English though!
The landing was great- I don't think I have ever landed in a more picturesque place. It's right by the sea so there is water all around and the town is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It looks gorgeous!
I got a taxi to the hostel and there was a nice guy on reception that was able to answer all my questions for a change!!
When I got my stuff settled I decided to potter around the town. I think it's the prettiest place I've been in so far- which is quite an accolade! I was quite happy to mosy around taking pictures of boats and mountains and the town! There's a walkway jutting out from the main town so you could get a nice view of the town with the mountains behind. On the way there was a park dedicated to soldiers that died in some where. From what I could gather it was in 1982. I lot of people seemed to have died so I must do some research and see what it was. If anyone out there has nothing to do they can let me know what it was all about (Padraig, I think that task has your name written all over it!!).
The guy in the reception had reccomended one particular museum so I headed there. It was on the other end of the main street so I got to walk along the water prom where all the boats were. There I came across the sign that's in the picture, proving that I am at the end of the world- this is the most southerly town in the world.
The museum is called museo de maritimo and it is in an old prison. It seems the Argentinians thought it would be a good idea to create a penal colony and send all the prisoners down here. There was lots of interesting information about the prison. They had more freedom than other prisons as there is nowhere to go! They didn't need a big wall. There was an odd escapee though. Generally they worked on crafts or cutting down trees in the woods or clearing snow from the roads. They had sports and a band. They used to arrive on a boat. For a long time that was the only way to get here from the mainland. They also had stories bout various prisoners. One lad that killed about seven people was supposedly of Irish descent! The museum had lots of different sections though- one about famous boats that have sailed in the area, one about Ushuaia in the past and one about the race to the Antartic. It seems when Europeans arrived here first they discovered the locals were more like monkeys/gorillas as they had to spend their lives crouched down in canoes and huts. Charles Darwin was here and it was suggested that it was from these people he got the idea that we evolved from apes. Don't know if that's true! The English when they came hijacked a few of the locals so they could 'educate' them! The museum was very interesting- there was tons of information! I got tired after a while though!!
After that I had dinner in a nice cafe and went back to the hostel. There's another girl in the room who doesn't have much English but I gather she was skiing today! A lot of people are dressed like they were skiing. It's not that cold though. I was expecting much colder. I've just had a t-shirt and jumper on today, haven't even needed a coat. It's a bit windy and there is a chill in it alright but you couldn't really call it freezing or anything. The hostel is roasting. They obviously have the heat on! The swear will be out through me tonight!!
I went for another walk later to get some water. There's an Irish pub near me so I had a look in there. There was a few people alright, all sitting down at tables. I didn't bother going in this evening cos I have a tour in the morning but the next day I have a late start as far as I know so I might give it a try tomorrow night.
While writing this I managed to spill a bottle of water all over myself and the bed- fun times!!