Ushuaia, the southernmost town in the world and the gateway for Antarctic cruises. Interesting, friendly, touristy and totally unique. It is the only area of Argentina that lies on the east side of the Andes. It is still summer here but it is not like a summer with which I am familiar. Most days the temperature is about 4' to 12' ; 15' if it is really warm. I'm told it can, on occasion, get all the way up to 23'. I asked the concierge in the hotel what it's like in winter. He summed it up succinctly, "it's like Antarctica".
The houses are built to weather the conditions. In large part they have corrugated metal roofs or rounded tiles - I guess the snow can slide off easier. Newer houses appear to have double pane windows. But most homes are older and have one of two types of windows. They have their regular window, and about 6 inches out they have a whole second set of windows. Which does tell one how thick the walls must be. Others have wooden shutters attached to the outside oftheir windows and which they close at night.
Not only do the homes have to withstand the incredible cold in the cold seasons, but the wind is ferocious. What I have read about Ushuaia tells me that the winds are softened by Martial mountain range to the north. However, just sitting in the cafe in my hotel yesterday - a new hotel - the wind was so strong that the windows rattled the whole time and we could see trees swaying wildly.
And the people here? Well of course there are tourists of every nationality. And there are fit, young adventurers who are here to climb, hike, explore the mountains and glaciers, kayak, and generally do adventurous stuff without care for life, limb, or weather. Good for them. And you can join bus tour that will take you, over about two or three weeks, over the Andes, through Patagonia, and up to Santiago in Chile.
The locals are on the whole very friendly. They laugh at my Spanish, or the lack of it. I laugh with them. And then there are the 'rappers' as I call them. Young people - usually young men of course - in old beat up cars cruise the main street with car windows open and stereos blaring some Argentinian version of rap or hip hop. The town is surrounded by the Andes mountains - beautiful with the fresh snow that fell last night. And this is summer? And opposite the mountains is the water of the Beagle Channel that flows out into the southern ocean and the infamous Drake Passage. Most of the streets and roads are dirt with only a few paved ones. I imagine that it would be way too costly to continually repair pavement every year considering the harsh winters.
Just out of town, an inexpensive cab ride, is the Martial Glacier. The area is popular for hiking, taking the chairlift to the top, and for speeding along one of the ziplines.
,l
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