El Fin del Mundo

Above the city of Ushuaia

Yes, it is far: the flight to Ushuaia is 3-and-a-half-hour long from Buenos Aires (not counting the 4 hour delay at the airport which is much easier on one when one is on extended vacations), and it really feels like the end of the world. Nature is wild and right here in your face. An hour hike brings you to glacier Martial, a few hours in a boat to Cape Horn, where Atlantic meets Pacific. I have two more days to experience this unique location before heading north to El Calafate and the - I have heard - majestic Perito Moreno. This is low season and the city is empty, which is nice because I did not come here to see tourists. I came here to see what it looks like where the world ends. And also to get that cheesy passport stamp if I find where they do it...

Day One

A typical porteño bus in the streets of Palermo, Buenos Aires

This is it. After a week of preparation (i.e. 7 vaccines, stocks of drugs against any disease found in a typical medical encyclopedia) and mild apprehension, my journey finally begins.

I arrived in Buenos Aires after an uneventful (and half-empty) 13-hour flight from Paris on April 28. I could not have hoped for a better welcome gift than the weather: it is beautiful (30º C) on this side of the world too (I just had a spectacular week in France). The hostel I booked for my first night in BA is great, except for a minor tweak - it moved since the publication of the guide, which led to my first communication challenge with a cab driver, but I know there are many more are to come. The place is full of people with strange ideas like taking one year off work to travel the world. After a day of visiting Buenos Aires (more on the city when I return after heading south) and a night of good food and conversations (carne asada and wine beats jet lag), I leave tomorrow to Ushuaia at 8am. I will not be further from home at any point of my trip than there. "El fin del mundo", as the Argentines proudly call it, some 3000 kms south of Buenos Aires. I think it is quite an appropriate place to start exploring.

A cute meat shop in Palermo Viejo, Buenos Aires

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Come back soon!