March 8, 2006
Today we woke up in Puerto Natales, Chile. We said our sad good-byes to our Sanford n' Son Suite, off for another adventure. Today's trek started with carrying our bags about 4 blocks to the train station. To combat destruction to our backpacks, Terri and I bought gigantic duffle bags to house the packs. This makes things pretty darn difficult when carrying 60+ pounds around, but we made it OK. Arriving on time for the 8AM bus, we were again happy to see that our seats were rather comfy on a legitimate bus, as today's journey was scheduled southward for 12 hours. We had both immigration borders to cross, and YES, the Chilean border again had the soap opera on the TV--although this time at least the guards looked at us. Let's hope our border control is a bit more alert... Anyway, the road was again desolate, windy, and jumped back and forth between actual paved and dusty dirt roads. If you wanted to find a more remote spot on Earth, I challenge you to show me one more so than on these "highway" roads. There was little more to look at than wild sheep, birds, and rolling desert hills. So 11 hours later, we finally arrived to our destination-- Ushuaia, Argentina. Ushuaia has self-proclaimed itself as "The End of the Earth," as demonstrated by the countless T-Shirt shops and promotional materials scattered about. It reminds me a lot of the villages of Seward or Homer in Alaska, as it's a port town on the VERY southern tip of South America. Mountains, islands, glaciers, king crab, and a great outdoor scene are what makes this town famous. Upon initial view, it has a bit of a touristy feel to it, as it's the official launching point for the large boats to Antarctica. However, I think there must be a good reason for so many people to find their way down here, so we'll see.We checked into our new hostel, La Mustapic, a fairly decent place thankfully with private rooms for us. It has the largest bathroom we've seen for the entire trip, so it can't be that bad, can it? A quick stroll through downtown found some window shopping and then Terri's delight--King Crab!! This stuff looks perhaps a bit smaller than Alaskan Crab, but the legs are thicker and the crab itself looks a bit more spiny. The prices are a bit steeper here (by ARG standards), as this town is so remote. Still not bad though. Fifty bucks (US) bought us 2 crab dinners, 2 sides, a bottle of local wine, and 2 desserts. I was pleased with dinner, but Terri thinks we can do better. She's the expert, so we'll keep on plugging away. The crab is definitely fresh though, and there are some fun things to look forward to in this area. And Thank God we're done with that 11 hour busride!!!A few notes about this trip in general... So far I have found two ways in which, if you choose, you could completely REVOLUTIONIZE Argentina.1. Come down here and offer services as a grafitti removal operator. If you've got the equipment and know-how, there isn't one building I've found that does not need a good scrubbing. Also in Chile, there isn't a storefront that is not void of Spanish nonsense, Nazi symols, or anti-Bush slogans. It's quite out of control. Even decent looking homes have grafitti all over them. The really nice homes will have 10 foot high metal fencing around them to protect them.2. FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, does anyone around here know a good locksmith?! How about someone who actually has a key and lock that is functional? Hotel rooms don't follow the US format of "put the key in the hole in an obvious manner, turn, and unlatch the door." No, that'd be too easy. Here, they are still back in the ice-age in locksmith technology. They have these old "grandfather clock" looking keys that are symmetrical and you can't tell up from down, right from left. The keyhole is just a wide-open hole, and upon attempt to enter your domain, it it takes the delicate touch of a surgeon to actually approximate the key to the necessary contact points of the lock. I'm not kidding, it can take upwards of 10-20 tries before one of us will luck out and actually get the ?&"%$"% thing to work. So if you're looking for a life change and have the necessary skills, I've laid out your big shot at MILLIONS. These Argentinians have no idea what kinds of advances are waiting for them!
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