Patagonia
East Coast: Argentina
West Coast: Chile
Beagle Channel


Ushuaia
"The End of the World"

Is what they call it. At the post office, they will even stamp your passport with that text - Free!
Actually, across the Beagle Channel lies Puerto Williams and some places even lower south.
Not to mention Cape Horn, or, as the Dutch will have it, Kaap Hoorn.



The place is much larger than you'd expect, and much more established too. Figuring it was nothing but a tourist trap, a nice surprise that it was a working harbor with industry and all. Of course, all helped by a base of the ever-vigilant Armada Argentina, the proud Navy that back in 1982 made such a heroically hopeless effort to conquer the Falklands.


"Tierra del Fuego is waiting for you"

Don't even think that word F*lkl*nds while in Argentina. They will cut you up in little pieces or, at the very least, not buy you a drink. Truth is, the Armada (a word that sure brings back memories) is a very bad loser. They keep whining - just can't accept the fact that it's still the Falklands, not the Islas Malvinas:

     
   Even the registry office for veterans of that war shows English translations.
Guess they get precious few English veterans, though.

An Old Story
This place really got going when a prison was started out there. The prisoners had to build it themselves before they could move in; reminds you of Siberia and the Gulag Archipelago. Now, the building houses a maritime museum,
and a very fine one it is, too.

They can't have enjoyed the scenery much. A pity:



there is a
Tourist Flock


to take home the usual choice of horrible merchandise
When asking the way to our hotel, we were warned that the neighborhood was full of Chileans.
It was one of the best places we stayed in on this trip.

Imagine coming home with your heavy shopping bags
adjusting the satellite dish till it bores through the earth
then falling off the balcony...

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