Buenos Aires to Ushuaia

I thought i´d struck lucky on the plane when I persuade the check-in guy to give me an emergency isle seat but hadn´t bet on the Argentinian´s on the flight turning the galley area into an impromtu tapas bar and partying just feet away from me all night long. It didn´t really matter though as for the first time in a very long time I´M ON HOLIDAY!!!!

Having recently visited the Paris of the East (Shanghai) after 13hrs of flight I found myself in the Paris of South America - Buenos Aires, where it seems life revolves around the tango and steak.
Sunday the San Telmo area becomes a sprawling street market where at every intersection the cafes spill out on to the streets and dancers strut their stuff to any one of the numerous bands. The ambiance is relaxed but the passion is high and its almost impossible not to get intoxicated by it all.
Outside of the San Telmo area the city has a much more commerical feel and the pace quickens ensuring you know BA is where business is at and theres money to be made.

I´d arrived in BA sunday morning and had booked a flight down to Ushuaia for Monday afternoon but didn´t end up there until the wee hours of Tuesday morning thanks to El Nino. Yep, 2007 is El Nino year and the storms somewhere in central Argentina had knocked out the air traffic control & radar systems plunging the country back into the dark ages and leaving passengers stranded. I should count myself lucky at only being delayed 4 hours, some other passengers were going nowhere for the forseeable future.
El Nino had also brought early snow to Ushuaia so on my first morning I awoke to breathtaking blue skies and snow capped mountains. Ushuaia is sandwiched between these mountains and the Beagle channel and touts itself as the Southern most city on earth. In the hostel I met up with an English guy (Alex) and a Swede (Johan) and the 3 of us set off up the hills behind town to the nearby glacier.
I have to say the glacier was somewhat unimpressive but the views from the top and getting to lark about in the snow definitly made up for it.
I left Ushuaia yesterday having been blown away by the scenery on the Beagle channel and had a great couple of hours trekking in the Tierra Del Fuego national park. I´ll post photos once I get to a place with a fast enough connection to let me upload.

Leaving Ushuaia was tough in that I felt I could have easily spent another couple of days soaking up the scenery and that the radar and air traffic systems are still not fixed so the flight to El Calafate was delayed by 3 hours. I have to say it was one of the best delays i´ve had in a while as Alex, Johan and I sat on a grass verge outside the small terminal in the sunshine with a bottle of cheap Argentinan Shiraz and a glorious view of the mountains. Thats what backpackings all about, impromptu friends and no fixed agenda.



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