Nowhere South of here

Woke to a lovely sunny, crisp day with a light breeze. A few Americans were in the lobby waiting to get a bus to the airport and flight home. They looked like they had a good time.

It is a short run to Ushuaia and all paved roads (well apart from the roadworks) and again, very little traffic. To put Argentina in to perspective; it is the 8th largest country in the world (slightly smaller than India) but only has 40m people!

What I had not expected was how dramatic the scenery would be along the way,. It far more like their Lake district than the adjacent barren scene of recent days.  This is another enormous lake ringed by tree covered mountains.

First, it is mountainous and second, heavily wooded. I haven't seen trees in any numbers since Bariloche and I was expecting the terrain to be much like the last 1,000 miles. The trees look like they take a beating in the wind and they are festooned with lichen/moss dripping from their limbs. One curious thing - the Argentinians use a picture of a windswept tree to show "windy areas" (the whole bloody place is windy) even in patagonia where there are no trees to mention. The Chileans use the traditional wind sock. I knew you would be fascinated!


The bored youth of today are the same the world over. They do like grafitti and even out here in the middle of nowhere some clown sprays the rocks. Still it doesnt take away from the ride, Matt Monroe would have fitted in perfectly as the road winds around the mountains, sometimes with precipitous drops.

The journey slows as you meet heavy trucks winding their way to Ushuaia and it can be an age before you can get by - even on a bike. It is not a chore to trundle through this scenery though.

There was a little rain, a few roadworks and some decent pot holes but no issues to report! It was getting cold though and 4 degrees was the lowest the bike recorded, I still haven't put my bike trouser lining in & was regretting that.

Eventually you drop down out of the mountains, round one last corner and see the city entrance - two large wooden "gate houses" with Ushuaia written on them top to bottom.

You pass through the port area first, a few large ships tied up, lots of containers stacked together and some industrial buildings with the centre further along the coast. More importantly you see the sea - in this case mirror calm. Surrounding you are high, snowed capped mountains.

 
It is not a large town so finding the hotel was pretty easy. This is the view from the reception area & my room shares the same view.

I would not describe the town as pretty, it is rather "thrown together" with necessity being the order of the day..It is a shame that the most prominent building in the centre of town & on the waterfront, is a Casino & an ugly one at that.

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The rear tyre is looking well used and with a fair bit of gravel riding to do to get back up country I decdied to put the new one on. There is meant to be a good guy down here called Pablo Motos but i couldn't find his shop. Driving around i saw a car repair workshop with a Bridgestone sign. I went in and they guy looked a bit concerned & no there didn't do "Motos" but he agreed, that if i took the wheel off and on he would do the tyre. He cleared me a space and i whipped the rear wheel off. It is a really clever design so it is only 5 bolts and it is off (shaft drive so no chains to work about). He got his man to do the tyre and that was that. He had gone for his siesta so i didn't get a chance to say "thank you" or offer him any money. I tipped the mechanic and went on my way.  

A few  people consider Ushuaia only being worthy of a visit as it is the "most southerly" town on Earth, but it is more than that & if i could take a decent picture you would see.

I am very glad to have come down here and it is more than I was expecting. I will not be hanging around as I would like to get a little futher north before the weather changes, I also have a couple of ferries to catch.

The only way is North from here!