Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Adventure Begins...When The Road Ends

Ushuaia is known as el fin del mundo (the end of the world). It is the largest city in this isolated part of the world. However, there is actually a smaller town that is 20km further south of Ushuaia called Lapataia. I traveled to Lapataia and sought out the actual end of the road.
This is the end of the road, the marker, Emi and me. Okay, it is official. I hit the end of the road.
The signs says, "Here ends route No. 3"
Here is the view at the end of the road.
And a little beyond.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The End...Ushuaia


End of the road...end of the world...end of the rainbow.

But there is always something around the corner.

Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina...The End Of The World

Well... I made it. An ordinary guy... on an extraordinary adventure. The adventure began in Texas.
Texas a la Tierra... Austin, Texas, USA to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina... The End of the World...El Fin Del Mundo.
About 13,000 miles (20,000 km) over 5 months.
My trusty girl Emi along for the ride.
Through sun, heat, clouds, cold, wind and rain.
Over asphalt, gravel, dirt and sand... land, air and sea.
Great people, places and adventures along the way.
Time to jump for joy!
There is not much more for me to do...

...other than to head south.

The Final Stretch

From Puerto Natales I rode to Punta Arenas.


The road to Punta Arenas was asphalt, smooth and scenic, but a bit windy.


I came across this Colombian Adventure Scooter rider who was riding from Colombia to Ushuaia on a Yamaha 125 Scooter.
From Punta Arenas I took a 2 hour ferry ride to the town of Provenir. It was late, so I found an hotel and stayed the night in Provenir.

From Provenir to San Sebastion, the road was dirt and gravel and through the rain.
In San Sebastian I passed through the Argentinian border post.
The border agent incorrectly stamped my temporary driver permit with an exit stamp instead of an entry stamp. Luckily I caught the error and she corrected it.
I passed through the town of Rio Grande and I knew that I was close.
The scenery changed from desert to coast to forrest.
I was getting close and I knew the end of the road was approaching.
I took a break at this scenic overlook to take it all in.
The overlook had a nice view of a lake and the Girabaldi Pass.
And then I arrived in Ushuaia.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Puerto Montt and NAVIMAG'ing

I returned to Puerto Montt.
I visited the artisan market.
Where they produce various types of woven objects of wool...
And these wooden mates (mugs) for drinking yerba mate.
The artisan market was near the seafood market
Where they had various types of shellfish...
Sea urchins...
And packaged smoked salmon. I bought a package.
There were a number of friendly dogs hanging around ready to pick up scraps.

But I wasn't in Puerto Montt to shop or eat seafood.
I was there to NAVIMAG!
While these people were waiting to board the NAVIMAG
I was boarding with Emi into the cargo deck.
I met some fellow adventure motorcyclists while boarding the NAVIMAG. Jordan and Sandra are from Canada and riding around South America on BMW F650s... and NAVIMAGing.
We set sail.

It was smooth sailing.
There were a number of people on board that I'd met in the previous week while staying at different hostels... Grant (USA) Eva (Germany) and Joyeeta (USA)
To pass time we played cards, mostly spades. Thomas (Holland), Eva (Germany), Joyeeta (USA) and Monique (Holland).
Settlers of Catan...
The dice version...
and Bingo.
We would eat this this cafeteria.
We'd pass time in this lounge.
We traveled through channels and fjords.
The captain kept us on course from the bridge.
It was cloudy for much of the trip.
But even from inside the scenery was pretty cool.
And once once in a while the skies opened up.
To reveal some of the surrounding mountains and fjords.
Our little ferry was dwarfed by the immensity of our surroundings.
A highlight of the trip was when we passed by this glacier.
Before I knew it, we had reached Puerto Natales and it was time to deboard.

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