Ushuaia, The End of the World!

Sleigh ride!
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It was difficult to get to Ushuaia as we had to go via Rio Gallegos, a town which has nothing to it on the east coast of Argentina.  Due to times of buses we decided to stay one night in Rio Gallegos which was very depressing!! Rush straight through if at all possible!

However it was worth it to get to Ushuaia - the world's southernmost city apparently! We had a lovely time staying in 2 cool hostels including the Posada Costa Serena and Free Style.  The first couple of days we made the most of a lovely hostel with TV in the room and chilled out trying to save some money.

It was amazing, a real once in a lifetime opportunity which we'd recommend to anyone!

Knee deep in snow!
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We then decided to do a couple of days of snowboarding at one of the many winter sports centres around the city.  At first we weren't impressed as it was raining and the snow seemed slushy, but we were brave and took the chair lift up to the top of the pistes where there's a beginners area and the snow was better up there and no rain, only snow. Leigh can totally snowboard now! Mal improved but still hasn't quite mastered it..... However we braved the slopes for the first time! It wasn't too bad the part which restricts us is the ski lift!  For those who haven't been to a ski resort, its like a bar which you hold on to with the skis/snowboard attached to your feet and it pulls you up the hill. However we struggle to either get on the damn thing (in Leigh's case) or stay on the damn thing (in Mal's case)!  Regardless of this we had a cool time and have well and truly caught the snowboarding bug!

Siberian (lazy!) huskies
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Due to money constraints we wanted to do something free, so chose to walk up to a glacier which is 6km from the city.  The walk to the base wasn't too bad although quite tiring! The 2km up to the glacier was fun to say the least! We firstly had to walk UP a ski piste which was out of use as its turned to ice!! We managed this with the help of sticks we found in the woods. Then we arrived to the foot of the mountain where the glacier is, and the snow in parts was up to our thighs! Every now and then we would fall straight through and get stuck in the snow! You gotta love South America, allowing any Tom Dick or Harry to attempt to walk up a glacier with no guide or ice cramps! However luckily we have a good sense of humour and spent much of the day laughing and pulling each other out of the snow. Eventually we had to turn back even though we didnt reach the glacier as it was getting dangerous the mountain was steep and covered in deep snow and ice but we had a good day attempting the climb!

Mountain we climbed (red line marks our route)
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One of the items on our must-do list was a huskie dog sleigh ride.  We caught a bus on the last day up to the winter centre and paid 50 pesos each (less than a tenner!) to do a 20 minute ride.  There were both Alaskan and Siberian dogs....the Siberian ones are much prettier with thicker fur and the traditional huskie look, however they are very lazy! Luckily the other group got these dogs to pull them and we got the Alaskan dogs - much faster and more enthusiastic!  It was amazing, a real once in a lifetime opportunity which we'd recommend to anyone!