时下临近十二月底，酷暑正席卷南半球。然而，当清晨站在甲板上随船从太平洋朝大西洋方向穿越麦哲伦海峡时，我牙齿打颤，浑身被冻僵了。 

      By December, a hot summer came to south atmosphere. However, the cold still numbed my teeth as we waited on the sun deck for the glaciers and sheer mountains to appear over the horizon in Strait of Magellan between the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.

      Due to tidal constrains, we had to delay our arrival time by 2 hours in Ushuaia of Argentina this afternoon. Unexpectedly Glaciers Alley became our retreat. The cruise glided to Beagle Channel named after ship that carried the English naturalist, Charles Darwin, on a five-year voyage around the tip of Southern America. Glaciers Alley boasted a passage lined with spectacular hanging glaciers, icy rivers, dancing waterfalls and the walls of granite on each side. Spain, Romanche, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, etc. were given to each of 12 glaciers in European colonial flavors.

      因为潮汐关系，我们不得不推迟下午靠岸时间，即延后两个小时抵达阿根廷乌斯怀亚。这么一来，事先未列入计划的冰川通道出人意料地出现在我们的行程之中。游轮沿比格尔海峡行驶，那条水路得名于当年英国博物学家查尔斯•达尔文五年环南美航行考察所乘坐的“小猎犬号”。位于比格尔海峡上的冰川通道由十二个冰川组成，每一个冰川则以欧洲殖民国家命名，悬垂的冰川、浪漫的冰河、舞动的瀑布以及挺拔的高山，使得两侧西班牙冰川、罗曼彻冰川、德意志冰川、意大利冰川、法兰西冰川、荷兰冰川等更加奇特迷人。

      As the first stupendous glacier came into view, all my drowsiness melted away and was replaced by stunning awe immediately. The natural surroundings here evoked a feeling of infinite peace and made me feel like reliving the Ice Age again. The immense silence didn't seem to be interrupted until the creaks of glacier movement took place and the splash of waterfalls tumbled into the alley. We soaked up the marvelous scenery and inhaled the fresh sea air with a pleasant current. The glaciers were so large that I doubted five "Star Princess" cruise ships wouldn't even fill half of the ice. But something didn't sound quite right. There were thin icicles hanging down. The ice was melting slowly and tiny piece of ice carved off the glacier was instantly turning into water. Just like the others, tiny chunks were nibbled away by growing heat. I no longer needed my heavy coat.

      随着第一座冰川映入眼帘，我立刻睡意全无，满脸充满惊喜。大自然洋溢着永恒祥和的气息，仿佛带我重新回到“冰期”时代。整个冰川通道万籁俱寂，唯有当冰块移动时而造成的断裂声或者瀑布跌落时而发出的拍打声，才偶尔敲碎深沉的宁静。我们陶醉在宛如仙境的景致当中，深感波浪轻快，空气宜人。眼前冰川如此之大，我怀疑即使五艘“星辰•公主” 号游轮也装不下它。这时周围好像有什么不对头，很多冰柱列队倒挂，冰晶慢慢溶化，一点一滴地变成水珠，气温回升涣然冰释，我也随之脱掉了穿在身上的厚外套。

      When we finally sat down for lunch, I ordered some random items from the menu. The spicy soup tasted more like and the sandwich turned really messy. But I wasn't hungry at all. What I was really excited was to go onto any dry land again. Before I knew it, I boarded a tour bus to drive to the end of the world- Ushuaia, Argentina.

      午餐时我随便点了些东西，辣汤味道偏酸，三明治吃得乱七八糟，反正我一点不饿，倒是十分期待找个干燥的地方呆着。未容细想，我已经坐上开往世界最南端阿根廷乌斯怀亚的旅游大巴。

      Ushuaia used to be a former Argentine penal colony in the past. Now it proudly became not only a southernmost city in the world, but also a gateway to the wilderness in both Argentina and Antarctica.

      乌斯怀亚过去曾为流放重刑罪犯的荒郊野岭，现在不仅是众人向往的世外桃源，而且还是阿根廷内陆和南极洲极地探险的交通枢纽。

      As I looked out the window through Martial Mountains whose glaciers reshaped the river pathway into a U-shaped valley, I spotted a small cleaning where no popular beeches but stumps grew in Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) National Park. The beavers built up their community around the Pipo riverside and peat bogs. A stack of roughly cut logs neatly arranged to form a dam. The dam was already a speck among the trees and mushroom.

      进入阿根廷火地岛国家公园内，我透过车窗遥望武侠山脉，U形山谷俨然是冰川融化后长期雕饰的杰作，周边有一大片荒地，几乎见不到该地区普遍流行的山毛榉，被折断的树桩横七竖八堆躺在皮泊河边及沼泽地上，原来水獭常年在这里筑坝修堤安营扎寨，蚕食了许多本来可以长大成材的树林。

      "Wait, mushroom?" I thought. Small yellow peach-like mushrooms, the size of my thumb were dotted with the entangled twigs. Just at the moment, the tour guide pointed at them and gave a quick reference about them. They were edible Darwin fungi and had a nickname as "Indian Breads". They lived on the trees all the time.

      “瞧一瞧，那是蘑菇吗？”形如桃样的黄色蘑菇簇拥在树枝树干上下，大小跟我拇指差不多。正在此时，导游指着解释道，它们可作食用，学名叫达尔文真菌，俗称“印度面包”，喜欢与山毛榉结伴同生。

      Chinese lanterns (Mizodendrum punctulatum) set up another example hemiparasitically lived on the deciduous trees. No matter whether the host trees were happy with these "lanterns" or not, they bundled in a colorful patch like land of fire.

      “中国灯笼”善于半寄生地打坐在落叶乔木上，不管宿主乐意不乐意，“灯笼”高吊枝头，红一片、黄一片、青一片，如火如荼，非常好看。

      Nearby, a single duck waded across the water as we passed by a small creek toward its nest in the center. We ran into a red fox that was patrolling this area haughtily. I wondered how they coexisted peacefully.

      附近不远，一只鸭子正朝水中游去，它的老窝筑在我们刚刚经过的小溪中央。途中，我们恰巧遇到一只红狐狸旁若无人地穿过马路，不知两个家伙怎样和平共处？

      Down the unpaved road, Lake Fagnano was divided in part and shared by Argentina and Chile. Wild and snow-capped Andes Mountains began to come into view high up on the surrounding slopes. V-shaped valleys were carved by rivers as they passed over the land.

      法尼亚诺湖位于土路尽端，智利与阿根廷两国各居一侧平分秋色。远处视野间，奔放雄伟终年积雪的安第斯山脉层峦叠嶂，各支河流争相在山峦间切割出一条V型峡谷。

      Then we headed for the end-of-world post office in Ensenada Bay along Beagle Channel. The owner was the only man to greet a crowded of visitors from all over the world and stamped tons of the End-of-World postcards every day. Beagle Channel looked longer than a naked eye could see. Soon we were immersed in the beauty of glaciers plummet to the icy water and ever-changing island panorama in the backdrop.

      比格尔海峡上的恩塞纳达湾有一所邮局可谓盖世无双，老板是独一无二的雇员，每天不仅接待来自世界各地大量的游客，还要给无数张明信片加盖“世界最南端”纪念邮戳。比格尔海峡一眼望不到头，跟着它一路走一路瞧，我们不觉沉醉于寒冷刺骨景色旖旎的奇山异岛之中而不能自拔。

      We made our last stop in Lapataia Bay on the Pan-American Highway, an astounding marvel of civil engineering that began in Alaska and stretched nearly 29,800 miles/47,958 kilometers in total length across two continents. Guinness' Book of World Records listed the highway as the world's longest "passable road."  If one biked from Alaska to Ushuaia, it would take at least 1.5 years to come down to the end of world. I wondered what type of a manic would do such kind of thing.

      我们最后鉴赏了火地岛拉帕泰阿湾畔的泛美公路，这条举世瞩目的交通干线北起美国阿拉斯加，南至阿根廷乌斯怀亚，横亘北美和南美两大洲，全长共达29,800 英里／47,958公里，作为全世界最长的可以通行的公路被纳入《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》。假如有人要骑自行车越野穿行的话，那么至少需要一年半的时间。我想象不出何许狂人会作出这等壮举。

      As a light rain began to fall, it was time for us to cruise away. We knew that we would come back again. Next time, we would surely take Icebreaker to Antarctica from Ushuaia instead of flight!

      小雨乍起，我们也该返程了。乌斯怀亚，我们后会有期。相信不久的将来探险南极时，我们定会到这里专乘破冰船而不再坐飞机，依赖天气主宰命运实在不靠谱！

(二O一二年十二月廿八日)