Many thanks to Dr. Ken Baik for wonderful pictures and old memories !!

This is one of the most beautiful and pristine places in the world.
However, there are hardly anyone living in this area.
It seems all empty except nature's extreme weather.
Here, gigantic glaciers are still carving the underlying bed rocks.
But passing through the tip of South America in a comfortable cruise ship is a truly wonderful experience.
I would recommend a cruise to anyone between Valparaiso and Buenos Aires, passing through Magellan Strait.
It's a must. Any self-respecting traveler should do it !!
If you buy a cruise visiting the Antarctic Peninsula, it will be even more memorable.
Unfortunately, only recently, they say that cruise ships are forbidden to enter Antarctica due to ecological reasons.
If not going to Antarctica, the seas are mostly very calm except the leg to Cape Horn (a part of Drake Channel).

I passed here twice including Antarctica:
Once as a humble mountain climber (for Mount Vinson, highest peak in Antarctica)
in stinking hiking boots, carrying a sleeping bag, and eating freeze-dried foods,
and the second time, as a cruise ship passenger in a tuxedo and dancing shoes.
But the cruise cost much less than the expedition though.
Oh, man, what a difference !! However, they were equally wonderful.

There are a couple of things that I want to do but I have not done.
Hiking the Tierra del Fuego and Torres del Paine National Park,
and, while there, playing golf at Ushuaia Golf Club (the southern-most golf course).
(I have played the northern-most one at Fairbank Golf and Country Club, Alaska.)
Yes, I will have to go there one more time.

얼마전에 조의열 동문(66)의 Antartica 여행기와 사진들을 즐긴적이
있었는데 이번 또 길영이형의 귀중한 사진들을 보여주셔서 감사드립니다.

세상은 넓고 갈곳은 많지만 운영자님의 추천도있고하니 이곳에 priority를
두어야 되겠네요.  감사합니다.   규정

Princess cruise brochure  says  Jan Feb. (summer there) 2012  prices ranges $999-2499 for 14 days.
There may be nothing but snow in June or July.

You have to wait another year, Dr. Hwang!

Generally, cruise ships don't go all the way to Rio. (Some of them might go though.)
They tend to stop or start at Buenos Aires instead, depending on which direction you are running.

Anyway, $999 for 14 days is an excellent deal. This should be for inside cabins.
You don't really need "veranda" room or outside cabin because you watch the sceneries at the top deck
where you can see "both side" and "front and back" of the narrow channel you are cruising.
In the room, you can see only one side and hardly any front or back side.