Antarctica Expedition Begins from Ushuaia | Pole to Pole Ep. 2

So finally, today our seventh continent journey is getting ready. This cruise is a very small cruise, and we’re going to face a lot of rough waves. It’s going to be quite difficult. We’ll be crossing the world’s most dangerous Drake Passage.

So brother, this is the Antarctica stamp. Thank you so much. We got India written on it and brought it along — top level stuff.
Our ship is very small. It’s said to be the smallest ship in the world that goes to Antarctica. As you can see, this side is Chile, and on that side is Argentina. They say that the city with the highest number of souvenir shops in the world is Ushuaia.

Good morning, salaam, namaste, sat sri akal, ram ram to everyone.
At this moment, I’m in Ushuaia — the last city of the world, literally the southernmost city on Earth. We’ve been here for the last 15 days.

In the previous video, you saw me talking about Antarctica. Now I’m taking you on a very special tour for the next 20–25 days. Don’t worry — there will be loads of videos. The cycling is only 2 km, and the rest of the time we’ll be making videos, playing with ocean waves, and enjoying snowstorms.

We’re heading to Antarctica for 20–25 days on a cruise that won’t just go to Antarctica, but will also take us around nearby areas. I’ll take you to Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, and I’ll explain all their history later.

When you’re in Ushuaia, you can bargain with cruise companies, because at the last minute, some seats are left vacant. You can strike a really good deal — and brother, I managed to get one.

How much money it cost is a big story, which I’ll tell you comfortably once I’m on the cruise. Paying was very difficult at the last moment because they ask for wire transfers. Wire transfers give them security, but for a last-minute deal, I didn’t have that much cash.

A big thanks to Kamal bhai (Kamal Sharma ji) who supported me massively, and also to other friends who helped. It was a weekend — Saturday, Sunday — plus Monday was a holiday in the US, so transferring money was extremely difficult.

I haven’t slept in the last 12 hours. My head was about to burst — where to arrange money from, how much, from whom — but with your blessings, we’re going. That’s it — we’re going.

Before leaving, we need to buy some gear because Antarctica requires a lot of specialised equipment. This cruise is a small, adventurous one, with only 70–80 people onboard. One of my brothers will be travelling with me — you already know that from the previous video.

On this cruise, we have to carry our own gear. This isn’t a luxury cruise — it’s pure adventure. Surprisingly, luxury cruises are cheaper here because they’re big ships carrying 400–500 people.

In Antarctica, only 100 people are allowed on land at one time, so on big ships, you get very little time ashore. But with a small ship, everyone goes together and spends the whole day exploring Antarctica — daily landings, walking around with penguins.

Let’s go to a shop now to rent jackets, boots, and other gear. The temperature will be around –20°C to –30°C.

One more interesting thing — this is the first cruise of the season, so we’ll be the ones making the path, and the world will follow behind us.
It’s also among the longest Antarctica cruises, almost 23 days, if the weather cooperates. If not, it could take even a month.

Because the ship is small, seasickness will be intense. Here they say “sí, sí” in Spanish — yes, yes — and I’ve been hearing sí, sí for the last 15 days!

This is a local dog here — strong and rugged, like mountain dogs back home. Look at him — absolutely solid!

And there, in front of you, is our cruise ship. This is the one taking us to Antarctica.
Departure time is 4:00 pm, and right now it’s 1:26 pm.

Earlier, I had requested support for the cruise, but my conscience didn’t agree. I’ve been travelling for 10 years without asking for help, so I deleted the fundraising. Some friends still sent small amounts — thank you to them.

If this deal hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have gone. Normally, it costs around 10 lakh rupees, plus we now need a South Georgia visa. In the last 12 hours, I’ve done things you can’t even imagine.

Now we’re back in the city and heading to a rental shop to get jackets and boots for the next 20 days in extreme cold.

One more important thing — we’re not going alone. AK is coming with us, and something even more important is travelling too — our Dhan-no. How could I leave Dhan-no behind? She’s coming with us. It’s going to be fun.

Now the question is — will they allow Dhan-no to step foot in Antarctica or not?

But we can take her ashore on the other islands. For now, I had to pack her inside a box. The last 12 hours were extremely tough. I had to request money from people one by one—asking someone to send a little from here, someone from there—because bringing money into India from abroad is easy, but taking money out of India is very difficult. You have to follow many procedures for that. In the end, everything worked out. We did nothing illegal.

You can see here that this place used to be a prison. Many years ago in Ushuaia, the first jail was built here. And at this photo shop, I’ve already spent around $500 on items—basically buying two or three postcards. These cards are extremely expensive. Something that should have cost $40–50 ended up costing me $150. It’s tough, honestly.

But this city is incredibly beautiful. Mountains surround it from all sides. Just looking at this city gives you a beautiful feeling. Now we’re searching for a rental shop where we can rent gear.

The first settlement in this city happened in 1884. This hotel was built in 1900. This restaurant outside is also from 1900. Look at how old these buildings are. On this side of the road, you’ll find many old buildings.

The real fun is yet to come, which we’ll experience in Antarctica. Look, there’s even a Hard Rock Café here, and you’ll find all international brands. I also spotted brands like Columbia here. So it’s not like you won’t find things—everything is available here. The only problem is that everything is very expensive.

Now let’s see if we find a shop. Look at that shop in front—that’s a duty-free shop. They say the entire city of Ushuaia is duty-free, meaning no tax is charged. That’s why many tourists come here. You can see “Duty Free Shop” written everywhere. But honestly, it’s duty-free only in name—the prices are still very high.

I told you, all brands are available here. This place is like a mall, with almost every brand inside. Solomon products are especially common here.

One more interesting thing—there are souvenir shops everywhere. They say Ushuaia has the highest number of souvenir shops within a single city in the world. It’s actually a record. You can see tour shops as well, selling local tours.

So here I am at this shop—Jumping Rental. We were advised to rent our gear from two specific shops. There was another big shop above this one, but it’s temporarily closed. So now we’ll have to go somewhere else to see if we can find a bike.

Most rental shops here close in the afternoon—from 12:00 pm to 4:30 pm—and then reopen until 9:00 pm. We’ll try to figure something out.

This is another shop we’ve come to. You can rent shoes, goggles—everything here. They’re asking $250 for the jacket, trousers, and gloves. Hopefully, they’ll agree to $200. I don’t need the trousers and gloves since I already have those.

Finally, we rented the gear. They took my credit card details as security in case anything gets damaged. I had to pay a large amount, which normally should’ve been around $85, but it cost much more. Eventually, it was settled at $190.

Now we’re saying goodbye to the hostel. All our luggage is packed. The bicycle has been packed into a box. This isn’t India—things work differently here. Thank you so much.

We even got “India” written on our box. Absolutely top-class. We’re now 15,000 km away and heading another 1,000 km further.

Look at how much luggage is on my bicycle—one, two, three, four, five—and the bicycle itself. The problem is that the port is about 500 metres away, and we can’t find a large Uber. So I’ll carry the bicycle myself for 500 metres, while the rest of the luggage goes in the Uber.

Secure it properly—tighten it well. It must not fall. People had commented earlier saying to strap it properly, so here it is. Thank you so much. Gracias, bro.

I’m exhausted. Dhanno really wore me out. I carried this 30–35 kg box for 500 metres—it was extremely difficult. You’ll see this board in many photos; it’s very common here.

Now the ferry is ready. Our cruise is ready. That’s the port entrance, and this is the Tourism Department. We’re going inside to get our Antarctica stamp before entering the port.

Technically, no stamp is required to visit Antarctica, but you can get one if you want. It’s neither legal nor illegal—it’s just for memory. I’ve now got the Antarctica stamp on my passport. We now have visas or stamps from almost all continents. We’ve visited 131 countries so far.

I truly need your blessings. Please keep supporting me. The cruise is about to depart in half an hour. We’re slightly late because transporting all the luggage took time.

This cruise is very small. The smaller the cruise, the more expensive it is. That’s why our cruise is costly. Normally, 200–300 people travel on such cruises, but only 70 people are travelling with us. Please keep the love alive throughout this series. I really need your blessings—I’m completely out of budget.

Finally, we said goodbye to Ushuaia and entered the port. The luggage is here. I’ll need to make four trips to carry everything. There’s no immigration process here. I’ve left the bicycle parked there for now. I’m completely out of breath. It looks close, but it’s around 1 km in total. Our ship is waiting for us.

Before excitement comes exhaustion—what can I say? It’s a small cruise. I haven’t even properly seen how it is yet. How it will be, what it will be like—no idea. But finally, today, our seventh continent is getting ready.

This cruise is very small. There will be a lot of shaking. We are going to face many difficulties. We will be crossing the world’s most dangerous route—the Drake Passage. From here, the destination is not far now. We will be on this cruise for almost a month. The tour will be around 22 to 25 days long.

I’m completely out of breath from carrying luggage. And look at this—what a beautiful view of this city. Ushuaia has truly won my heart. This cruise is about 25 feet inside; over there it’s around 17–18 feet, and here it’s 25. Just look at how it fits here.

Let me tell you a bit about this ship. This ship is 50–60 years old. If it’s from around 1970, that makes it nearly 55–60 years old. Earlier, it was a US icebreaker. The US sold it, and for the last 25 years, it has been taking people to Antarctica. This is a very special cruise—it can even break ice. It works as an icebreaker.

This is also the first cruise of the season. It will reach Antarctica around 1st November. You can’t go there before that.

First, everything will be checked, then you’ll be allowed inside. Luggage will be loaded. The cruise is almost ready.

They took all our luggage and tagged it. Everything has a number now. Actually, they don’t allow anything without a box—otherwise I could have brought it directly.

I told them I’ve travelled from here all the way to Alaska. I’ve already travelled to 130 countries.

Finally, it’s time to go. Security is quite strict. The staff is slowly taking everyone inside. Some staff look Indian or Pakistani. We’re heading out for 22 days. From South America, we’ll stop directly in Antarctica.

Dhanno is inside, and I’m going in too. So here we go—off to Antarctica for the next 22–25 days.

Finally, we’ve entered the cruise. This is the reception. There’s a line. In total, there are 70 people on this cruise. Since we’re always late, we arrived last—as always. Every time, I’m the last person.

We’ve completed our registration. Now they’re giving us an introduction—what’s where, what’s what. We took room number 208 together. Which bed will who take? Doesn’t really matter. We decided.

So here we are inside the cruise. Room number 208. This will be my home for the next 21–25 days. I’m a wanderer—wanderers don’t really have homes. It’s been 10 years since I’ve had a permanent home. All I have is your love and blessings.

There are two simple beds. Nothing fancy. Officially, this room costs $6,000, but we bargained and got it much cheaper. There’s no luxury because the ship is very small. These are explorer ships, not luxury cruises. They carry more equipment and less comfort due to limited space.

This small ship will be our home for the next 25 days. Look at the beds—they even have support rails so we don’t fall, because the ship will rock a lot. We’re going through the world’s most dangerous route—the Drake Passage, which you’ve probably seen many times on National Geographic.

The mattress is fine. I usually have issues with mattresses. I haven’t travelled much in the last four months, so I’ve become a bit healthier. All our luggage is already inside and secured so it doesn’t move. There’s a small window to enjoy the views, and a tiny bathroom. Honestly, the bathroom is much better than I expected.

Now we’ll have a briefing. They’ll explain everything—what to do, what not to do, and all safety precautions. We’ve been called to the deck.

All I ask for is your love and support. How can you support? Just share this video with 10 friends. That’s all. God will take care of the rest.

The ropes are being removed now. The cruise is ready to move. We’re being called via speakers installed everywhere. They’re calling us for instructions.

The expedition leader introduced himself and welcomed everyone. Everyone was offered juice and wine. We took juice.

Dinner has started. We’re both vegetarian. Non-vegetarian food is available, but halal isn’t, so we’ll stick to vegetarian meals. There might be an Indian or Pakistani cook onboard.

After eating, we came outside. Look at the beautiful views of the city. It’s 6 pm and we still haven’t departed yet—probably delayed. Tomorrow, I’ll give you a full ship tour.

There are only three Indians on this ship. There are quite a few Chinese passengers—at least 10–15.

Now we’ve received the signal. The ship has started moving. That behind us is Ushuaia city. On my right side is Chile, and on the other side is Argentina. The water body we’re crossing is called the Beagle Channel. After this, we’ll head into the open sea.

First, we had a safety drill—what to do in case of emergency. After that, we returned to our room. It’s already 8 pm, and it’s still not dark. We’re still in the channel, not yet in the open sea.

Dinner is done. Now we’re back in our room. The ship has started rocking—we’ve entered the sea. There’s a bit of sea sickness because the ship is small. I haven’t taken medicine yet; my friend already has.

It’s been a very long and heavy day. Normally, I don’t make such long and detailed videos, but thanks to AK—he encouraged me to do it properly. I’m learning and improving because this Pole-to-Pole journey is going to be very beautiful.

Live updates will be on Instagram. Tomorrow, we’ll be at sea all day. While at sea, we’re not allowed to shower. So tonight, we’ll shower and sleep.

We’ll end today’s video here. If you liked it, please comment, share the love, and don’t forget to share it with 10 people.

Stay happy, stay busy, stay joyful, stay healthy.

Jai Hind. Jai Maharashtra. Jai Bharat.