Is This a Freaking Sweat Lodge?

I now have enough data from our travels, as well as input from fellow sojourners, to definitively say (with wide sweeping brush strokes) that every hotel room in southern Patagonia seems to be set to “sauna” on the thermostat (which is often under the sole control of the hotelier)!

Sadly, it is not uncommon for me to writhe in bed to dreams of smothering heat, which is ridiculous considering it’s really cold and windy outside. In fact, it’s so windy that it is usually not practical to leave your window open for some relief. Thus far, the best stretch of sleep I’ve gotten here in glacier land occurred when I propped open a balcony door 3 feet from my bed so that the cold Antarctic winds could buffet me all night long.

The latter is a great example of just how effective radiant floor heating (which I now call “sweaty feet heat”) can be at warming up a room…or in this case, a cabin.

2 Responses to “Is This a Freaking Sweat Lodge?”

  1. Jorge

    Maybe a case of slow acclimation? I lived in Canada and the NE US for years before moving to BA and the first winter in BA I walked outside wearing shorts and t-shirts while everyone else was using scarves, heavy winter coats and mittens…also my apt seemd a sauna to me and had to keep windows open at all times.
    Now I’m back to almost “normal”

  2. Michele

    I love, love love the image of you walking around in shorts white Porteños are bundled up for the “freezing” weather!

    Unfortunately though, the acclimation theory doesn’t hold water since it’s actually a bit colder here than it is in Oregon…I figured the rooms would all be colder than I could handle since there is pretty much no summer in southern Patagonia.

    On a side note, we met an Argentine man in Ushuaia who happened to have lived in Wisconsin for awhile, he said, “now that is some really cold weather.” He seemed to wonder why anyone stayed!

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