Due to my profession, I had the opportunity to visit 60-65 countries during the last 25 years. It is a unique privilege to observe the geography-culture of that country from up close. Nature is really strange, where millions of animals and plants have ecological cycles. Before embarking on this journey, I had already traveled to 5 continents. And now there were two continents left to travel – South America and Antarctica. This time there was an opportunity to reach both these continents.

A Norwegian friend of mine came to Nepal after visiting Antarctica 20 years ago and I was amazed when he described the mysterious beauty there. I thought that one day, if time allowed, I would definitely go to such a strange place. Home of penguins, snow-covered environmental discussion kept me thinking that 'I have to get there once'. 

The Drake Passage

Antarctica, which is the world's most dangerous sea voyage. To go to Antarctica, you have to get a visa to Argentina first, then you have to go to Buenos Aires, the capital, and from there you have to take another 4-hour flight to Usaya, a city with a human settlement in the southern hemisphere of the earth. 

We took a cruise from Usaya. After about 7 hours, the water in the Antarctic border area started. Now begins the most dangerous sea route Drake Passage! It is the most difficult and dangerous sea route in the world. This place is connected to the Atlantic Ocean on one side, the Pacific Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean on the other side.

The waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are warm and salty. When the very cold water of Antarctica mixes with each other, the pressure of tens of millions of times the power is falling, and from it, very big waves are being made. To reach Antarctica, the dangerous Drake Passage has to be traveled for about 48 hours on a cruise. By the 20th century, a large number of shipwrecks and people died here. 

The reason people are less interested in going to Antarctica is because of the dangerous route. People also have to take medicine because they get sick while traveling. Around 4-500 people sitting on the 10-story cruise starts shaking with excitement. Wind speed is between 200 and 300 km per hour. Rain also falls as snow. People may experience vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, confusion. Some drink alcohol.

I get up to do something, but immediately seem to forget and fall into nothingness. Do not feel like eating anything for 48 hours. After reaching that, there is a world of dreams that you have envisioned. However, getting there is a big challenge. After that, seeing setamye snow, blue colored icebergs, glaciers feels like reaching heaven. As we heard the description of heaven in the Puranas, it seems that it is here. 

Antarctica is a place where humans have not been able to encroach. 98% of the area is covered with snow. Only 2 percent of the area has stones, soil or even plants in some of them. 60-90% of the world's fresh water source is in Antarctica. Antarctica is an arid desert made of snow and the fifth largest continent. Here there are no nights in the summer and no days in the winter, with temperatures as cold as minus 89 degrees. Its area is 1 crore 42 lakh square kilometers. 

After World War II, there was a wave of the world's richest countries burying their flags in Antarctica. They were on a mission to establish their sovereignty here. During this competition, a treaty was reached in 1959. This treaty was made between 12 countries (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Soviet Union, UK and USA) that planted flags in Antarctica at that time. According to the treaty, this continent will remain independent and no one will own the territory of whoever buried the flag. May be used for peaceful purposes only, not to open a military base or test weapons. 

This treaty encourages international scientific research in Antarctica and the sharing of research findings among all countries, according to which scientists from all countries are free to conduct research in Antarctica. The treaty emphasizes the preservation of Antarctica's environment. The sanctity of this place must be respected and activities that disrupt the ecological cycle cannot be done. 

Today there are research centers from around 80 countries. However, everyone has respected the environment here. Contrary to the spirit of the treaty, some countries, including China, had also started exploration of gas or oil here. He also worked as a fisherman. However, now they are also stopped. 

Antarctica has millions of years of ice. The study says there is so much snow that if all the snow were to melt, the sea level on Earth would rise up to 140 feet. All the animals here are carnivores. Animals like penguins, seagulls (fish-eating birds), seals, whales are found. We got to see whales, seals, penguins and a variety of birds up close. Animals in the rest of the world live differently and the animals here also have a different world. Even in minus 89 degrees Celsius, penguins are frolicking here. There are also some birds, who live in Antarctica in the summer and go around the other continents of the world to escape the winter. 

penguins also saw many strange things. A male does not partner with another until he has a female in his life. During the season, the female releases the eggs. This process takes 65 to 75 days. Rooster does the duty of sitting and scratching. When one in two dies, there is a lack of predators, the cubs die from lack of food. 

People only get off the beach cruise twice a day. You can visit the nearby islands by sitting in a small boat called Jodayik - wear special weatherproof clothes and swim for one to one and a half hours to various hills and see penguins and seals. This land is very clean and holy. You can't even live in the snow here. There is whiteness all over, it seems - it is a layer of snow. There is no loud talking.

Penguin's lark is coming. If a penguin is coming, you have to leave the road. The rule is to stay at least 15 feet away from the penguins. We played a fun game called Polar Plunge. This sport is called Polar Plunge, which involves removing the layer of ice and diving in temperatures of minus 10 degrees. Most people cannot dive for more than 8 to 10 seconds. I dived for 33 seconds, which became our cruise record. After diving, I realized that if it falls into the sea due to an accident, it will freeze to death within two to three minutes. 

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While visiting Antarctica, I remembered some beautiful places in our country. Everest Base Camp is one such beautiful place. But how much have we maintained its sanctity? The question is important. Isn't the garbage accumulated in the base camp eating away at our state system? Rara is such a magnificently beautiful place, with so many possibilities. He thinks that the tourism business should be promoted only by maintaining the sanctity of the place. A visit to Antarctica gave that thought. 

 There are very luxurious cruises to Antarctica, which also have large seminar halls. Every day people from some research center come and give lectures. In a way, it is like going to study. Sometimes geologists, sometimes ornithologists come to take classes. On the way back there is enough information about Antarctica. However, traveling is risky and very expensive. The cost of one person is at least 25 to 35 lakhs. However, that journey remains memorable throughout life.