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Published: March 1st 2010
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We now know why other backpackers called Uruguay the ¨budget breaker¨ and opted to camp during their stay here as it is expensive! For this reason, we decided only to make a quick stop in Colonia (2 nights) and Montevideo (3 nights). While we did consider camping at one point, we decided it wasn´t worth having to buy camping equipment for only a few nights, especially since we would just leave it behind.
We arrived in Colonia on the 17th at 12:30pm following a 3 hour ride on a very large and luxurious slow boat. We stayed at the ´El Viajero´ hostel which cost us U$1000/2ppl/night for the first night in a matrimonial with private bathroom and TV which was expensive but nice. We decided to stay an additional night but had to switch to the only other private room available which contained 2 small beds in a tiny room, no TV and shared bathroom for U$650/2ppl/night. (Uruguay pesos: USD = 20:1). We probably should have just changed hostels, especially since the staff were useless, always giving wrong directions and seeming irritated by simple questions. Makes you wonder why they would choose to work in a hostel if they don´t
want to have to provide information about the town to tourists.
(*I understand that at times we must seem like the cheapest people ever when complaining about prices and how expensive countries are, especially in comparison to what we pay back home. However, after staying in countries where rooms of the same quality - private room and bath with TV - only cost us $6 USD/person/night are now costing us anywhere up to $25 USD/person/night, it makes for a hard adjustment. It is especially hard on the budget when traveling for 6 months).
Colonia del Sacramento is the oldest town in Uruguay and is a World Heritage Site due to its historic quarter. It is a beautiful small town filled with old buildings and houses, a large church and light tower. The water front is very nice (Colonia faces Buenos Aires) and that´s where you can find little restaurants, shops and a handcraft market. In modern Colonia del Sacramento you can find several government buildings, a polytechnic center, textile businesses and a free trade zone. There are also alot of souvenir shops as Colonia is very popular with tourists. The most beautiful areas to walk through are definitely
the historic quarter and the water front but the restaurants in these areas are very expensive (our first lunch in Colonia cost us $50 USD for 2 small meals and 1 beer). Needless to say we cooked our own meals at the hostel for the rest of our stay.
We took the 2 hour bus to Montevideo on the morning of the 19th and checked into ´Hotel Iberia´ which was also pricey at U$960/2ppl/night but was nice so we decided to stay for 3 nights instead of 2. Most of our time was spent wandering around looking at the buildings, especially in the old city. We also walked along the waterfront and checked out the small beach area but due to rain we never bothered to lay out. We did have one really nice meal at a steak house which was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide. The food was very good but not the best steak we have had so far in Argentina. Overall it was a nice relaxing few days 😊
Next we are returning to Buenos Aires for a couple nights in order to get our bus tickets and accommodation arranged for Puerto Iguazú. We
are looking very forward to finally seeing Iguazú Falls!
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(*On a side note, I recently added 2 short videos of Braeden and I sand boarding to the Huacachina blog if anyone is interested in checking it out)
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