Colonia del Sacramento, Carmelo, and across the River Plate back to Buenos Aires.

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Colonia del Sacramento, in the far west of Uruguay and on the opposite bank of the River Plate from Buenos Aires, is more than just the gateway from Uruguay to Argentina. It has to rank up there as one of the prettiest towns I’ve visited. It’s one of the oldest towns in Uruguay, having been founded by the Portuguese to counter the Spanish growth in Buenos Aires. Consequently it is rich in both history and architecture, having changed constantly from Spanish to Portuguese control. Not much has changed in the historic city in the last century or two, so the whole area within what remains of the city walls retains a historic feeling. The most noticeable building has to be the lighthouse, which is built in the middle of a ruined Franciscan abbey. From the top (50p to go up), the views were pretty remarkable. The River Plate envelops Colonia on 3 sides, and besides the ferry port there are riverfront boulevards, a pier, small beaches and sheltered marinas. It was just fun to wonder the winding, cobbled streets with no particular purpose. There are 8 or so museums, which you pay £1.50 for admission to all of them, though frankly none of them were really worth it. What was more interesting were the many vintage cars parked around the town, in varying degrees of decay, of which some had received an artistic makeover on the inside. All in all, it was just a really nice town to spend a day or two in. At night it was eerily quiet. The hoards of tourists during the day disappeared by sunset and by 9pm the centre was completely deserted except for the many stray dogs that seem to live there.

80km to the north of Colonia is the port town of Carmelo. After having a quick look around the town I wondered why I had bothered to make the journey there, as the town centre was fairly unremarkable. But then I found the beaches (on the River Uruguay) and the wooded areas that adjoin them, and as it was a sunny day, it was good fun exploring.

I’d bought a ticket for the following day for the Seacat ferry to Buenos Aires. Very fast crossing (less than an hour) and border controls were again easy. As I’ve already been to Buenos Aires, and will be coming back here in November, I was really only passing through. I’ve bought a ticket on the night bus to Cordoba (where I’ve also already been to), but I still had a day in Buenos Aires. I was surprised by how busy everywhere seemed to be. I was told that this is because the Argentines have their winter holidays around now, so everything is busier and sometimes more expensive. As it was a Thursday, I made sure I was in the main square, the Plaza de Mayo, for the demonstration that takes place there every Thursday by parents who lost children in the “Dirty War” under the Argentinean dictatorship in the 70s and 80s, demanding to know what happened to their sons and daughters. Very moving. I also visited an historic ship that is moored in the port, the Argentinean frigate Sarmiento. Really interesting, but I was more amazed at how busy it was.

The pound has increased in value by about 10% against the Argentinean peso since I was last here in May, but prices seem to have gone up by even more, especially the bus ticket to Cordoba. That said, after having come from the much more expensive countries of Uruguay and Brazil, Argentina does seem to be cheap. So the next stop on my trip is Cordoba (again) and then the Andean northwest, before crossing into Bolivia.

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Photos

The River Plate
And a stray dog