Happy New Year!

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So we checked out of the Hilton in BA. It was a struggle we could have stayed for weeks! We caught the Buquebus which is not actually a bus but a high speed boat which crosses the Rio Plata to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruquay - our 9th South American country of 2005.

We really didnt know what to expect of Uruguay, the guide books bill it as the "Switzerland" of South America. We also knew that Uruguayans eat more beef than Argentinians and thats going some because the Argies pack away some 55kg each a year (wow that explains the prevelance of laxatives on the shelves here!).

Uruguayans drink even more yerba Mate than Argentinians too - its a herbal tea which they share from a gourd via a silver straw. Its a highly social custom and many people carry their gourd and thermos flask around town with them. And did you know that the Rio Plata is as wide as it is long at its mouth - thanks for that one John!

The countryside itself appears to be largely arable with wheat fields and pasture for all those cows. The towns though are as different as chalk and cheese. Our first stop Colonia is a UNESCO world heritage site and has tree lined cobbled streets, 18th century harbour walls and lovely shady plaza´s. We´d like to tell you more of its history but misinformation in the guide struck again and all the museums were shut the day we were there (Weds).

Next stop, Montevideo, the capital of Uruquay. Nothing much to report really all the hussle and bussle you´d expect of a south american capital. The odd thing was that parts of it reminded us of Maida Vale and Regents park in London. We went to the cinema and saw the Constant Gardener which blew us away and took us right back to our trips to Kenya.

Then we travelled to Punta del Este for New Year. Before arriving we knew that this place is South America at its flashiest. It wasnt so much the thatched cottages on the way in, as the german cars, apartments, yachts and bronzed bodies jogging with personal trainers lining the costanera! La Barra a little down the coast looked like the place to be seen with its smart boutiques, stylish bars and home shops - you could tell it was the place for the in-crowd because it was full of yuppie North Americans on vacation.

That´s something else that has to be said for Uruguay, they appear to be very fitness conscious, the coast roads in Punta, Colonia and Carmelo are marked out in 100m intervals for runners and walkers and there are mini gyms by the side of the paths. It may have been new year´s resolutions but the paths were very busy with folks of all ages when we were there too.

For the New Year itself we got a table overlooking the sea at a local bar. Forward planning not being a trait in South America we kid you not when we say people were still coming into the restaurant at 11.30pm on New Years Eve asking for tables!

One of our new year´s resolutions is to get our 5 portions of fruit and veg in a day but its not easy or cheap over here. When dinner was served there was but one measily floret of brocolli as the sole vegetable and guess what it was covered in - sugar - aaaggh!

Despite the food we had a great evening surrounded by friendly Uruguayan families some of whom had lived in London and we were ideally located to see the midnight fireworks (oooh - aaaah - oooo -aaaah) that lit up the bay as we boogied the night away to our favourite latin tunes. We even got to do the Conga - is there no escape?

After a long lie in and day of rest on new years day, from Punta we made our way across the country by bus to Carmelo to take the boat across to Tigre Argentina via the islets of the Parana delta. We arrived in the heat of the day (about 33 deg) and quickly retreated to our hotel (Bertoletti) which was like stepping back into the 1950s - including the guy behind the desk who must have been there all that time.

Uruguayans eat even later than Argentinians, on an average day they start to emerge at around 11pm to hit the restaurants. This is as they reluctantly leave the beach at about 9pm. Often as not this wont do for us, even after a month of being down here we just cant suppress those 9.30pm pangs. So at around 8pm we decided to go for a stroll down the river which looked just like the Thames in Richmond and just kept walking.

Out of nowhere we ended up at a beach (playa sere) on an estuary with loads of families playing in the river and a fantastic sunset over one of the islets which we enjoyed from a snack shack on the beach. We spent a great night eating parilla and playing an eclectic collection of arcade machines from the early 90´s!

All in all Uruguay turned out to be a worthy diversion, not so much for the countryside and definately not for its food but for its coastline and big hearted, friendly folks.

Feliz Año Nueve everyone!

PS for those using the Lonely Planet guides....

Colonia museums shut on Wednesdays. La Luna is overpriced (6 US dollars for a 2 x milkshakes) and the rooftop view now overshadowed by trees. Book ahead as the hostesl are busy.

Montevideo - the Sucre Sale restaurant has moved into a new building several miles away and the service was slow and surly and the breakfast brioche stale though the coffee was good. The Plaza cinema is on its last legs and had nothing in english language, try the out of town shopping malls instead. Punta Carreras shopping is good. Hotel Ideal dingy but functional.

Carmelo - very bloody hot.

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Comments

[Lisa Hawkins]

Conga
The conga!!!! just a normal pemberton new year!!!!xxx

[Lorn Stu and Hannah]

Blimey - just had a look through these blogs. A week at Butlins just won't hold the same attraction as it once did! Take care. xxx