Sun, sea and turf

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Uruguay

My rating: 7/10

Daily budget (travel, food and accommodation): USD $100 = 63 pounds

When: 20 January - 23 January 2013

Bases: Colonia, Montevideo

Main sights: Colonia Municipal Museum, Portuguese Museum, Colonia Lighthouse, Montevideo Old Town

Random facts:


• Nowadays, Buenos Aires is hailed as the home of tango but many Uruguayans claim it was invented in Montevideo.
• Uruguayan Carnaval is the longest carnaval of them all with no fewer than 40 days of street parades.
• Uruguay is the smallest nation ever to win the World Cup. They´ve lifted the Jules Rimet trophy on 2 occasions - 1930 and 1950.


Impressions:

Tourism in Uruguay is all about the coast. There´s a well-worn backpacker trail here that takes you from Buenos Aires to Brazil without ever straying far from the sea. It goes a little something like this:

1) Ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia
2) Bus from Colonia to Montevideo
3) Bus from Montevideo to Punta del Este (if you´re loaded) or Punta del Diablo (if you´re not)
4) Bus to Brazil

There´s nowt wrong with that. It shows you all the country´s main attractions in little over a week - namely history, culture and beaches. But even a cursory glance at a map tells you there´s much more hidden away behind the scenes. Most of Uruguay lies hundreds of miles from the coast...what´s up there?

But first, the regular stuff.

We did half of the traditional backpacker trail, from Buenos Aires to Montevideo. Which means our trip began like so many others at a ferry terminal in Buenos Aires where, after stopping to read the obligatory Falkland Islands banners, we boarded a catamaran for the 1-hour hop across the River Plate to Colonia, Uruguay. As luck would have it, the sun set just as we docked, brilliantly lighting up the Buenos Aires skyline on the horizon and triggering a polite ripple of applause from the assembled passengers.

It doesn´t take long to fall for Uruguay.

Thankfully, our first stop didn´t disappoint. As the name suggests, the colonial era is still very much alive in Colonia. It´s full of cobblestone streets, attractive churches and museums detailing the town´s chequered history. Colonia was founded by the Portuguese as a smuggling port into Spanish-held Buenos Aires and it changed hands between Portugal and Spain a remarkable 7 times in less than a century, so there´s no shortage of stories to tell.

Then it was onto Montevideo to see the nation´s capital. Normally, big cities take a good few days to get my head around but this one´s nice and simple. The historic town sits on a peninsular with a surface area of about 1 square mile so it only takes a couple of hours to wander round, which is just as well really because the city-sized cruise ships that dock here don´t hang about long.

In truth, Montevideo deserves longer than we (or the cruise ships) gave it but if you´re pushed for time, a quick walking tour allows you to get a feel for the place and see dozens of elegant, well-maintained buildings in various architectural styles (disclaimer: I know nothing about architecture).

The reason we had such a short stay here (only 24 hours!) is that we had a bus to catch. Breaking all protocol, we decided to skip Punta del Este/Punta del Diablo and enter Brazil via Paraguay to the north.

Mainly, this was done so we could get a couple more stamps in our passport, but as an added bonus it also allowed us to travel through a big chunk of rural Uruguay. You know, the mysterious little-visited parts of Uruguay that aren´t blessed with a coastline.

And...it was phenomenal!

Well, no it wasn´t really, but it was interesting. Turns out Uruguay belongs to the farmers. Huge tracts of land in the interior have been completely given over to agriculture, and specifically the production of beef and dairy.

That´s not to say there´s nothing but farmland, however, because we also saw several inviting rivers, hot springs and sleepy, laid-back towns. All too quickly, though, we had reached the sleepy, laid-back town of Salto on the Argentine border where, incidentally, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was born (I can totally see where he gets it from).

Soon after, we crossed the Uruguay River into Argentina (the Paraguay border crossing would follow a few hours later) and that was the end of our time in Uruguay.

The tragedy of this country, if that´s not too strong a word, is that it´s always destined to remain in the shadows of its illustrious neighbours Argentina and Brazil. Yes, it´s got tango but everyone goes to Buenos Aires for that. Yes, it´s got Carnaval but everyone goes to Rio for that. And yes, it´s got a pretty coastline but everyone goes to Argentina AND Brazil for that.

For me, the thing that really sets apart Uruguay is its infectious sense of tranquility - Colonia is peaceful, Montevideo is relaxing but the way of life in the interior is positively zen-like. Luis Suarez excepted.

PS. I´ve decided against doing my usual ´Top 3 experiences´ rundown for Uruguay. Primarily, this is because I´m lazy, but also it´s because we spent such a short time there that I´d feel a bit daft picking out 3 highlights from our 3-night stay. We would´ve liked to have stayed longer but there was only one bus available between Montevideo and Asuncion, Paraguay that week.

Since we´re trying to travel across South America without flying, the only option was to cut short our time in Uruguay. Not for the first time on this trip, it would´ve been easier to fly...

Next stop: Paraguay

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