Uruguay

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After a very unexciting New Years in Buenos Aires I was a little sad. It was my fault for not having a good one, but I got over it. It was just another day and there is always another year. So the best part of it was listening to USC win the Rose Bowl on internet radio. So after New Years I knew that I had about 1 month to travel around Northern Argentina before returning to meet Dad and Jeff for our Patagonia trip.

My destination: Uruguay!

Well the exclamation point may be overkill.

I went to Uruguay with a girl I have met various times on my trip in Peru, Ecuador, and now Argentina.

We got on a ferry to Colonia and then a bus to Montevideo. The country´s Capital. We spent the night there in the cheapest place we could find, but right away she and I started getting a bit annoyed of each other. It was obvious that we clashed a bit and the next week would be difficult. We did not see much of Montevideo because we were ready to get to the beaches of Uruguay, so in the morning we pushed on right away.

We were expecting to visit a quiet little beach town called Punta Del Diablo, but were very surprised when we arrived. It was bustling with Argentinian travelers. It turns out that we were there during the highest of the high season. Virtually all of the cabañas were rented out and we were lucky to eventually find a hostel on the outskirts of town. The mens room had about 25 beds. Not fun. The beach itself was nice, with decent waves, but nothing to write home about (which is exactly what I am doing) Anyway....it was not very exciting. Basically a dirt road that came to a T with cabañas and Argentinians everywhere. Lucky for me (sorry if you are reading this Emma) Emma got sick. I was able to get some time away from her while she was bed ridden for some time. Which sucks for every traveler because we all know the feeling. Then next day was spent reading on the beach. I also met God...yes I became enlightened and religious in Uguguay. Not really. I met a guy that claimed to be God. To be open minded I let him perform some Godly work on me which he said would make me wake up in the middle of the night and know that he is God. Then he mentioned that we was born a warewolf. Not only this, but a female warewolf. For the first 6 months he was this creature and then instantly became a 2 year old boy (God). It turns out I did not wake up in the middle of the night knowing he was God. Instead I woke up knowing he was out of his mind and totally crazy. He was very nice and generous though and I enjoyed his company. That day I also bought a bus ticket to Paloma, another beach town down the way. While I needed to move on, it gave me a way to get back to traveling solo and away from Emma who was still in bed. It turned out she was much nicer and pleasant while sick. Anyway, I woke in the morning and headed out of town alone.

I made it to Paloma, 3 hours south. Unlucky for me, all of the hostels were full and I could not find any place in the entire town to sleep. Only one place 20 minutes outside of the town away from the beach had a bed. My time in Uruguay was at its lowest at this point. I had to buy another bus ticket to get back to Montevideo for that same day. With my 3 hour delay, I went to the beach to swim in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time and see what the popular surf town had to offer. It was nice and I would have enjoyed a few days there. I did get to enjoy the bathingsuits the girls wear down here. Each one shows of her butt cheeks very well. The only girls that have bottoms that cover the butt are foreigners. Boys, make sure to wear sun glasses down here. You dont want to get caught staring.

Well I got to Monevideo that night and was happy to find another bus to the North West of Uruguay. A little town called Salto. Known for hot springs and its border crossing with Argentina. This was the best entry point to Argentina so I could head north to Puerto Iguazu. My overnight bus also saved me on accomodation.

When I arrived at 5 am I was not so happy to hear that no buses went from Salto, Uruguay ---> Concordia, Argentina on Sundays (its only a 45 minute ride) I searched and searched the little town to find a hostel, but for whatever reason most places were booked which were hotels not hostels. The cheapest I could find was $15 per night without air conditioning in a country were the average temp hovers around 95. I spent most of my day enjoying that expensive room watching TV and reading a book. Since it was Sunday everything was dead. I watched TV too late and missed the final bus to the hot pools. It was okay, I have been to hot springs before and I was just excited to be leaving Uruguay in the morning.

In my opinion, only visit Uruguay during early December when its hot and without tourists. Do not expect anything from the people. They tend to be cold and closed off. They offer much more than expensive food. I am sorry if Jeffs friend Gabby is reading this. Shes from Montevideo and is supposed to be a sweetheart. My experience just wasn´t the best.

Check out the photos.

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=349151200429918517/l=345939073/g=58754570/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

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Photos

The Town of Punta Del Diablo
Not much to see