Advertisement
Published: February 8th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Invading Uruguay
In Colonia, a pretty town in western Uruguay Ham and cheese anyone? Arriving in Uruguay was a welcome reduction of pace from BA. Colonia on the other side of the mouth of Rio de la Plata was a sleepy sunny town, with river beaches and a tourist friendly mind set. Its easy to stroll around it in a day or if you feel especially lazy you can hire a golf buggy and really fly the tourist flag! It was our first taste of hostel life, chatting to other travellers over cheap (but delicious) wine in the cool courtyard as others strummed away on guitars and bongos, while others still cook their various dinners in the communal kitchen as the sun went down. Beds so soft you sleep with your head between your knees but that hardly seemed to matter as the earliest we got to bed there was about two or beyond.
We hooked up with another english couple who were heading in our direction for carnival week (ultimately up to Brasil) and bused it upto the capital Montevideo... Surrounded on three side by water as its on a peninsular Montevideo was a cool city in both senses of the word. Small and easy to find
Jack and a tower
In Montevideo´s main plaza. This used to be the tallest building in South America. your way around although as its a port town there are certain areas we were told to avoid at all costs at night. On our first night there we get taken out by our new found friends to a bar they knew down in the harbour district right on the edge of dodgville. Sitting outside, brushing arms with prostitutes and sailors the regulars in the bar who were mainly port staff took us under there wings and really made us feel welcome and safe, it had a real Hastings old town pub feel to the place. With a huge map on the wall we thought we´d get a grip of the city only to discover it was of york, where the owner had once lived and worked. Much merryment was had and we were forced to speak spanish which for me was valuable.
After our one and only night in a dorm room (nothing else available) during which a goliath of a man stumbled in at about three in the morning, totally snizzled, collapsed on his bed next to mine still fully clothed, shoes, the lot and proceeded to snore so loudly our teeth chattered. Attempts to wake the
Mini fishing boats in Punta del Diablo.
The fishing boats were so pretty... about half the size of Hastings ones. sleeping giant were futile and at one point I had hold of one of his arms shaking it violently (what was I thinking in hindsight!!!) but to no avail. Lesson learnt. We woke and moved on to our next destination feeling a little grumpy as we´d had little sleep.
Punto del Diablo as listed in the lonely planet "an out of the way quiet little fishing village with a stunning beach" was absolutely packed with carnival seekers. It was indeed beautiful as was most of Uruguay and hot was not the word! Mae and I ended up moving onto another town called La Coronilla a bit further north up the coast where it would be quieter but at least we´d have some accomadation. Thinking about it now its a little bit like arriving in Brighton for a big party but ending up in Eastbourne because there was no room at the inn. Carpenters obviously don´t have as much influence these days! But this stroke of kismit turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Staying in La Hotel Marvillossa, a big art deco building painted bright pink inside and out, we were warmly welcomed and it was here we
The lovely pink hotel
Our favourite hotel .. in La Coronilla. Everything was pink and it was run by a lovely old lady called Terri spent carnival. Which was to our surprise really lively, the young coming from all around and the samba bands arriving by the bus load! During the street fiesta we met a young group of volunteers who are based there studying various aspects of turtles. They were really suprised to find other travellers there as La Coronilla is so far out of they way and all thats there is the vast expanse is beach and sand dunes. And old people. We were promptly invited to come and check out what they were doing and spend a day with them trying to capture and tag some. Turtles, not old people... The day involved a ten kilometre trek (round trip) along the beach and although they failed to capture any using their big nets as the sea was pretty rough, we did see dolphins leaping around and spent the day isolated amoungst beautiful forna and sand dunes. To top it off they cooked empenadas (smallish cornish pasty type things. Various fillings.) for dinner and the fifteen of us sat around a big table again drinking cheap wine (we´re not developing a problem I promise!) and talking about the continent we were in. Great
sand dunes at Cerro Verde
Where we saw dolphins... but not turtles. Of course Jack had to climb straight to the top! day!
On the whole we found Uruguay to be a gorgeous place with a sun that´ll fry you in minutes if you lose respect for it. The food consisted of meat and bread, but it has to be eaten with ham and cheese bizzarly. Even on the coast fish was hard to come by for some reason and although the fruit and veg stalls were packed with delicious delights, with mangos like rugby balls, getting a salad in a restuarant invited curious looks from the staff. One example springs to mind, the sand being almost to hot to walk on, we apprached the only establishment on the beach for dozens of km either way to buy some water to find they only sold coke wine and beer, any type of beef product all of course served with ham and cheese. So Bonkers we found ourselves laughing, it just seemed like something out of a monty python sketch at the time. Cookoo!!!! Uruguains also demonstrate their uniqueness when drinking Mate (pronounced Matae). Although consumed all over the southern part of the continent, its really common to see people going about their bussiness with a mate cup in one hand and a
thermos flask under one arm! You´ll see people riding bicycles in this manner, going around supermarkets shopping, I even saw a guy doing a three point turn on a main road, holding up the traffic whilst trying to do execute this manouver with one hand because he just wouldn´t put down his cup and flask. Apparently they´ve had a campaign here trying to prove that you can do anything with one hand promoting mate....So fantastically wierd, you just have to love and admire the mate culture. What a wonderful world we live in.... until next time amigos. Anyone for some ham and cheese? J&Mx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 41; dbt: 0.0401s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
Paul
non-member comment
Prostitutes, sailors and sleeping giants!!! Are you sure you're not in Narnia? This all sounds great! Love the photos. Lookin' forward to seeing you both. x