Blogs from Fray Bentos, West, Uruguay, South America

When buying the bus ticket to my latest location, I could barely keep the grin off my face. In fact, I'm fairly sure I didn't, as the guy behind the counter looked at me in a very strange way as I said "Uno a Fray Bentos por favor". Yup thats right. Fray Bentos. Despite the fact I think their products are of dubious quality, how could I not come to a town that had pies named after it? But before we get there, I must make brief comment on my bus journey from Cordoba to Uruguay. You see, until now, the fanciest I had been on a bus was semi-cama, the basic option for overnight journeys. But that wasn't available here, so instead I went cama, enjoying a fully reclining seat, a hot meal accompanied by ... read more

The blogs are coming through thick and fast now. No sooner was I leaving Buenos Aires, I was heading to Uruguay. Uruguay, or "The Republic East of the Uruguay River", to give it its official and needlessly strung out name, is sandwiched between the South American powerhouses of Argentina and Brazil (and to the East of the Uruguay River). It is the second smallest sovereign state in South America, after Suriname, although no-one really knows Suriname exists (French Guiana is also smaller, but is still officially a French territory. Hence; Which country has the longest land border with France? Answer: Brazil) Conveniently enough for me, Uruguay is positioned on a route between Buenos Aires and Iguazu National Falls, so made an ideal stop for some much needed tranquility after the hecticity of a week in BA. ... read more

A mate from home, upon hearing that we'd be travelling to the area, insisted we visit the town of Fray Bentos and send a postcard. I hadn't even realised there was a town to back up the history of meat products and pies in tins we're all familiar with from growing up, so we thought "why not"? The main (really "only") attraction of the town is the dilapidated old meat processing plant now open to the public as the Museum of the Industrial Revolution. The name seemed strange to me until the visit, when I realised that the place really did have it's place in the industrial revolution (for Uruguay, anyway), in that Herr Liebig (he of Liebig condenser, Father of Organic Chemistry, etc) first productionised his process for essentially reducing cows to gloop here. Also, ... read more