A Week in Uruguay

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Ah, Uruguay! A land of blissful peace, endless fields and pretty towns. And rather cold nights, now that winter is coming. I started my short stay in South America's smallest spanish speaking country in Carmelo, a quiet town with a beautiful beachside - especially now that all the trees are in all their autumn splendour - and a very good-looking old church. Arriving at night (after a swell boat trip and passing some of the most relaxed customs checks ever), i didn't feel like venturing out to find the campground, even though i discovered the next day that it was both nice and for free. Instead, i walked into the hotel that looked the cheapest, and soon had a private room with a tv (60 channels of rubbish, i can't believe people actually can pay for cable tv, 30% of the time it's publicity, and the rest is explosions) for a mere 140 urugayan pesos (3,5 euros). I hunted down french fries and beer (i had a craving for fat), watched 'Los Simpsons' and fell asleep.
The next day, i took myself for a long beachwalk, enjoying being amongst the trees (nothing smells as good as trees in autumn), watching horses and getting some wind through my head. That wind soon turned into a thunderstorm, so i ventured into town again, to finish some work on my application form for next year's studies (i did this over the most headache-invoking wine ever). During the night, i dreamt of apple juice, a dream that soon came true, when i went to the supermarket next morning.
On the 12th of May, i went to Conchillas, in the most radical bus ever: a tin can on wheels, straight from the 50's. Conchillas is a pretty old town, that used to be a settlement or the workers of a factory. The ancient one floor houses in 'english style' are still there, and it's very pleasant to walk around town. Somewhat later, i bussed on to Colonia del Sacramento, a 16th century colonial town on a peninsula in the Rio de La Plata. I met some very nice Frenchmen and Poles in hostel Español, and reminisced with the latter about sweet life in Poland. We talked about how travel is much more intense if you take it slowly and spend time in small towns where nothing happens as well, instead of just rounding up the big attractions as so many seem to do. Small towns make you get in touch with people you'd never meet, and have you experience the rhythm of local life.
Nevertheless, Colonia is more of an attraction: the old town has cobblestone streets full of simple as well as adorned vintage houses. There's so many old cars parked there that i was wondering if the tourist ofice put them there for period correctness. Around town is an attractive waterfront, with views over the river and it's islands. Intense autumn weather made walking there magnificent: light rain and massive winds beating on my face while the waves smashed into the town walls. And autumn leaves everywhere: neat. As my hostel had a kitchen, i could treat myself to some more advanced cooking, and pasta with ricotta, spinach and nuts was had one day, a bean stew the other. Oh, and some fine breakfast, with coffee that didn't just taste like hot water with dirt.
Longing for some heat, i headed a bit more north on the 14th, to the town of Mercedes, which is not too interesting, but has a camping on an island, where i met some friendly people from Tucumán (they said 'hey, didn't we cross each other on the street in Carmelo?', and this was most correct). We spent the night fighting the cold at the fire, before diving into our sleeping bags (i have to zip mine up again). The next morning, i woke up at 7 so as to catch my 9 o'clock bus, and i was rewarded with a magnificent sunrise: a cloud was hanging on the river, covering everything in mist, out of which the sun was rising, colouring the surroundings pink and orange. And while i had my breakfast, shrouds of cloud ran slided over the water.
My 5 hour bus ride led me to the Termas del Dayman, near Salto. Finally, it was a bit hot again, so it was a pleasure to dive into the thermal baths here. I relaxed at the natural hot springs until well after dusk, and camped at a camping with fine views over the hills and fields. This morning was überluxurious: a hot pool! And now i'm in Salto, on an expedition through town before i'll take a bus back to Argentina, into the hot marshlands and Jesuit ruins of Misiones.

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