Relaxing Uruguay

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Dwarfed by it´s two large neighbours little Uruguay is less visited than the surrounding countries in South America. There are no main tourist attractions so it is quite understandable but we really enjoyed our 10 days or so in the country. For a start there was a really laid back atmosphere, maybe because of it´s proximity to Brazil - everyone was extremely friendly, cars actually stopped for your at pedestrian crossings to let you cross the road instead of speeding up and using you as target practice. There are lots of street side cafes and restaurants and everyone is genuinely interested in where you are from and talking to you (in very good English) about your country.

The little town of Colonia del Sacramento can be easily reached from Buenos Aires for a day trip, it´s only an hour on the catamaran and has a really quaint little old town steeped in history, cobbled streets and old cars. In it´s history the town changed hands many times between the Spanish and Portuguese as it was used to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires so considered very useful. Today the cobbled streets lined with pretty flowers and trees are a really pleasant way to spend your time in drinking wine and eating excellent seafood (something we did quite a lot of).

The rest of our time was spent mostly on the beach in Punta del Este, a bit of an up market beach resort - where we finally gave up our backpacker facade and indulged in a very nice hotel. Our budget is well and truly out of the window now as we have reached the final stages of our trip and are now in holiday mode...although looking back it has been like this for quite some time!!

Final stop Buenos Aires...and I have a year and a halfs worth of shopping to catch up on..bring it on!

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Photos

BBQ - Uruguayan style
At the market in Montevideo

Marina
Old crafts plus flash boats in Punta del Este

Lazy fishing
A couple of sealions living the good life, too fat to move!

Cobbled streets
in Colonia del Sacramento

A way to a man´s heart...
is to give him an extra large piece of beef!

Comments

[irisheyes999]

I've loved reading your journal. I'm planning a S. American trip and you've given me some great ideas. I definitely want to volunteer at the animal refuge in Bolivia. Happy travels.

[Sam Rach]

Good luck!
Thanks very much - hope you have a great trip - we´ve thoroughly loved everything we´ve done & I´m sure you will too! Look forward to reading your blog :)

[jeremy vann]

Cngratulations guys
congratulation on finishing up your trip. It seems so long ago that you started you trip on the big yellow truck. I have enjoyed reading your blogs Have a safe trip home and keep in touch. jeremy and Suzanne