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Published: July 26th 2006
Haze in montevideo´s old town
Under the ´flores´ sign, appreciating how her name never gets mispronounced in these countrieswe are asking ourselves why are we in uruguay almost every minute. our run of perfection had to end somewhere...
our first stop was montevideo. it all ran so smoothly. so easy to get to the hostel, everything is so cheap, had a lovely dinner and crashed early after a day of travelling.
the next day we got to look at monty properly. it was a staurday and the streets were eerie, empty. some streets were dead silent. we began to wonder what kind of natural disaster may have hit this town. nothing of note on the news stands. this is the captial city? the markets were closed. we became convinced that we are the only travellers in town and the locals are playing hide and seek.
as the day wore on and on, it became clear there is absolutely nothing to do in this town, nothing to look at, nothing. and it doesnt help when the locals we meet say almost the same thing... ´why are you in uruguay? where are you from? Australia? why come here? i hope you can make it a good time, i dont know how but good luck´.
after a long
Haze in plaza constitucion
one of the more lovely plaza´s montevideo has to offer walk through the old town and a taste of the local beverages, the trouble begins. suddenly hazel´s stomach decides to bring its contents to light while walking through plaza independencia, the grandest square monty has to offer.
not shaken, haze is up for more uruguayian (?) goodness. with the thought of maybe some towns along the east coast being slighly more interesting we jump on a 5 hour bus trip. arriving, now with my back wacked out, we limp into La Paloma, apparently a place with ´stunning beaches´. our search for more sand and beaches is met with rain, overpriced hotels and brown waves crashing on black sand. we say this mustn´t be the place so we hired some bikes - perhaps the good beaches are further away? - but all we found was a giant beached seal. he poor fella was slighly alive being tourmented by humans. further on we found a port pumping thick black liquid into the sea and some more black beaches. lucky we didnt swim here. perhaps its a good thing it was raining.
bike bums and a little wet, i am now waiting in the bus terminal of La Paloma, devising ways
plaza independencia
haze in the soon to be tarnished plaza independencia to leave uruguay. no need to come here if anyone is thinking of making the trip - nothing to do except bemuse the locals that you are here.
--dan--
uruguay update:
we found all the locals. they were at the bus station in montevideo trying to get out of here to buenos aries - by ferry, by bus, by plane it was all booked out. we are here for another day. tomorrow however, we will be in argentina and apparently i am being dragged to tango lessons...
--dan--
September 2005 update:
we have long finished travelling and rarely check our blog. so its interesting to see on coming back there are around 10 upset individuals leaving comments intent on defending Uruguay (or was it one irate person - either way, sorry to have deleted them).
but fair enough. i was harsh. so for the sensitive nationalists, to clarify, we had a great time there. we did. its true. but does it matter it wasn't was looking at uruguay's natural beauty?
so let's remember;
- this blog is merely one person's experience at one point in time;
- diversity
haze and the happy waiter
this waiter was so delighted we took his photo he took our camera to show all the cooks, waiters and fellow diners this pic is what makes travelling interesting;
- you can still enjoy your experience in a country even if you find none of it interesting;
- if an aspect wasn't enjoyed, it's probable i went to the wrong spot, at the wrong time and was just one unfortunate traveller who missed out - but the experience can still be told;
- there is no such thing as the best, the perfect or most beautiful city / country; and
- my experience/comments are so irrelevent to uruguay's worldly perception why do you care?
i hope the good people of uruguay can calm down now.
November 2005 update:
On an aside, we kicked you out of the world cup.... now that'll get some more hate mail!
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Diego
non-member comment
welcome
I am uruguayan , and I suggest visit, Cabo Polonio and Punta de Este.The most beautiful we have is what mother nature has given, nature. Remember that the had a economic crisis in 2002 that broke the countrty in pieces. So welcome to Uruguay and enjoy nature, the sky,and having nothing to do. =)