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Published: February 2nd 2010
Uruguay is a country that I had decided to visit as an after Buenos Aires / New Year relax by a beach option. I had heard mixed reports about the place, mostly that it was expensive. The time that we decided to visit happened to be smack in the middle the Argentinian summer holidays, so all the wealthy Argentinians and students come to that were heading there, making it a difficult place to get accommodation and not a true representation of the country I guess.
Uruguay is a small country, approx the same size as the US State of North Dakota (187,000sqkm)
The capital is Montevideo
Total population roughly 3.3 million
£1 = approx 30 Uruguayan Pesos.
The country is famous for it's beaches & winning the first world cup (1930)
Popular foods include Milanese sandwiches, steak and Empanada's (shock !)
6th Jan- Left the apartment in BA after getting the deposit back. Said goodbye to Peter, Stan and Doron.
Miles, Abby and myself got the ferry to Colonia in Uruguay. Had a lovely afternoon wandering around Colonia then cooked dinner (Steak, again !) Had a few drinks with some Argentinian girls and crashed about 1am.
Colonia Del Sacremento
has a population of just 22,000, Founded by the Portuguese in 1680 to smuggle goods across the Rio de la Plata into Buenos Aires. The Spanish then captured it in 1762, holding it until 1977, when tax reforms finally permitted foreign goods to proceed directly to BA.
7th - Got the bus from Colonia to Montevideo then on to Punta Del Este. It was a bit worrying as it's one of the most popular resorts in South America and it was high season, being the middle of the summer holidays and all the Argentinians seem to head there. Luckily we managed to get a hotel fairly quickly after getting off the bus and not too ridiculous price $140 a night for 3 people. Popped to the beach for an hour or so then back to the hotel to get changed. Went out for dinner, nothing special and then for a drink. Met a very interesting Uruguayan chap called Eduardo who joined us for the night. He had some great stories and info from his time in the States and in Uruguay. We met one of the most famous TV presenters called Abbigial, who was a transvestite, also met a
famous Uruguayan footballer from the past. Definitely what you would call a random night.
Punta Del Este is an international beach resort with prices to match. A population of only 7,200 which is a ghost town for 9 months of the year.
8th - Late breakfast followed by some beach time, light lunch, siesta, catching up on emails before heading out. We met Paula and Gorge from Paraguay who were on holiday and decided to head out with them and the guy from the previous night Eduardo. We had a few drinks in the hotel then went to the port area for an expensive drink at Moby Dicks (which seemed to be the most popular bar in Punta Del Este) Eduardo then drove us to a club about 20 mins away. Hilarious drive as he was driving like a lunatic. The club wasn't that busy so we went to another one called Ocean at about 4am. Music at first was terrible and drinks were very pricey, about £7 for a Gin and tonic. We stayed there till about 8am, The music did improve and it was cool seeing the sun come up on the beach. Got a pizza
Colonia
Watching a local gameat about 8.30am on the way back and went to bed.
9th - Quiet day, bit tired, watched United Vs Birmingham which was awful. Did make me smile looking at how cold it looked back home though. Had a siesta, some food then went to the port area for about 2am, had a few drinks and then back for an early night about 4am.
10th - Late breakfast, a couple of hours on the beach, lunch, catching up on the blog, said goodbye to Abbey who was heading back to BA. Went out in the evening to a hostel 1949 for a few drinks at happy hour which was 11-12, 2 x Caiprinas for 100 pesos (£5) not bad for Punta Del Este.
Met Chris (Aussie) and Morgan (American) in the hostel
11th - Went to the beach in the morning then had some lunch and went to Bikini Beach. Blimey ! Met Chris and Morgan again and Mark a German guy on the bus there. Had a walk down the beach and sat drinking beer and watching the girls in the sun with a DJ blaring bad music across the beach. It reminded me of Ibiza
Colonia
On the main street except with South American girls everywhere. They have a catwalk and photo session for the girls to show off, we didn't argue. Eventually decided to leave and head back to the hotel for a shower (cold one)before meeting the guys for a nice Steak dinner and then got through 2 bottles of Vodka pretty quickly at the hostel to save cash then headed to the Moby Dicks bar at the port., which is the most popular bar on the strip and a small beer cost's 140 pesos (nearly £5)
12th - Checked out of the hostel with a bad hang over and got the bus to Montevideo with Miles. Arrived about 5pm at the hostel, had a wander round Montevideo and got some food then had an early ish night ready to fly to Fort to Iguazu (Brazil) the next day.
13th - Got a taxi to the airport. Got dropped at the wrong one, the new one only opened 2 weeks earlier, which was news to us and the taxi driver. Miles had a mare getting through customs as he hadn't been stamped out of Uruguay, plane was delayed by 30 mins. Got to Foz de Iguazu
Colonia
view from the light house in Brazil eventually about 5pm, checked into the hostel, Didn't do much in the evening, just sorting stuff out.
I had low expectations of what to expect from Uruguay. I had a good time, seeing a lovely quiet place in Colonia, the capital, Montevideo and a beach resort. Punta was fun, a bit too flashy and showy for my taste, especially whilst traveling on a sort of budget, nice to experience none the less.
Uruguay was just what I wanted after BA but it was time to crack on towards Iguazu falls, Paraguay (now on the list after meeting Paula & Gorge) and then Brazil for a month before flying home at the end of Feb !!!!!!
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