Uruguay´s and Dolls

Before we left the UK we hadn´t really thought of heading too Uruguay... I thought maybe we could head over to Montevideo from Buenos Aires but never really gave it too much thought until we got here...but that´s why we left gaps in our itineary...

We had got speaking to a few people in the Hostel at Foz de Igazu who said the beaches in Uruguay where really nice...so when we got to Buenos Aires we checked out the price of the boat and decided to head over the River Plate and have a nosey about Uruguay....

Left Buenos Aires early on Monday 20th March and headed to Colonia del Sacramento on a three hour ferry across the River Plate for our first stop in Uruguay. On arrival we had no accommodation but managed to get somewhere fairly quickly and cheaply. Wasn´t too difficult as we were handed lots of flyers as we got off the boat.

Dumped our bags and roamed around the large town centre in about 10 mins. The place was undoubtedly very cute and you could see why it was mentioned in all the guide books, but there wasn´t much to do apart from watch the sunset. This we tried to do from the top of a lighthouse from which you could see for miles. As usual Joanne mucked up the time and we were over an hour too early due to the time difference from Uruguay and Argentina. Maybe it´s time I get another watch since I left my last one in Glasgow somewhere....

Colonia del Sacramento is your quintessential one horse town, but we searched over a day and a half for that horse but it wasn´t to be found! Colonia is the sleepy town to end all sleepy towns, it´s amazing anything gets done when all you see are people walking about with a thermos flask in one arm and cup containing tea mixed with cold orange or lemon juice and sooked through a pipe (this is known as Mate). We came across this a few times in Brazil and Argentina but everybody is at it here in Uruguay!

Next stop Montevideo, a two hour bus journey from Colonia. Went to our current most favouritely named restaurant "Don Pepperone". Next day we wandered about doing all the touristy things ; General Artigas Masoleum, antique stalls, government buildings, Joaquin Torres Garcia Museum (an abstract and cubist artist) and the new massive telephone offices which also had a museum including a display all about Alexander Graham Bell. Steptoe and Son´s empire seems to be alive and kicking here as we have seen many horse drawn carts loaded with odds and ends on the streets, maybe this is what has happened to Colonia´s missing horse.

At this juncture we had the option to either to head north to Fray Bentos in the ranching area but we canned this idea (Sorry Bad Joke - (c)Hugh Reilly 1973) and decided to head east to Punta del Este where the River Plate meets the Atlantic Ocean.

As it was coming up for the Easter weekend we tried to phone ahead to Punta Del Este to arrange accommodation, but to no avail. On arrival we found out that the place we were trying to phone no longer existed and took second best instead. After booking into numero dos we decided it wasn´t that great to spend the week in and spent the rest of the afternoon looking for a decent apartment for the week. A few false starts later we had found an excellent 8th floor apartment with views of both the Atlantic Ocean and the River Plate.

Punta del Este seems to be the playground of the rich from Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Pollokshields with many famous designer label shops and fancy restaurants. But never mind that´s why we´ve went self catering!

The beaches here are lovely, miles of clean golden sand and rolling waves ideal for windsurfers and surfers. There are many sellers on the beach but the best one yet was the guy selling leather jackets with sheepskin collars and cuffs - just what you need for a day on the beach (in Scotland maybe!).

Thursday to Sunday Punta Del Este was extremely busy and the beaches were mobbed....then comes Monday all you hear is the sound of packing tape and shutters closing on shops and restuarants. Unfortunately for us this is the start of autumn and most people move back to the cities, but there is still enough to keep us busy and the travel monopoly has come out of it´s box! NB their autumn is still around 26 degrees centigrade.

One night we were woken with a few strobes of lightning....and soon the thunder came. We seemed to be right underneath the storm for a good few hours before the rain came but the storm continued for a few hours more. Fortunately it had all passed and was dry by the time we got up in the morning.

We haven´t done too much here but chill out on the beaches... we´ve hired bikes a few times and cycled out to the more remote beaches... The waves are a bit wild at times and both of us have been knocked off our feet on more than one occasion... with skint knees to show for it..

One thing thay had been worrying me since leaving home was my hair.... don´t laugh there at the back... the thing is I have been getting my haircut by the same person for the last 12 to 13 years (thanks Ross)... Joanne has also got the same dilema.
So the thought of getting my haircut has been worrying me a while now.... but on a mad impulse whilst walking past a barbers in the old town of Punta del Este.. I decided to go in... The Barber couldn´t speak any English and mine´s is still struggling a bit... and my Spanish is even worse. But with Joanne´s phrasebook and much pointing I manged to escape with my hair a few inches shorter and able to walk the street without a hat all for the pricely sum of 1 UK pound. Joanne has decided that it might be best for her to find somewhere a little more upmarket but I am giving her a budget of 2 quid!!

People in Uruguay have been really friendly, helpful and will stop to talk to you. We´ve been given directions to the best beaches and good cheap restaurants. I´ve even had people toot at me and no it wasn´t my hoops top it was a Sweden top this time!!

We leave Punta del Este tonight (Friday) and plan to be in Buenos Aires until Wednesday when we fly to Santiago in Chile.