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Ahh quiet, little Uruguay, a seemingly uncharted destination for travellers. Deceptively small, with towns few and far between, and each separated by miles and miles of barren grassland. It presents an extremely relaxed vibe, a contrast to somewhere like Buenos Aires, and even the capital Montevideo (the largest city by far) retains this same vibe, which is held by the landscape and locals alike ("tranquillo!" "Tranquillo!").
My whirlwind tour of Uruguay began at the ports in Buenos Aires, aboard the "Buquebus" which felt more like the titanic than a ferry. Seriously the thing is huge and has a couple of cafés, TVs and a duty free shop on board. 1 hour later I arrived in the small town of Colonia, Uruguay, well rested and keen to set up base after the lengthy wait at immigration and customs. Colonia is an extremely quiet, fishing/port town with fantastic cobbled streets, piers and fancy restaurants. It also has plenty of history and was once used as a smuggling port by the Portugese way back in the 1680s. For me it was the kind of place where you want to take a photo of every street, from the whitewashed colonial buildings and lighthouse, to the fisherman along the piers.
2 things were on my mind when I first arrived - Food and Money. It would be some time until I obtained both. Out of the 4 banks in town, ALL had enourmous ATM lines. And even worse is that these Uruguayans take AGES to do anything (longer than me), especially when it comes to withdrawing money. I don't know what they do in those booths but an hour later of waiting in 3 different lines I finally had cash and had my eyes on any tasty morsel I could find.
One thing Uruguayans DO know how to do is food. I had heard much about the infamous Chivito sandwich and when it arrived on a bed of fries I knew it was going to be a solid effort by me. Bun, steak, ham, cheese, bacon, fried egg, onion, tomato, lettuce, tomato sauce, bun and topped with a smart ass olive speared with a toothpick. I felt like I was still in America, but had no hesitation in bringing this gigantic beast down and showing it exactly who was boss (so good yet so naughty!)
Thanks to a Canadian friend of mine, I had caught word of a small, extremely liberal, beach village called Cabo Polonio, an hour from the Brazilian border. After booking a ticket with the only company that serviced that specific route I was on my way, a 5 hour ride through lush farmland to be dumped at a national park entrance with no idea of where or how to get to the place described to me. A few minutes later, the roar of what can only be described as an army troop carrier on steroids trudges over the sand dunes. This thing was legit, standing probably 6-8 metres tall, it had 2 levels 40 odd seats and somehow I felt it wouldn't comply with safety regulations back home. I made my way to the top for the best views. It was amazing just being on the truck as it was so high. And when we eventually made It over the dunes and onto the beach itself it was time to open this baby up for a max speed of 40kms/hr!! #burninrubber
Cabo is a backwards place, and the walk to the wooden cabin of a supermarket, past 2 real life hippies smoking pot in front of their multi coloured shack of a house should have told me that. When you are find out that marijuana can be purchased from the town pharmacy and that you can "smoke weed in the hostel but not cigarettes please" (translated from Spanish) then you know you are in a special place. Cabo is exactly that, literally the middle of nowhere, and as we entered the "city" on the dune buggy, the view of tens of small beach shacks placed willy-nilly on the grass perched between endless mounds of dunes and light brown beaches as far as you could see made me feel so isolated from everything, and I loved that. Having the privilege of being just metres away from sea lion colonies, it was a place I could have spent a lot longer than 3 days at. And after spending a week in Buenos Aires, It was much needed. The mixture of nationalities and people I was lucky enough to develop friendships with was also a major plus of my time in Cabo. Whether it was drinking cachaça (a horrible Brazilian spirit made with sugar cane) and jamming made up nonsense on dodgy instruments with some Germans, Dutch and a Kiwi or being invited to enjoy an epic mussell rice dish (fresh from the rocks) with Chileans, the compact nature of the town seemed to bring everyone closer. One of the coolest places I've seen to date!
For a capital city, Montevideo was one of the most silent places I have been. Basically there is a new and old city (which I felt was much nicer). It is quite large, however the place comes across as a ghost town! It was like being back in Cabo. Myself, a Canadian and 2 Germans hired a few extremely shabby pushbikes for a 5 hour "leisurely cruise" along the waterfront street - La Rambla, passing a number of brown water beaches along the way. These bikes were in atrocious shape, had one gear, we had no helmets and generally gave no f**ks regarding the woeful Uruguayan driving. Speeding down hills and taking a chance on there not being a car coming through that intersection was probably a stupid idea but we were truly bad ass. I think you could say that we owned the streets that day, almost like a gringo biker gang. I was yelling yippees and all sorts of things down the hills. It was well worth the numerous chain derailments, steering malfunctions, searing heat and resultant aching "culo". Uruguay was in general, what I expected - quiet, chilled and largely undiscovered by us "tourists" A country seemingly unfazed by the chaos of nearby Buenos Aires and Brazil. Perhaps that's what makes it so special?
Patagonia is next! I can feel my nipples getting harder and doodle getting smaller just thinking about the cold.
Ciao!
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