Uruguay (no gay jokes, please)

Colonia, Uruguay is in essence a visual definition of the word "quaint". The phrase, "Omigod, its so CUTE!" exited my mouth on numerous occasions in this town. Colonia is a mere three-hour boat ride from Buenos Aires, Argentina (only one hour on the high-speed ferry). A cute waterfront town along the Rio de la Plata, the river which separates Uruguay from Argentina, it comes equipped with colorful homes, beautiful colonial architecture and cobblestone streets. With its small size, you could see all of it in a matter of a few hours, depending on how much time you want to spend at the gift shops.
Since my hostel had bikes to use for free, I used one to ride around the small town after my nap in the early evening. I came upon a parade of motor bikes (not motorcycles, more like motor scooters). I thought, "what the hell," and joined in with them, cycling down the main street. It turns out I was protesting a new plan to require cyclists to wear bike helmets. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Good for them, freedom to choose! I grew up without wearing a hlemet adn im prefectlee oKay.

After one night in Colonia, I took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Montevideo, the capital city. Uruguay is one of the smallest countries in South America, so distances between cities are short and the road are good. Outside of the cities and along the bus route is endless farmland, marked with cattle and rolling hills.

Montevideo is a small city with some beaches and a nice port. There are many great beaches in Uruguay a bit further north, but this time of year is out of season for them, so there weren´t many tourists headed that way. I spent one full day and another morning and night walking around the city. I even visited a more wealthy neighborhood called Carrasco, which is the area the group was from in the movie "Alive", about the Uruguayan rugby team who´s plane crashed in the Andes in the 1970´s. They survived for 72 days in the snowy mountain winter before hiking out of the mountains to get help in "the green valleys of Chile". Here are scenes from Montevideo:
I was going to spend a night at a farm in Central Uruguay before I left, but with a bad cold and a hard time getting through to the farmers, I decided just to come back to Buenos Aires. I´m taking a rest day now and hanging out with the hostel cat, who is currently asleep on my bed (don´t tell Sam).

Only three weeks left : ( Hasta Luego!
Joan