Uruguay

We left Brazil on our journey into Uruguay on yet another night bus, fortunately we were upgraded for free from semi-cama (partial recline) to full came (even more recline and even comfier seats) which was absolutely brilliant, it was so incredibly comfy. We even got a meal on the bus, something which I was yet to experience on all my many bus journeys. Of course everything in the meal came with cheese and ham, because that it south americas favourite combination. Honestly everywhere you go, everything is cheese and ham! I had some crackers and a plain bread roll though which were a cheese and ham free zone!

I fell asleep on the bus and was in such a deep sleep that it was a struggle to wake me. I was so disoriented, wondering what was going on and why I was being woken up. Unfortunately our luck on the full cama bus ran out as we had to move to a different bus at midnight, and it was back down to semi-cama! It just was not the same after the full cama experience, and I found it difficult to sleep. This was not aided by the fact that I sat behind a man with terrible body odour.

The bus stopped in the middle of nowhere which was apparently our stop and we got into taxis to get across the Uruguyan border, this was done with minimal fuss and soon after we reached the town of Salto, Uruguay.

There was little to do in Salto, most people just stay there after the border crossing, or use the thermal baths. When I think of thermal baths and hot springs, I think mountain retreats and natural rock pools. Unfortunately, Salto´s thermal baths were more like a leisure centre or Butlins. I suppose it was nice to do something different and rest our tired bodies though.

We went to a local restaurant to watch the 3rd and 4th place play off in the world cup between Uruguay and Germany, it was a great match and fun to watch with all the locals. It was a shame that Uruguay lost, but at the end of the match everyone cheered, they were all extremely proud of their country. What they have achieved is hugely impressive, the country has only 3 million inhabitants, so to finish 4th in the world and of course top of the South American teams was a wonderful achievement,. They had a homecoming parade in Montevideo right after we left, which was a shame that we missed it.

Salto will be remembered most of all for very good and very cheap pasta, 1.50 for a bowl of very good homemade gnocchi and pesto! Cannot complain.

From Salto we went to Montevideo on a very early bus at 6.30am! It was raining in Montevideo which made first impressions pretty bleak, but in fact when I got to see the city I quite liked it. There are a lot of good aspects to the city, and pretty colonial buildings, but amongst it there are high rises and very run down buildings, you can tell it was once a very affluent place. On first sight I thought it looked a bit like Glasgow i.e grey, dull, miserable and generally shit, but I actually grew to really like it.

The hotel was a bit of a fail! The lobby area was really nice, but the rooms were generally shit, I saw a live cockroach (which was massive) in the bathroom but when we went back to find it, it had dissappeared, thankfully I did not encounter him again! One of the others had a room that smelt like petrol, so they had to be moved. Generally it was not a very nice place and I am glad I only stayed one night.

The benefit of the hotel was that it had a really nice communal area which we named the living room. We hung out there and watched the world cup, VAMOS ESPAÑA!

We rented bikes in Montevideo which was a great way to see more of the city. Unfortunately none of us were prepared for how cold it was going to be. It was 3 degrees and we were cycling along the beach front into a strong headwind. It was freezing. We went to a shopping mall, but it was really expensive, anything imported is more expensive than back home. We rode to the Port area and the old town, which was really pretty. It reminded me of Paris in the winter time.

After Montevideo we went to Colonia del Sacromento and stayed in a really cute hostel which was themed around flowers. There was not a lot to see there, but it was a pretty town to wander around, and we went for a really long 2 hour walk along the beachfront, and took in some of the sights of the town. We went out in the night, and I had rubbish gnocchi which was more like mash, it was a let down after Salto´s high standards, but I did manage to get a free beer out of it!

We left Colonia on the ferry to Buenos Aires, and Argentina will be the subject of my next update.