Uruguay: Colonia and Montevideo
May 5th - May 8th 2008
I have officially been gone for 1 month! And I now have 4 countries under my belt (Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay).
Uruguay is the land of horse and buggy! It is also way more common per capita to see locals walking around with a thermos full of hot water and a Yerba for their Mate. I noticed also that collecting wood for fires = heat was a big theme in Uruguay (my favorite was the old guy with no teeth cutting up a dead tree to fill his cart with a blunt bow saw he made work better by pouring brown water onto out of a plastic coke bottle. He worried that I was the policia (i could barely understand a word he said!) but really he was just fascinating).
Uruguay seems to be cheap but you get hit with this IVA 23% tax on top of a service tax and plus your tip (which brings everything to the same price as Argentina). I didn't really figure it out but I like the quaint little country with good-nature folk, so I am happy to contribute to their economy.
Colonia
What a beautiful little town situated on a river across from Argentina (1 hour ferry) with 7 Km of beaches and immaculate gardens throughout! The town has historical significance as a Portuguese trade port for Buenos Aires dating back a couple hundred years. Before that there was an abundance of indigenous activity that was all on display in the 6 mini museums scattered throughout the walkways.
Hostel Colonia was the cheapest night of my trip yet at $8 USD and i had the dorm room all to myself (with Wi-Fi). In the morning I went on a bike ride (hostel loans out free bikes) around the city and visited all the recommended sites including a drawbridge with cannons aligned on the sides.
The cobbled roads and the ancient little houses along the streets lined with old fashioned lamp posts created quite a tranquil feeling for the quaint pueblo.
If you come to Uruguay do not miss this location, it is small enough to walk through in a day and is a nice break from the bustle of Buenos Aires.
Montevideo
A 3 hour bus ride east towards Brazil from Colonia, Montevideo is an active port city teeming with history itself. Uruguay's Ministry of Tourism has a slogan "Uruguay Natural", and provides these amazing maps that point out the top 100 tourist things to see or do (all with historical significance).
I stayed at a hostel in the old city (ciudad Vieja) so I was within walking distance to all the old buildings, museums, churches, plaza's, feria's, statues, and eateries.
My favorite place was the Parilla I ate at in the Central Mercado. The Uruguayan owner lived in Boston for a few years and became my new friend. He served me a ridiculously large suculent steak fresh off the grill and made this incredible chopped basil sauce for the side (olive oil, garlic, basil, carrot, salt). At the end of my meal, I asked to take a picture and he invited me inside his booth to pose as he passed me a prong with a huge chunk of beef hanging down to match the one in his hand.
After walking around the rest of the city, I picked up a Yerba that looked most similiar to the style the locals were all carrying around and picked up some Mate to put inside (now I just need some hot water!).
I head back to Colonia tonight to catch the ferry back to Buenos Aires.
Tomorrow i take a flight to the largest waterfalls in South America called Iguazu Falls (apparently they make Niagara falls look like a stream!)
I have officially been gone for 1 month! And I now have 4 countries under my belt (Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay).
Uruguay is the land of horse and buggy! It is also way more common per capita to see locals walking around with a thermos full of hot water and a Yerba for their Mate. I noticed also that collecting wood for fires = heat was a big theme in Uruguay (my favorite was the old guy with no teeth cutting up a dead tree to fill his cart with a blunt bow saw he made work better by pouring brown water onto out of a plastic coke bottle. He worried that I was the policia (i could barely understand a word he said!) but really he was just fascinating).
Uruguay seems to be cheap but you get hit with this IVA 23% tax on top of a service tax and plus your tip (which brings everything to the same price as Argentina). I didn't really figure it out but I like the quaint little country with good-nature folk, so I am happy to contribute to their economy.
Colonia
What a beautiful little town situated on a river across from Argentina (1 hour ferry) with 7 Km of beaches and immaculate gardens throughout! The town has historical significance as a Portuguese trade port for Buenos Aires dating back a couple hundred years. Before that there was an abundance of indigenous activity that was all on display in the 6 mini museums scattered throughout the walkways.
Hostel Colonia was the cheapest night of my trip yet at $8 USD and i had the dorm room all to myself (with Wi-Fi). In the morning I went on a bike ride (hostel loans out free bikes) around the city and visited all the recommended sites including a drawbridge with cannons aligned on the sides.
The cobbled roads and the ancient little houses along the streets lined with old fashioned lamp posts created quite a tranquil feeling for the quaint pueblo.
If you come to Uruguay do not miss this location, it is small enough to walk through in a day and is a nice break from the bustle of Buenos Aires.
Montevideo
A 3 hour bus ride east towards Brazil from Colonia, Montevideo is an active port city teeming with history itself. Uruguay's Ministry of Tourism has a slogan "Uruguay Natural", and provides these amazing maps that point out the top 100 tourist things to see or do (all with historical significance).
I stayed at a hostel in the old city (ciudad Vieja) so I was within walking distance to all the old buildings, museums, churches, plaza's, feria's, statues, and eateries.
My favorite place was the Parilla I ate at in the Central Mercado. The Uruguayan owner lived in Boston for a few years and became my new friend. He served me a ridiculously large suculent steak fresh off the grill and made this incredible chopped basil sauce for the side (olive oil, garlic, basil, carrot, salt). At the end of my meal, I asked to take a picture and he invited me inside his booth to pose as he passed me a prong with a huge chunk of beef hanging down to match the one in his hand.
After walking around the rest of the city, I picked up a Yerba that looked most similiar to the style the locals were all carrying around and picked up some Mate to put inside (now I just need some hot water!).
I head back to Colonia tonight to catch the ferry back to Buenos Aires.
Tomorrow i take a flight to the largest waterfalls in South America called Iguazu Falls (apparently they make Niagara falls look like a stream!)
posted by Justino at
11:14 AM
1 Comments:
Hey this is Billy's gf. Let me know if you are stopping in Brazil. A good friend of mine lives in Sao Paolo, maybe I could introduce you, cuz that one's a very dangerous city if you don't know where to go.
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