Uruguay
Entering Uruguay was entering a whole new world... well almost. Even more people were standing around with half closed eyes while sipping from their ever present mate bowls. I had yet to try the tea though I had heard that it increased your feeling of alertness while allowing you to remain calm - unlike coffee that has you jittering all over the place.
We hiked around town in a big circle looking for accomodation. Sweat soaked, we finally ended up next door (literally) to where we started, and took a lovely big room with it's own bathroom, for not too much dinero. We showered the hot sun away then went out to check out Colonia. This town has the privilege of being the only town in the world to be declared in it's entirety, a world heritage site. We soon saw why. Beautiful cobblestoned streets and gorgeous, well conditioned colonial styled buildings created an atmosphere of tranquility. We went down to the waterfront, the lights of Buenos Aires glowing in the near distance, and saw a full, fat, yellow moon raise over a yacht marina. It seemed pretty close to paradise. We ate in a small restaurant boasting the yearly jazz festival. Over the road, as our jazz musicians warmed up, a drummer parade did the same. The two factions competed for a good hour before the parade bet it's way down the street and out of earshot. Everpresent jewellers punted their wares on the street side before us. Surprisingly (not!) they didn't conduct much business. On every street corner, we found people peddling their homemade jewellery. So much so that we began to wonder why people bother with it anymore. The competition is more fierce than a board room meeting. At least in a boardroom they have air-conditioning.
We slept well, then arose and managed to hunt and gain a contract on, the last hire car in town. Buenos Aires and Uruguay were both in peak holiday season so things were getting a little competitive. We drove up out of Colonia and headed well north of the country to Punta del Diablo. Punta del Diablo (Point of the Devil), is known as a beautiful but out of the way beach town. Most people don't bother going past Punto del Este (East Point) a little further south. We drove up in the heat of summer with the air conditioner on and our one CD from Aregentina, Soda Stereo, recommended by our Aconcagua guide - Angel - blasting. We stopped for lunch at a parilla (grill) next to a river where throngs of holiday makers swam. We stopped for ice-cream, then for coca-cola, then for the police who wanted to search our boot but then waved me on when I got out of the car to show them our dirty washing. Finally - a whole 4-5 hour drive later, almost out of the other side of Uruguay, we reached the turn-off to Punta del Diablo.
The town was mainly constructed of sand roads and the one tourist map we could lay our hands on showed most of the roads unnamed. We rented a little white and blue cabana for one night then bought bathers or togs to hit the beach in. After airing our glow in the dark hides for an hour or so (and Marty decently soaking his in the brine), we went back and changed then ran along another beach as the sun set. Returning, we wandered down to the township for dinner. A dance show was going on down on the beach, flamenco styled ladies then little girls danced the night away. A local churro maker (sweat donut like deserts) shared his mate with us, at last giving me a taste of the strong and bitter flavoured tea. More jewellers than ever hawked their seed beads and we ate at a small restaurant watching more drummers get more ladies dancing. A local said to us, this place is called point of the devil, but there is no devil here. I couldn't help but agree.
We woke early and ran along the beach again before packing our bags. In our haste to find fuel we forgot to grab breakfast. There was only one remedy for that - ice-cream! We found a petrol station about half an hours drive south of Punto del Diablo and we got to it not long after our petrol light started flashing. With a big empty back seat we decided to pick up a hitch-hiker - an Uruguan heading home to Montevideo (main city) from the beach. When I asked her in my hesitant Spanish, she indicated she was joining us in going to Punto del Este. But, she directed us past the turn off then the second turn off my map told me to take. Confused I assumed she had local knowledge the roads where bad. It wasn't until she waved us over at a turnoff to Montevideo that I realised our turnoffs just hadn't been convenient to her. I was livid but Marty was pretty chilled about the 30kms we went out of our way. Needless to say, no more hitch-hikers found their way into our car.
Punto del Este was the complete opposite of Punto del Diablo. Instead of cute and ecentric thatch covered cottages and shanties, it was a city of high rises as far as you could see. The roads were filled with Buenos Aires holiday makers flaunting their BMWs, their porches and their deep Uruguayan tans. We booked into a hotel room and walked the promenades. We saw some Brazilians playing music on a rotunda and people fishing for not much. A marina was stacked with millionaire and billionaire boats and the sidewalks were filled with restaurant tables serving overpriced and badly cooked food. We ate out of reach of the ocean waves but were still severely taxed for the tourist season. The fish we ate, though, was fresh and good for the stomach.
We drove back to Colonia disappointed of a beach day by rain. We drove through Montevideo and stopped for lunch in a stuffy restaurant that served us good food but was frequented by those above 50. The buildings seemed squat and squalid and I was disappointed to see slums, shacks built up of rubbish against warehouse walls. This country had seemed so perfect, but the lack of finance was still firmly evident.
Back in Colonia we knew where to go to sleep and where to eat. It wasn't until morning before we had to catch the ferry back to Argentina for our bus to Iguazu falls that we stumbled into the backstreets and the true treasure of Colonia. The buildings were stunning. We found an old car that had a nursery of plants growing in it. Cute shops and cafes nestled under shady trees and a plaza oozed old time peace. No time was left to us however and it was back to Busquebus and a boat back to the other side (a nice duty free full boat where I got to spray expensive perfume on for the first time in months!).
