Week 3-4. Uruguay

All the photos are here.

Saturday, 15/02. Colonia

I finally leaving BA. Not forever, I will come back on Wednesday to fly to Iguazu, but now I am going to another country to lie on the beach (ish) for a couple of days.
I am catching the same ferry as a girl from my class and her frend and there are more people coming from the school. And I am travelling with 15 l rucksack leaving the rest at my hosts's. 15 liters! For 5 days! Why do I even have 65 l bag???
Ferry takes an hour, I plan to visit Colonia today and catch the bus to Montevideo in the evening. Good plan. Did not happen. I did not know Uruguay is one hour ahead of Argentina. We have arrived around 3.30pm local time, by time girls found their hostel, checked in, time passed and there was asado in the evening and a bed available, so I decided to stay. I do not have anything booked in Montevideo anyway. Plan changed.
Met people from my old school and visited Colonia with them, while my group were sleeping.
Colonia is very calm, small and slow after fast and loud BAires. Just want to sit somewhere on the beach, drink mate and watch the ocean. Very nice place, small one-storey houses, old cars, narrow streets, beautiful people (they are taller than portenos).
Travelling in a group is fun, but practice of spanish is limited. I was just proud of myself when I could handle 15mins conversation with taxi driver the other night. Now I do not get a chance to speak spanish. Hmmm
Tomorrow I am going to Montevideo. Nothing will stop me.

Sunday, 16/02. Montevideo

Note to myself: do not visit cities on Sundays.

As much as I did not like BA on my first day there, I did not like Montevideo. I guess, even more as it is small and not actually interesting. Much more homeless people, and this time they smell, everything is more expensive, houses are ugly, streets are empty. 

I left hostel in Colonia 10 minutes before bus departure (that is how relaxed I am, but it has always been like this: "My plain is in 2 hours? ok, time to start moving"). They have wi fi on the bus, beautiful! I know what I am going to do tomorrow during my 4 hour trip to a dream land. 

Uruguay looks like Russia, I mean seriously, like Southern regions of Russia. Pine trees, fields, old tractors, corn.

Montevideo did not impress me, nothing much to do here on Sundays. I have made a booking of the hostel for 2 nights La Pedrera (first hostel I have booked, but only because it is a sister-hostel to the place I am staying)

Monday, 17/02. La Pedrera.

Note to myself: ALWAYS(!!!!) carry sun screen.

I think even my ears burnt!

I am at La Pedrera - small village on the Atlantic coast in Uruguay, 3 hours away from empty Montevideo. There are only 3mln ppl in Uruguay, half of them in Montevideo, who lives deep in the country I have no idea.

I somehow arrived 5 mins before my bus departure, not sure why I thought I got it all right and left hostel on time. It was probably first time when I was worried of missing my transport - that bad I wanted to leave. 

In La Pedrera I traditionally got lost (on its two streets!), took me about 30 mins to find the hostel. The place looks amazing! Very summery, tropical feel, very homey as well. Although it seems like people do not sleep here.

And there is Atlantic ocean! It was a bit stormy today, so no swimming, and I slept on the beach.

Another note: do NOT sleep on the beach.

Time here feels different. I arrived at about 11am, than it was suddenly 1pm, I walked on the beach, slept on the beach, froze, woke up - it's 5pm. 

Then talked for a couple of hours speaking Spanish with local Juan (proud of myself - the guy does not speak any English at all and I can tell you his life story if you are interested). Btw, it is not first Juan I meet, must be popular name. Sounds a bit funny for Russian ear.

Frogs here are creepy - they sound like sick kittens. 

Tuesday, 18/02. Cabo Polonio.

I traveled that far in  Uruguay just to see Cabo Polonio. Small fishing village on the Atlantic shore surrounded by sand dunes, without electricity and with colony of seals living on the rocks close to the village. 

All guides said that the bus will drop tourists off the main road, where they will need to catch 4x4 truck to the village. I was not sure how to find these 4x4s, but this part of the journey was the easiest.

C. Polonio is very, no, VERY touristic place. They have more shops, restaurants and hotels than La Pedrera. They might not have electricity, but they accept Visa and have sattelite dish.

I did not like the village, but I did like the seals. Just in the center of the place, under the lighthouse, 20m away from me. Wow!

And then I have made another smart decision. I have decided to walk to the closest village. GPS said it was 7.5km. But it was 7.5 km straight, not along the coast, so dunes and wind it made all 15. But the walk is beautiful. I also decided to ignore the waves and went for a swim in Atlantic ocean (box ticked).  

I could see the village in front of me, when I met an obstacle - the lake.

Ok, we can go around. And so I went, through dunes, forest, swamps, small rivers I had to jump over.I walked until there was A REALLY HUGE swamp. Sorrow! Had to go back to find alternative ways. This loop cost me another 5 km and one missed bus.

Apparantely, one can cross the lake on the boat. Just need to "signal" to the people on the other side.

Las vasilas is the village i was walking to is really nice, its small houses drawn in dunes and are surrounded by fields with sheeps and forests. This looks more real than hippie C. Polonio. And of course I got lost. Took me over 40 mins to find a bus stop on its one (although very chaotic placed) streets. 

I am sooo tired of all this walking today, but I saw seals, a turtle (dead), dunes and swam in Atlantic ocean. Back to busy BA tomorrow.

Оля, у меня нет фоток в бикини, вот тебе мои ноги в Атлантическом океане.

Wednesday, 19/02. Back to Buenos Aires.

Note to myself: always set alarm clock if departure is in the morning, even if it is as late as 8.30.

Note #2: Always arrive at least 10 mins in advance, as the bus can have different stops.

I almost overslept and almost missed my bus from La Pedrera today. Something is wrong with me and the transport here! So far I've been lucky, but I cannot try my luck forever.

All day today was the journey back, 4.5 hours bus La Pedrera - Montevideo, 2.5 hours bus Montevideo - Colonia, 1 hour ferry Colonia - Buenos Aires. I slept all the way. Somehow bus journeys here are very easy to live through (can I say it? Live through bus journey?), I remember how I always suffered on the way from London to Cheltenham: you stare at the window, you sleep and then for the last 40-60 mins you cannot wait to arrive! Here I just sleep, sleep and sleep. Maybe buses are more comfortable with more distance between seats? Or maybe I catch up with all the sleep I missed in BA.

Coming back to BA felt like coming back home. Everything is familiar, I know what streets to walk to Subte station, I know where to get off, I can walk from Subte to the place I am staying in with eyes closed (ok, maybe because it is straight all the way).

Had lovely (what a word!) dinner with my hosts. Tomorrow I am heading to Iguazu.