COLONIA: Well, here I am in the little country of Uruguay. After arriving in Colonia at midday I quickly found a place to stay, grabbed some money and headed off to see some sights. I did not get far though.
I had hardly made it down the road before I stopped to chat with a guy renting motorbikes. It started with just asking the price, but over half an hour I managed to discover that the country is hardly more than 600kms across and virtually all flat with a couple of ranges. It has few exports but plenty of water, beef, and cereals. I also discovered that driving around this place costs a lot as there are toll roads to get anywhere and fuel costs USD $1 per litre.
After parting with this friendly guy I ended up trying every single automatic bank machine, breaking some in the process of finding one that worked with my card. $3000 pesos later and I was ready to go. The Uruguayan peso is equal to 10 times the Argentine peso, so this was only a $300 peso Argentina withdraw, or $100 US dollars. It sounds a lot though, with a bottle of water costing $8 pesos.
Football
Not very far down the road I met up with a bunch of guys that were about to start a game of football. They were one guy down and asked me if I wanted to play. It seemed a reasonable proposal to me, but I warned them that I hadn't played since I was a child, and was not sure I knew how to play. They were happy to have me along and we started the game.
As we played, more people came and went with our teams swelling to almost six players a side, before shrinking again to the three or four per side we started with. Somewhere in the middle of everything I suffered a strong bruise to my leg. It is painful enough that I expect to remain limping for a few days. Eventually I thanked the guys and headed off to walk the tourist route through the ancient part of town.
Tourist Walk
The oldest house in town, preserved in its original state had dozens of paintings and pieces of art that covered the walls. Further into the place I discovered there was everything here, even the original utensils and equipment from the same era as the house. Surprisingly everything was also for sale, at a price. Absolutely everything that was not permanently affixed to the building had a price on it. I was amazed.
Moving on from this house on its extremely old rock lined street, I discovered my first museum, from the Portuguese times. Colonia, being World Heritage listed and basing its tourism industry on the age of the place, is full of museums. It was already getting late when I wandered in, so when I asked how long I had, it was not surprising to discover that they were closing in five minutes. It is amazing how much you can see in a museum in five minutes. With quite a rush, I managed to see everything in that time, even though I was the last person to leave.
Next stop was the lighthouse. This was the first fee I had encountered, and even though it was $0.75 Australian dollars, the entry fee of $15 Uruguayan pesos still seemed expensive to me. The climb to the top of the stairs revealed commanding views over the entire old section of town as I looked out from the section where the light is located. I took my share of photos and then climbed the dizzying number of circular stairs back down to the bottom.
By now my time for tourism had run out. The sun had virtually set, the museums were closed, and there was not much left to do except stop and eat. Non-the-less I pressed on and continued to walk around the tourist pathway based on the map I was holding in my hand. It was clear that I would have to return in the morning, but it was still worthwhile to wander and see this new place that I was now living in.
Relaxed Tourism
The best part of this trip is that I do not have any fixed timetable and can stay or go to the next place when I want. If I like the place then I stay longer, and if not then I move on. This non-pressure approach to tourism seems the total opposite to my world tour where I rushed around the world in a flurry, spending only one night in Venice, two days in Rome etc. There was so much to see and so little time. Now I am in a tiny little country with not too much to see and enough time to see it. This is going to be a lovely relaxed time indeed.
As I wandered around the place there were many interesting things to see. From tree-lined streets, to many old buildings with creative uses for each of them, there was always something that kept my eye interested. I even discovered dozens of old cars, the sort that lived during the Bonnie and Clyde era. Some of them had actually been converted into dining rooms for a funky looking restaurant near the old church.
Dinner Time
By seven o'clock at night I had worn myself out, and with my sore leg causing a significant limp, it was obvious that my time for wandering had drawn to a close. It did not take me long to find my way to a local watering hole where the food was much cheaper than most of the main tourist places. I like these places because of the friendly atmosphere and very cheap prices.
At the time I landed in this place, everyone was caught up in watching a local television program. It was hard to work out what the show was about because I could not understand all of the dialogue, but there were parts that were funny regardless of what language you speak. The rest of the time I took my cue from the locals as to when to laugh. The show finished just as I completed my meal, so I paid my $80 pesos for the meal and headed off again, for a quick stop at the internet place before returning to my accommodation.
Ending The Night
The accommodation I had chosen here was the local hostel which seemed a good place to start. I was lucky enough to be given a room to myself for the same price when I booked in. It is on the top floor, and from the balcony level I climb a few wooden stairs to enter the slightly elevated room. Two beds sit inside and create a relaxed atmosphere. It certainly seems like a nice place to stay.
So after a big day and night in Buenos Aires and with my limping leg, my plans for tonight are to simply retire to my room and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of this wonderful little town. It should not take me too long before I have drifted off into a pleasant sleep.
Uruguay is shaping up to be a very interesting and enjoyable place to be. Friendly people, football games, and lots of great chats. The difference between the big city of Buenos Aires and the local atmosphere of this place is obvious. After all, there are 6 million people living in Buenos Aires city, and only 3 million living in all of Uruguay.
Maybe I am just a country boy at heart.
Day 2 (& Photos)