Uruguay

You think that I'd be taking it easy by this point in my trip, but oh no - why make things easy for myself, when I can do it the long-winded crazy way around!!! Well, I guess it would have been out-of-character to do Country Number 18 in anything less than typical Emma style! At immigration, I politely asked the officials to put the stamps in exact places, as I have realised that I now only have four full pages left in my passport, which is really not going to last me another 7 years! The ferry crossing was very smooth and I was checked into a hostel in Colonia del Sacramento by 10am!

I set of on a walk around the town, which is genuinely as pretty and charming as everyone had described it. Of course, my first priority was to buy an Uruguay flag patch and get one of every coin! I spotted a good sized, good quality flag in one shop, but thought it best to shop around a bit first. I then found an inferior version, but the shade of blue for the stripes was darker. Of course, I had to then go back to the hostel to check Wikipedia for the correct shade of the flag! As it turns out, the second flag was more accurate, but the first was just much better looking! So, I decided to buy it, no one would know the blue was slightly too pale and after the palavers I had had where I've had to resort to eBay, I thought it best to buy one while I could.

It was damn annoying to walk but 5 metres, and see in the shop next door, one that was good quality and the exact right shade... and for 5 pesos less! Unbelievable, I bet the lady in the first shop hadn't even closed the cash register! So, I decided to continue my explorations and headed down to the beach to relax with my book. Of course, all that is whirring around my brain is whether or not to buy another patch that it more accurate, even though only I will know it, or just to make do with the one I have. But it is only another £1.50 to get another... but I have already bought one and a second one will be a waste of money... Dear reader, you've heard this story many times before!!!

Anyway, it was a lovely day and I actually ended up falling asleep on the beach! I must have needed the sleep after all the early starts of the previous week! After a while, I decided what the hell, I will buy the second patch anyway! The lady in the shop was lovely and her young son spoke excellent English. They were so helpful and friendly, (which I would later learn is very typical of Uruguayans) that I asked them about the coins and she gave me the only one I was missing, 50 cents, which I would be unlikely to get hold of in my short time there. That evening, I watched the sun set over Rio de la Plata before heading back for an early night... because of course, rather than chill out and have a lazy morning, I'd bought a bus ticket to Montevideo for 6.45!!!

I arrived in the capital just before 9.30am, which gave me plenty of time to explore the city. Whilst at the bus terminal, I asked about routes and prices to other cities in Uruguay, to give me an idea of where to go next - I'd already decided that I wanted to be back in BA by Tuesday at the latest. It turned out that there is a service that goes from FB to BA direct overnight, whioch would take much, much longer than the ferry, but would be significantly cheaper AND save me a night's accommodation. After finding a hostel, I went out armed with my camera, to capture the sights of Montevideos' architecture, which basically involved me doing a LOT of Emma-style circuitous walking around yet another South American big city! I liked Montevideo, but after being appraoched by three teenagers in a park who needed the time, I knew it was time to walk away fast and to avoid that old chestnut of a scheme... no, I will not be robbed again! Nothing happened, but I decided then that one day here was enough.

So, in the afternoon, I headed back to the terminal to book my onwards tickets for the next day. It had been a toss-up between Punta del Este, the St. Tropez od Latin America, or Fray Bentos, home of Oxo and meat pies! I settled on FB, just because it would be so different to tour an old meat factory, than to see yet another beach. Different AND weird!!! So, what should have taken an hour at the most to organise took up the entire evening and went a little like this>

- Got guy at hostel to phone the museum in FB to check opening times as the Lonely Planet said it was closed on Sundays.
- Told that there IS a tour on Sunday at 3pm.
- Headed to terminal, bought ticket to FB, arriving around lunchtime on Sunday.
- Told that there ISN'T an overnight service to BA from FB, so made extra enquiries in the tourist information office.
- Went to ask about the ticket again, this time with Victoria (from TI) to translate.
- YES, there is an overnight bus, it fits my plans perfectly!
- NO, they have all sold out for those arriving in BA on Monday morning!
- DAMN IT, I now don't need to go to FB tomorrow, but I've already bought the ticket!
- Plan B, take the ferry from Carmelo to Tigre home after FB, as it will be much cheaper than Colonia to BA.
- Find that there are 2 buses from FB to Carmelo: 09.45 and 19.45.
- Find that there are 2 ferries from Carmelo to Tigre: 04.00 and 14.00
- Am completely exasperated that the two services do not connect in any useful kind of way and now don't want to spend a night in FB or Carmelo, as I was resigned to being on an overnight bus!
- What the hell, let's do it so I can be back in BA first thing Monday, ask about the cost of the tickets so I can extract the exact Pesos Uruguayos from the ATM for the rest of the stay.
- Buy the tickets, thank god I have memorised my passport number, but have too many pesos left over as I had misunderstood the guy at the bus desk!

Crikey, by the time I got home, it was nearly 9pm! But, I had all my transportation sorted and paid for back to BA! It just meant that I had to get up early AGAIN to to to FB, then I had a few hours to see the museum, I'd have to hang around for the bus to Carmelo, then once there I would have to sleep in the port for 5 hours before taking the 4am ferry! So that's exactly what I did! Fray Bentos is a small little town, but it is quiet pleasant and I am glad that I opted to go there, even though it was a little bit out of the way. A few years ago, it would have been much easier, as there was a bridge that connected it with Argentina and therefore would have been but a few hours to get to BA. Now it has been closed, meaning that you have to go several hours north to the nearest land crossing.

I went to the museum first to look around and it was actually quite fun to see the exhibits about the history of the Liebig Extraction of Meat Company, inventor's of Bovril and Oxo, and subsequently Anglo, purveyors of Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney Pies! The double-headed calf in formaldehyde was quite cool too! I enjoyed the tour around the factory, even though it was all in Spanish only and a little macabre, but it was a very different way to spend an afternoon, especially as I can now tell all my friends that I have been to Fray Bentos and enjoy the puzzled look on their faces (as I reckon hardly anyone realises that it's the name of a twon in Uruguay, not just a pie!)

After the tour, I had three hours of waiting ahead of my before taking the bus to Carmelo. It passed really quickly: the weather was lovely, I strolled to Fray Bentos Gold Club to be the First to Find a geocache there, my first since June, then to walk along the riverfront with an ice cream at sunset, just people-watching as all the locals were out with friends & family, sipping mate and just whiling away the hours of a Sunday afternoon. Even though my time in was short, I was really touched by the kindness and relaxed nature of the people there. I especially appreciated it, when I arrived in Carmelo at 10.30pm that night that the guard in the port (which was actually closed) let me in to sleep, put the lights on for me and a little gas heater!

Even though it wasn't the most comfortable night of the trip, it passed quite quickly but I was glad when we were finally allowed to start boarding at 3am. Once again, I asked for my passport to be stamped neatly and then found a seat onboard where I could curl up and get in a little bit more shuteye! We arrived in Tigre around 6.30 this morning, from where I took the complimentary shuttle service into the centre of Buenos Aires. It had been a long-winded way of doing things, but a save a little bit of money and a lot of time in the process! So now I'm in my new hostel (as I thought I'd try a new one for my last three nights) and I just have to take the metro to where I stayed before to retrieve my backpack for the last time. Guess I should get some more sleep at some point as well!!!