A pretty early start to the day, checking out of the Milhouse at around 7 to get down to the Baquebus ferry terminal for a 730 check in. I met Natalie there and got a coffee...making the same mistake I seem to be making in BA, that is, that a cafe doble is double the price (and coffee I hope!) as a standard cafe con leche....not really that good forking out $5 for a coffee!
Anyway, we were on our way to Rosario, just over the Rio do Plata an hour on the fast boat. It was a quite interesting experience crossing into another country by boat. First, the immigration procedures took place entirely from the port of departure, with one person stamping the departure stamp on the passport before passing it to a person directly next them him who would provide the incoming Uruguay stamp/visa. When the boat was about half way through the journey, the duty free counter opened and hoards of people rushed up to make their purchases. I guess crossing to Uruguay is a good way to get cheap alcohol and smokes etc, similar to Brazilians crossing into Paraguay.
Rosario was pleasant enough. Not really much to take one by surprise, having only heard that it is a town of old buildings on the coast....that was certainly true. It was nice to walk around and take photos of the cobbled streets which are predominantly pedestrian only (some barely suitable for pedestrians!). We went up the lighthouse and finished our grand tour at a nice restaurant at lunch time. The weather cleared up dramatically so we decided to repeat the top spots to re-shoot photos with a nice blue sky background...clearly not a huge town. Natalie jumped back on the ferry around 5 to complete her day trip and I headed for the supermarket to prepare dinner. The hostel was nice enough, set in a old restored building (go figure!!). It was pretty quiet, which suited me and allowed me to have free rein of the DVD player, finally settling on Babel, which was a terrific choice.
Have decided to stay on in Uruguay for a few days, I was off to the capital Montevideo for a night. I boarded a bus with a few chaps I met at the hostel that morning. We decided to do a sort of city tour upon arriving at Montevideo but soon after arriving I was reminded of why I have begun to really appreciate the freedom of travelling solo. Waiting around for the others to book tickets, make phone calls, go to the bathroom, flounder around with maps, loose maps etc etc I was pretty ready to kick it by myself. However, I put up with the initial slow start and had a great afternoon checking out the sights with a couple of really nice guys, one from Peru and the other from Argentina. Montevideo is a great spot, with a mixture of old colonial buildings and decent shopping precincts, as well as attractive beaches. I met a hard case aussie guy at the hostel and together we endured two Steven Segal movies head to head, which is an achievement in itself worth blogging about!
The next morning I decided to head to the beaches for a walk; I probably should have hired a bike like the Aussie but chose to leg it given I had time to kill before the bus with no other ideas. As with several other places I have visited before, the beaches of Montevideo were certainly worth seeing but I was left wondering what they would really be like in high-season with lots of people, street vendors and a happening vibe. As it was I had the place to myself (except for a few dogs) which was nice. I got my bus back to Colonia to meet my ferry connection. I sat next to a lovely french girl who was visiting family in Montevideo (her mum was born there) so was able to pass the time having a good chat and learning a bit of Spanish.
I had opted for the slow 3 hour boat on my return to BA. It was amazing, with dance floors, casino, and helipad on the top deck. I explored and took photos of the sunset over Colonia, before bumping into girl from the hostel in Montevideo, who, as it happens, will be starting work with Natalie at Herbert Smith in London (as well as her 3 travelling companions)...small world!
My arrival in BA was simply enough, heading to Retiro at 1030 to get a bus ticket with the girl from the boat, although my bus counter was closed for the night so I jumped on the tube back to Milhouse for a quiet night....or so I thought. I met some crazing English guys in my dorm (lawyers....I only seem to met lawyers or drunk Irish on my trip!!!) and decided to head out to Club 69 in Palermo. After a few drinking games and some food we were merry enough to get a cab...still pretty early at 2am but what the hell.... The que-jump tickets we bought didnt´ really give us any advantage and we waited for about 45 minutes to get in. It turned out (i had heard but didnt´ appreciate the full extent of it) that Club 69 is a gay club with transvestite shows!! Worth a laugh and certainly colourful and decent enough music. Pretty weird dancing around watching guys fully of kissing each other or in threes and getting groped continuously by ever guy under the sun! I managed to get out on sunrise and head back to the hostel for a few hours sleep before jumping on the tube to organise my bus ticket to Bariloche.
Good by cities, bring on the Lakes District and Patagonia.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
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