Sarah Knows Nothing About Travel- Uruguay

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. A line that a) I have almost definitely used before and b) is from the hip modern classic, The Sound of Music. Out of touch? Moi?

But regardless, starting at the beginning of my South America trip does seem the most logical. I’m going to try my darndest not to use the dreaded ‘j’ word (rhymes with gurney), so the Thesaurus is going to be doing some heavy lifting here. I digress.

On the 29th of January, at a time I honestly can’t remember right now, I flew out of Gatwick Airport—a place that makes you thankful for Heathrow—down to Madrid, to make the connecting flight out to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. You may, like most people, not know much about Uruguay, save for Homer Simpson laughing at it when he reads the name on a map. Honestly, I was the same. It’s not a big place, and it isn’t a famous tourist destination, nor somewhere with a particularly distinctive selling point. I know, put me on the tourist board right now. It’s tucked between two much more flashy neighbours—Brazil to the North and Argentina to the East. The population is around 3 million, and the climate is basically a nicer version of Britain, with beaches and grasslands aplenty.

Sunset over the River Plata

Now if you’re wondering why I picked this place to start my journey, my previous post gives the details. I don’t think you’ll expect the reason. And honestly, throughout my travels, many other people seemed surprised that I started here. Even the Uruguayans I met. It’s simply not the most exciting part of a continent that has a lot to offer. It seems a harsh judgement to give of a whole country, and I’m confident I only scraped the surface of a great place, but it is absolutely somewhere that calmly introduces someone to South America, rather than dazzles them.

When I finally got off about 12 hours of plane (which I should be more used to from travelling to South Korea, but alas), I arrived to summer time, wide roads, palm trees and a broad walk along a river so huge it acts like a sea. So far, so chill. I hot-footed it, as much as one can in a taxi, to my Airbnb, an airy apartment on the third floor of an old street in Montevideo’s old town. I was staying with the owner, a lovely lady whose bathroom sticker collection demonstrated her love for radical socialist theatre (right on sister), in a basic room with a double bed, a desk and not much else. After travelling that much, I really didn’t care, and got to the serious business of lying down, accompanied by a beautiful chorus of barking dogs that never really let up.

Montevideo

I stayed in Uruguay’s capital for three days in total. These three days were unquestionably enough to get a good idea of the city, because it’s pretty small. With only 1.5 million people, it’s about half of the country, but not a patch on places like London or Seoul in terms of population. And, if I’m honest again, it doesn’t really match up in entertainment value either.

The old town is a pretty area, with timeworn colonial architecture lining the roads that meet the river. The central square of Montevideo has a nice statue and some impressive buildings. The art gallery that I visited showcased paintings as cool and interesting as anywhere else. These things were nice. These things were entertaining enough. But as for much else? I couldn’t find it.

I’ve since been told that I just hit Montevideo at the wrong time, as the end of January/beginning of February is the time when most of the residents go to the beach, coming back later for the carnival (the longest in the world apparently). This is completely fair, and might explain why everything felt quite empty and lifeless. For example, places seemed to close a lot earlier than I’d heard was normal in South America, and my attempts to visit a tango show or cool bar one evening were utterly fruitless. It’s not an unpleasant city by any means: it certainly has a very laid-back energy, and because of its size it was pretty easy to navigate. But, when I moved on to my next stop, it wasn’t exactly with a heavy heart.

Colonia del Sacramento

After my first three days, I booked myself a bus up to the small historical town of Colonia del Sacramento. It’s only a couple of hours on the road, and it takes you up to the point where the river is about as close to Buenos Aires as you can get. I stayed here for just two nights, booking in another Airbnb room in a lady’s apartment (Ines and her cat, Sara, absolute babes), but weirdly it was a much better experience for me than my first destination.

Sara, my best friend

I think what it all came down to was expectation. I had wanted Montevideo to be a bustling hub of activity, aaaand it wasn’t. But Colonia? Famous for being a sleepy little town on the water’s edge? Well, you’ll never guess, but it was a sleepy little town on the water’s edge. I came for calm and peace, and I got it. Strolling around old buildings and sun-drenched cobbled streets is much more enjoyable than waiting for something that isn’t going to happen. The comfort of my Airbnb, with my lovely host and all her effort, added more homeliness than I’d found in the city too, a relaxing touch.

After two days here, it was time to move on to one of the big boys: Argentina. Ferries run regularly between Colonia and Buenos Aires, and I was on my way there before it even hit lunchtime. I had five total days in Uruguay, and I did have a largely pleasant time. But, as I said, my expectations of something a little different did colour the beginning for me. I had to try not to have any ideas of what would come next in order to not be disappointed.

But when it comes to the excitement and diversity of Argentina, disappointment is a difficult thing to achieve…