Uruguay & Yerba Maté

We arrived in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, on the Wednesday evening. An easy traverse across the city on the public transport had us arriving at our hostel a little later in the day than we would have liked. Just enough time to grab a bite to eat and settle into our dorm... our biggest to date... a 12 bed dorm that fortunately was partially split in two by a dividing wall, and even more fortunately only one other person to share with... a Venezuelan motorbike gang member!

After coming from the beach Montevideo was stifling, humid and sticky in the heat, but that first night the heavens opened, in what was to become a nightly occurrence for our stay. During the day the sun would shine more often than not, but every night the rains would come in a futile attempt to cool the city.

Montevideo was a return to the city lifestyle we had left behind whilst touring the Atlantic coast beaches, our last major city was in Paraguay, and it had been nearly a month since we'd resided in a place with a cash point! Montevideo is home to half the population of Uruguay, but four days was enough time for us to get a good feel for the city. We based ourselves in the Ciudad Vieja, the old town, and were able to visit the the whole city from their taking in the Ramblas, the promenade along the waterfront, the multitude of huge plazas, and the hundreds of confiteriers.

Whilst there we added a padlock to the lovelocks fountain (for good luck), ate at the Puerto Mercado (a meat eaters heaven) and got a taste for the Yerba Máte...

Our lock added

Lunch at the Puerto Mercado

Yerba is a herb drunk by 90% of all Uruguayans, and is popularly found in the old Guaraní tribe area, Paraguay, Uruguay and Northern Argentina. It's drunk through a mettle filtered straw, a bombilla, and out of a special cup. It's a common sight in this corner of the world to see it shared and passed around as a social activity. In fact it's very often you see men walking around with maté in hand and a thermos tucked under the arm. After sharing a few yerba's with locals in Montevideo we decided to jump on the band wagon and invest!

After Montevideo we made our way further along the coast to a small town called Colonia Del Sacramento. Colonia is like a step back in time, with cobbled streets and lots of vintage of cars. Every corner you turn is visually stunning and we've ended up with quite literally hundreds of pictures. Definitely the most picturesque of the Unesco city sites that we have been to.

Whilst in Colonia we spent a few lazy days walking around the town, taking a bike ride along the playa, and enjoying the weather sat outside one of the many terraced cafes. Due to the fact Colonia is on the Rio Plata as opposed to the Atlantic the sun sets over the water. This made for some fun evenings watching the sunset whilst listening to one of the local bands play down by the waterfront. Enjoyed even more with a bottle of the local vino (not quite as famous as it's Argentinian or Chilean cousins, but nice all the same), and some homemade empanadas (Latin American pasties).

Colonia is just 60km across the water from Buenos Aires and the outline of the city can be seen on a clear day, and the lights from the skyscrapers made out on a clear night. So onwards via the Ferry to our next destination for Christmas and New Year... Buenos Aires!

A&G