Stories from Uruguay

When I drove through Uruguay to the east coast, I was reminded of a place far away and long ago. I saw green fields with rows of trees and black and white cows; many rivers and bridges. I saw rows of identical houses and modest apartment buildings. When the palm trees appeared, the spell was slightly broken, but still, my first impression was that Uruguay was the Holland of South America.

Most of my time is being spent in a beach resort called Punta del Este. I have been told that in January and February the place is packed, all the high-rise holiday buildings and fancy summer homes filled with every soul from Uruguay, Argentina and Brasil wanting a taste of the good life. Now, in April, it´s almost as dead as the senor citizens that make up most of the remaining resort dwellers. But Señor Hans loves it here, the weather is still good, the beaches clean and the hostel is a mighty relaxing place, with a ´pillow corner´ and soothing music ... oh yeah !

I have to be on my guard though, as it looks that bad luck is slowly homing in on me. I spent a fun day with a brother-sister pair from the USA, including a private showing of the Johnny Cash movie in the cinema here. The day before they had rented a scooter, but fell down in a tricky bend. Bloodily scraped knees, bruises and a much too steep damage payment were the result. The good thing for me was that I didn´t have to worry when we had to race for the two hammocks in the hostel ...

And yesterday, I finally met Heleen and Pieter again, the two Belgians I ran into all the time months ago in Bolivia. They have been traveling by car the last two months, which they bought in Chile. On their way to Punta del Este they were relieved of their money and cards by a hitch hiker ... their luck turned though, because in the evening they were the rare recipients of a round of drinks from Señor Hans ;-)

Before meeting up with them, I went on a day trip to the nation´s capital, Montevideo. I always like to visit capital cities to get an impression of the country as a whole. Liking the cosy countryside and the quiet coast here, I was negatively surprised by the city. It gave me the impression that it might have had better times, but they were long gone, forgotten and would never return again. I travelled 5 hours to walk around in the center for just an hour. I had seen enough (and it started to rain), so back to the relaxing atmosphere.

But the relaxing days are almost over. A day at the beach with Heleen and Pieter today, and then to a city that is something different all together. See you there !