Uraguay in 6 days

Across the road from the B&B
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Leaving Iguassu also means I'm leaving Brazil for the last time. I have mixed feelings about that, because for all of its eclectic mix of good and bad I really do love Brazil. We're catching a night bus(from Iguassu) to Salto, Uraguay. Oh my, did I mention that before. This is actually the second of the night buses, the first being from Paraty through Sao Paulo to Iguassu. They really suck! The first time I think I would have been lucky to get 1 hour's sleep the entire way. I really shouldn't say its the fault of the bus, as they are very luxurious. Huge double-decker things with airline-type seats, showing (usually Spanish) inhouse movies and even serving food and wine! Tho don't get too excited, the food and wine is nothing to rave about. If you think airline food is gourmet, well this food is possibly best left to your pooch, but even then I think you might even think twice. The wine was good tho!

After the last night out in Salto
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Anyway arrived to a miserable day in Salto, Uraguay. Rained most of the day which made getting around a little difficult, and the first time I actually felt cool on the whole trip. The heat over the last few weeks has been stifling. I have never sweated so much in my life and I might remind you that I come from Cairns, where I thought I could easily handle the humidity. But it has been quite something else!

6 days in Uraguay - Salto

The gum plantations (which are all over the place!)
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Anyway Salto. Its pretty much on the border between Uraguay and Argentina and is the first of five or six days we're spending in this country. It's strange, but when you walk down the main street of Salto, you know you're not in Brazil. This place has a whole different look and feel about it. Which no duh! you get when you travel to another country .. haha.. But its more of a rural city I guess you could say. Perhaps the size of Warwick, its a bustling little rural community and for the first time I didn't really feel hassled about personal safety. Although that must always to be in the forefront of your mind when travelling, I dont think I felt the need to be permanently "on edge" here. Sure there is poverty, but its not the "in your face" stuff in other parts we've experienced so far (much like Iguassu because of its slick tourist machine).

Taken from the bus on the way to Colonia
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So basically spent the day wandering around the streets taking photos and chilling. I tasted chivito here for the first time at lunch in this little cafe in the main street. I ordered the "Chivito El Plato" coz I was starving because the brekky at the hotel left a little to be desired (Melba toast things, jam and butter, coffee, tea and juice, thats pretty much it). This is the other thing we are now going to miss about Brazil - the fabulous brekkies! Anyway back to the chivito - its kind of toasted bread on the bottom covered in mozzarella cheese and topped with steak. This was presented on a huge plate (el plato) and served with a salad of tomato, lettuce, peas, onions, olives, a fried egg on fries (and a couple of other little things, which I can't remember now, maybe mashed potato?). I couldn't even finish the thing, it was so absolutely hugamungo! I felt like such a gutz afterwards, so thankfully couldn't finish it.

Because of the big feed we had at lunch, the group decided to just chill in one of the rooms and go grab some local wines, cheese and other nibblies. Enough to say without going into too much detail, that Uraguayian wine packs as decent a punch as any in Australia! So yeah we just sat around and chatted until about 10:00 (we are now in European eating mode, so everyone eats late!) went to this pizza place and ate yet again. The prices for all this food is amazingly cheap. The wine was about AUD$6 a bottle and the chivito about AUD$4. Pizza I think was about AUD$6. Ahh yes, you can eat very very well here, and very cheaply. which may become a problem because gnawing at the back of my head is the trek to Machu Piccu in 2 months or so!

We left Salto the next morning for a 6 hour bus ride (thankfully it was raining all the way because I had a bit of a hangover!) for our next destination in Uraguay, Montevideo. My head wasn't the best for this trip, but managed to take a few shots of the countryside on the way. I have to mention the gum trees here. There are huge plantations of them all over the place! Its like driving through Australia and feels so weird. The crops are mostly corn, sorghum and I noticed both Hereford, Fresians and Angus cattle dotting the fields. From the looks of it there's a very rich rural community, and it reminded me quite a bit of the Darling Downs. I did not see much poverty in the more remote rural areas, tho I did notice some very small farmlets maybe with 5 acres and very run down dwellings made of concrete blocks and sometimes thatched rooves. I took these to be subsistence farms, but to be honest I don't really know and there is no one to ask as our guide is from Peru and most of his knowledge is about the west coast of South America.