The bbq party was still going on when we woke at 0600 after a very disturbed night. By 0630 we were packed and in reception waiting for the taxi to take us to the ferry terminal for our ferry/bus from Buenos Aires to Montevideo. The hostel has been OK but we were both glad to be leaving after four nights feeling our age! The terminal was just a short drive from the hostel and we went through both Argentinian and Uruguayan immigration before boarding the ferry. The 50km journey across the Rio de la Plata to Colonia del Sacramento took just over an hour. It was a journey Simon had especially wanted to do after first been in BA 12 years ago. Unfortunately as it rained non stop on the crossing we had to stay indoors and could not see a thing through the wet, steamed up windows. C'est la vie! The bus was waiting for us after we'd past customs and it was a further 2.5 hours to Montevideo. We had originally planned to get the sea cat direct to Montevideo until we found out that it was more than triple the cost of the ferry/bus combination. The journey between Colonia and Montevideo was primarily through farmland with the odd one street town, running parallel with the river. The Rio de la Plata is apparently the second most polluted river in the world after the Ganges. Despite it's dirty brown colour there are a number of beaches along it's shores, including several in Montevideo. The bus terminal at Montevideo was a little way out of the centre of the city so, after a late breakfast in the terminal and buying our onward bus tickets to Colonia for Monday, we jumped in a taxi and headed to our hotel, the Palacio which is on the edge of Cuidad Vieja, the old town. We checked in, which was quite funny as despite having an email from the hotel to confirm, they said we hadn't got a booking until we showed them the email. It's a nice hotel with a old world European feel to it. It had started to rain and we waited until it eased off a little before heading out for a walk around. The place was unbelievable quiet which seemed odd for a Saturday and maybe had something to do with it being the day after the public holiday. Nearly all shops and bars were shut with the streets empty with the exception of the odd homeless person. It certainly didn't have a nice feel to the place and despite having a number of grand looking neoclassical buildings most were in various stages of decay or surrounded by horrible concrete blocks. We found a book shop that was open with a cafe where we stopped for coffee before heading back to the hotel. We spotted a restaurant/cafe that was open near to the hotel on Plaza Constitucion and headed there in the evening for a pizza. Neither of us felt like wandering far from the hotel as it didn't feel too safe and in any case most restaurants were shut!
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| Catedral Metropolitana in Plaza Constitucion |
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| The lovely book shop |
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