Sunday Dec. 30th 2012
We leave for Montevideo at 6h30 pm, we take a ferry that brings us to Colonia del Sacremento and then transfer to a bus that will bring us the rest of the way to Montevideo. We get to the hostel at 12h30 am, but there is a 1h difference in Uruguay, so it's really 11h30, for us. The travel lasted about 5h. We stay at the "Hostel Dolce Vita" for 260 UYU "Uruguayan pesos" per night (13.36$ Can.).
Monday 31st Dec. 2012
Around noon we leave to head to downtown, where the big fiesta will be. The steets already starts to be crouded when we get close to the port, there is already quite a bit of people and the tam-tams give the rhytem to the fiesta. The cider fight is already started and before long we are completely drenched. The new years eve the most special I have seen so far (especially in daytime). At around 2pm the streets are full of people and everyone is soaked with cider and the fight and tam-tams goes on and on. Around 2h30 an incident happens that kind of ruins our afternoon. My friend gets her handbag ripped of of her and the thief runs through the crowd. I had no chance to follow him at all. We then decide to head back to the hostel because we both had our credit cards in her bag and we want to call the companies to report them stolen. Other than the cards, there was only a bit of money left because we had spent it to buy cider bottles. My friend had her small camera that was also stolen, she said it was not worth that much, so the losses where not so bad. The important part was that she did not get hurt when the guy ripped the bag off of her shoulder, becuase he did yank it off pretty good. We will spend the rest of the afternoon at the hostel and in the evening the hostel staff prepares a new years supper and at midnight we are all on the rooftop for the fireworks (that we don't really see, ohhh well). Before the countdown to midnight they bring sparkling wine for everybody to celebrate.
Tuesday 1st of January 2013
Today is a very relax day at the hostel. A little tired of the evening, I don't really feel like going to visit the town that much. Also after spending 10 days in Buenos Aires, I have enough of being in a big town and just want to leave for a smaller place.
Wednesday Jan. 2nd 2013
I take a bus a 9h40 to go to Punta del Diablo. I get to the "Hostel Manais Point" (550 UYU = 28.27$ Can.) at 4pm. after walking 4km from the bus station to the hostel with all of my gear. You can see that the prices are quite more higher, because it is Summer holiday season that is starting here. Then I go to take a walk into town, but the temperature is a bit cold to go to the beach and swim today. I spend the end of the day and the evening at the hostel with people I met here.
Punta Del Diablo
Small street of Punta Del Diablo
Punta Del Diablo
Thursday Jan. 3rd. 2013
I spend all morning very relax at the hostel but in the afternoon I finally go to the beach to take some sun and swim for the first time in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a pleasure to be able to appreciate such a nice beach after spending many months in the mountains and then another good period in Patagonia. I stay at the beach the biggest part of the afternoon, in the evening there are other travelers from Australia to chat with at the hostel.
Punta Del Diablo
Punta Del Diablo
Punta Del Diablo
Friday Jan. 4th 2013
I spent a good part of the day at the hostel and later I go for a walk to the bus terminal with another guy to buy my bus ticket (if you are in high season in Diablo, buy your bus tickets in advance because the buses are overfilled and you might end up having to stand up the whole way if you buy your tickets at last minute) for tomorrow to go to La Paloma (145 UYU = 7.57$ Can.) and then go downtown a bit cause I need some money from the bank machine. "Warning to people who go to Punta del Diablo, there is only one bank machine and whenever it gets filled up, it gets emptied just as fast. So if you don't want to be stuck like me with no money for you last day, take extra money out before you get there". The bank machine is empty again for the second time I go. I then go back to the beach for a while in the afternoon, but not too long because my little white skin already tells me that it will be burning if I stay too long :) Evening very mellow doing some reading around the yard.
View from the balcony of the hostel - Punta Del Diablo
View from the balcony of the hostel - Punta Del Diablo
Punta Del Diablo
Saturday Jan. 5th 2013
I take the bus at 11:15, it was supposed to leave at 10h30. I arrive at La Paloma and meet up with my friend Susanne that had been waiting because the bus was later an hour. We spend most of the day hanging out on the beach and having a beer on a terrace. In the evening we go out for a big supper because we think it might be the last time we see each other for the traveling ahead (in fact it is not, but we did not know this at that time). The hostel I went to in La Paloma is named "Hostel Cruz del Sur" (465 UYU = 23.66$ Can.).
La Paloma
La Paloma
La Paloma
Sunday Jan. 6 2013
I hang around the hostel in the morning and go walk around town a bit more in the afternoon. I also go to the bus station to get my ticket for the next day to go back to Montevideo (315 UYU = 16.07$ Can.). Spend the evening having a drink with a few people I met at the hostel.
La Paloma
La Paloma
La Paloma
Monday Jan. 7 2013
I leave La Paloma in the morning and go to Montevideo but I don't stay there very long because I catch the next bus to go to Colonia Del Sacremento (245 UYU = 12.50$ Can.). When I get to Colonia a bit later in the afternoon, I head to the "Hostel El Viajero & Suite" (350 UYU = 17.75$ Can.). I end up meeting Renee (Holland), a friend I had met in Buenos Aires and had seen again in Montevideo. We spend the evening having a few drink with a few other girls from Holland and a guy from England. Lots of fun and good discussions.
Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Typical sidewalk of Latin America - Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Tuesday Jan. 8 2013
I leave in in the end of morning to visit the historical center of Colonia. Very charming little town, but also very small (the historic center, that is). I take my time and wander here and there in the small cobbled streets. I get back to the hostel at mid-afternoon. In the evening I go out for a beer with a guy from Switzerland that I had previously met in La Paz in Bolivia, we had kept contact by facebook.
Click on image to see the whole picture album "Uruguay"
Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Colonia Del Sacremento
Wednesday Jan. 9 2013
Now now, here is a crazy day. I spend moast of the day chilling at the hostel and go walk around town in places I had not seen yesterday. I leave to go to the ferry terminal at 3:45pm, my ferry was at 5pm to head back to Buenos Aires. When I get there I go through check-in and the guy at the counter asks me if I have my paper for reciprocity fees, or else I will have to pay it. I say no, from Canada I do not need to pay a fee. He says that yes, the law as changed on January 1st (in fact it changed on January 7th). He tells me to go to the internet kiosk and to fill the forms online and I will need to pay with my credit card, but does not give me any website adress to go. So I try to find the website but after 30 minutes lost trying to find the site I decide to go see him again (he has no clue), he ends up going to see a collegue that finally gives me a paper with the web site adress on it. In the meentime the internet kiosk has closed for the day. I have no other choice but to go back at the hostel for another night (400 pesos, because all the other rooms are full). I finally am able to fill the forms online and pay the fees. I must also make a reservation for another ferry for the next day, bacause I missed mine. First ferry, 185 Argentinian pesos = 37.50$ Can. Second ferry, 202 pesos = 40.95$ Can. and the reciprocity fees that were 75$ Am. It's a day that cost me a lot in the end. In the evening I can finally relax a bit, it was a day rich in negative emotions.
Thursday Jan. 10 2013
I wake up at 4am, because the guy in the bed under me snores like a tractor truck. I get up and bring a blanket to find a spot to sleep, because even with earplugs I can ear him quite well. So I go lie on a bench in the backyard of the hostel, because the guy at reception does not want me to sleep for a few hours on the living room couch saying that he needs to do some clean up. I wake up again at 7am. At least I was able to sleep a bit more. At 9h30 I leave again for the ferry terminal, this time I pass check in with my papers, everything is in order, I can finally leave back to Argentina. Departure for Buenos Aires at 11h15 and get there at 1pm. I meet up with Renee again, we had given us a meeting there because we will be taking the bus to Puerto Iguazu together, we are at the same hostel in Buenos Aires where we were before new years, which is "Hostel Puerto Limon". After the episode of the stolen credit card, I had asked my company to send one back to this hostel as fast as possible. Nice surprise when I arrive, the parcel is here. Credit card problem solved.
Finally back in Buenos Aires
Friday Jan. 11 2013
We had booked bus tickets for 3pm to go to Puerto Iguazu (657 pesos Arg. = 133.17$ Can.). We go to the terminal at around 2h30pm to wait for the bus, but it does not arrive. So we wait and we wait, thinking it would be late, until 5pm. At that point we tell each other that something is really wrong. We go see the bus company and they tall us that is was cancelled for mechanical problems. They must have announced it in the speakers but we either did not ear or understand it. They propose for us to wait until 9pm, they would have another bus. We decide to change our tickets completely for the next day at 3pm again for free naturally), so we spent another night in Buenos Aires.
Saturday Jan. 12 2013
We spend the day chilling at the hostel and finally take our bus, that is on time, at 3pm for a ride of abotr 19-20 hours up to Puerto Iguazu. With this my small period of bad luck ends, with all my biggest happiness, because these last few days had been a bit stressful in a certain way, and cost me much more than expected. But to all bad luck there is good luck around the corner. The next step of the trip in Puerto Igauzu was wonderful.
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