Colonia del Sacramento
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“Uruguay? Yes, why not? I am close anyway.” The thought that probably crossed the minds of many travellers that were spending some time in Buenos Aires.
It takes only an hour to take the ferry to Colonia del Sacramento. That said, it took me about three frustrating days to book it. I wanted to book ahead as I was a bit worried that a 1 way ticket to Argentina wouldn’t allow me into the country, so I thought this ferry ticket to Uruguay could be my proof of onward travel. At the Buquebus website I took the time to fill in all the details (and I mean details with a capital D, Buquebus knows more of me than my own mother)… to find out their website was hacked. Then SeaCat? Well, if you’re registered, logged in and all settled you have to fill in a code. What kind of code? No one knows, even the Uruguayans I spoke to on an online forum didn’t know. So then you call SeaCat at 2AM (time difference is a b*tch) to be transferred five times, being hung up six times and getting an automatic voice saying “más informacíon se puede encontrar online” seven times. At that point you just turn your internal European off and switch the South-American on and just fill in a random code, any made up code… book the ticket… and be totally fine.
Or even better: Just book it on the spot, as proof of onward travel was never asked for any South American country I travelled in (and I did that for 3 years in a row)
Or even better: Just book it on the spot, as proof of onward travel was never asked for any South American country I travelled in (and I did that for 3 years in a row)
The same European panic turned out to be a South American blessing in the end when it comes to money. Once I entered Colonia I was in need of some Uruguayan pesos. I went to a bancomat and found out Maestro is not accepted. Mastercard is, and inshallah I took a back-up Mastercard with me. Still, no pesos came out. Heavily panting I started raping all bancomats in town with my creditcard, frantically going to that same menu again and again. Hungry! Food! Money! Until I noticed you can also get dollars out… and yes, they actually do come out. In the supermarket they were happy to receive my dollars and gave me pesos back.
Why, you wonder? The economy in Argentina is in ruins and because the government prints extra money the inflation is high. Therefore the Argentineans want to buy dollars for a higher price, as this is a very stable currency (this is called the ‘blue market’). If you bring, let’s say, 100 dollars from Uruguay to Argentina and change it on the blue market, you get almost double the amount of money than if you withdraw cash from the ATM. Fact is, I am going back to Argentina with a shitload of dollars and earn the $5-fees back these bastard-banks charge me every time when I take cash out. You should do that too.
* This article is written in 2014. In the meantime dollars are made available in Argentina as this policy indeed blew up in their faces. That said, corruption is still at an all-time high and therefore so is inflation. It’s always a good idea to bring dollars to Argentina and exchange them, rather to cash out and pay the high Argentinean bank fees. Never leave the country with surplus Argentinean pesos, as they’re worth shit abroad.
Why, you wonder? The economy in Argentina is in ruins and because the government prints extra money the inflation is high. Therefore the Argentineans want to buy dollars for a higher price, as this is a very stable currency (this is called the ‘blue market’). If you bring, let’s say, 100 dollars from Uruguay to Argentina and change it on the blue market, you get almost double the amount of money than if you withdraw cash from the ATM. Fact is, I am going back to Argentina with a shitload of dollars and earn the $5-fees back these bastard-banks charge me every time when I take cash out. You should do that too.
* This article is written in 2014. In the meantime dollars are made available in Argentina as this policy indeed blew up in their faces. That said, corruption is still at an all-time high and therefore so is inflation. It’s always a good idea to bring dollars to Argentina and exchange them, rather to cash out and pay the high Argentinean bank fees. Never leave the country with surplus Argentinean pesos, as they’re worth shit abroad.
Oh wait, you wanted to read some travel story about Colonia right? Ok, I am going to say it: Go there but don’t spend the night there. Definitely not two (and another one on the way back to Argentina), like I did. The whole town can be seen in two hours, if you take it slowly.
The cute streets with the unpractical but very romantic bumpy roads will make you smile. I am not a fan of cars, in fact, seeing a Ferrari will make me feel the same way as seeing a glass of milk. However, these Colonian beetles parked on every road triggered illusions of me driving in one of those through Tuscany with a suitcase tied on the roof and some Julio playing guitar on the back seat.
For 50 peso’s you can buy a ticket for all museums they have, 8 in total (of which 3 were closed in winter). Museums can be understood in very different ways though. In this case it was sometimes just a room as big as a kitchen with five little statues in it. The nicest one was the Museo Municipal Dr. Bautista Rebuffo, where some historical objects, paintings and death animals were on display.
Yeah, if that’s the best one, imagine the others.
I learned that there are caimans in Uruguay as well as cockroaches as big as my feet. Can’t wait. Museo Casa de Nacarello is a former colonial house with the interior in the original state, which I saw thoroughly in 30 seconds. The Museo y Archivo Histórico Regional can be summarized as one hall filled with broken glass. Museo del Azulejo is a wall with tiles, so much fun. And Museo Indígeno Roberto Banchero is very interesting if you are a big fan of stones. No not The Stones, just stones.
Yeah, if that’s the best one, imagine the others.
I learned that there are caimans in Uruguay as well as cockroaches as big as my feet. Can’t wait. Museo Casa de Nacarello is a former colonial house with the interior in the original state, which I saw thoroughly in 30 seconds. The Museo y Archivo Histórico Regional can be summarized as one hall filled with broken glass. Museo del Azulejo is a wall with tiles, so much fun. And Museo Indígeno Roberto Banchero is very interesting if you are a big fan of stones. No not The Stones, just stones.
Worth the 20 peso’s is climbing el faro, the lighthouse: a guarantee for beautiful views. And ehm, are you into exotic animals? No? Good. They only have dogs here. A lot of dogs. I never saw so many dogs per square meter as in Colonia. And just as people, some will be your friends and some will not. That was what going through my head when I got chased by a very aggressive and unfortunately also very fast dog. It came to the point where I was running, hysterically screaming in German (not sure why that happened, it just screams better I guess) “I can’t get rabies vaccinations here”.
Yes, that was as exciting as it got that day. After the chase, I nauseously stumbled back to the hotel, made a picture of a parked car and got drunk by myself.
Yes, that was as exciting as it got that day. After the chase, I nauseously stumbled back to the hotel, made a picture of a parked car and got drunk by myself.
Another piece of advice: Only visit during summer time. I did 2,5 years later with my mother and that was a whole different experience:
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- Nature and hiking in Uruguay: Minas, La Serrana & Santa Teresa National Park
- This can't be missed: Uruguay's wine region Carmelo!
- Just across the border with Argentina: Buenos Aires and Colón
- Travel up north to Brazil and discover Porto Alegre, Gramado, Canela and Cambará do Sul
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- Colonial city in Bolivia: Sucre
- Colonial city in Peru: Arequipa
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- Colonial city in Ecuador: Cuenca
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