Road trip! Exploring the Uruguayan coast

The beautiful sand dunes and coastline of Cabo Polonio

With a quick visit to the Alamo rental agency at the main bus station, we were off to explore the Uruguayan coastline.  Neither of us have driven a car in over 3 months but thankfully, it's not easy to forget how and Montevideo was almost easier to drive in than Denver even.  While it would be impossible to see all 660 km of Uruguayan coast in just 2 days, we did make it up to La Paloma before the sun started to set.  

And we are off!

We had to catch a little ferry across the river leading in the ocean! And it was free!

Loved rolling in to town to see this beautiful lighthouse at sunset!

All these beach towns are supposedly hopping with international beachgoers during the summer (Jan and February) but turn into sleepy towns the rest of the year. La Paloma was no exception and we were almost lucky to find a few hotels and restaurants open.  

The next day we continued up to the turn-off for Cabo Polonio which was the real gem and highly recommended by Fio.  It is a natural coastline, flanked but big sand dunes, and a protected nature area.  We arrived to the turn-off, paid our 'shuttle' fee and soon were bouncing over the sand dunes toward the coast in a big dune-buggy. 

We rode along the beach for a while too and arrived at the small shacks that make up this rustic beach town.  I instantly wished we would have reached this place to stay the night prior as the laid-back vibe seemed very relaxing.  Apparently, it also gets quite busy during the summer but there were only a few hostels and shops open this time of year, even though the weather was perfect (though I think the locals would say it was cold!).  But at least we had a whole day to explore.  We walked about an hour up the coastline to walk along the big sand dunes.  

There were lots of jumping photos!

Thankfully the sun came out and the sand dunes were a perfect spot to relax, eat our sandwiches and take lots of fun photos. 

Loved the seashell colors!

We made our way back to town in the late afternoon to go up the new lighthouse to see the beautiful views.  The lighthouse was built after a few ships wrecked off the rocky coast.   

Tons of sea lions were swimming and chilling on the end of those rocks

Beautiful view over town and both sides of the peninsula

Then we bounced our way back to the park entrance at sunset.  We met an English girl and gave her a ride to a town along the main highway to help her out.  But unfortunately, we arrived in Punta del Este later that night and realized she had left her phone in our car.  Thankfully, we were able to send it with a bus the next day to her in Punta del Diablo and she received it by the afternoon.  With our good deed done, we explored Punta del Este, the ritzy and internationally known beach town about 2 hours east of Montevideo.  

We returned to Montevideo in just enough time to get our big backpacks, return the car and hop the bus to Colonia del Sacramento.  This historic town was founded by the Portugese in 1680 and faces Buenos Aires across the incredibly wide Rio de la Plata.  It was once a city of strategic importance in resisting the Spanish but now the old town is a UNESCO historic site.  We had a few hours before our ferry to walk around but it was quite windy and cloudy so wasn't as photogenic as maybe it could have been.  

The old gate from the 1600's

 

The ferry to Buenos Aires was just over an hour and absolutely miserable.  It was hot, stuffy and super bouncy (probably due to the high winds) and I got sea sick :(  I had made tentative plans with Christy to go back for a day trip next week but don't think I want to get near another ferry anytime soon!  In BA, we shared a cab with some Brazilians we knew from Montevideo and arrived at the hostel in time to rest from our long day!

Uruguay - The Original World Cup Champs

Back in Pucon (Chile), we found a cheap enough flight to Montevideo, Uruguay that sounded a whole heck of a lot better than a 16 hour bus ride and 3 hour ferry. So after the super late birthday party in Mendoza, we flew to Montevideo, found a hostel and immediately proceeded to... nap.

Maybe the coolest airport ever?  Looks like a weird egg.

Feeling more refreshed, we ventured out to explore this new city and country. Uruguay really isn't on the travel radar (Mark said if I told him a year ago we would be in Uruguay he would have looked at me funny) but we've heard good things along the way and were excited to meet up with Fio, our Uruguayan hiking buddy from El Bolson. The Ciudad Vieja is the historic old part of the city and is separated from the new part by the beautiful Plaza Independencia. The gigantic mausoleum of General Artigas, the father of Uruguay who fought for the country's independence in the early 1800s, sits in the center. 

The oldest theater in South America (built in 1856)

It is surrounded by the unique Palacio Salvo which was the tallest building in South America when it was first built and the Presidential offices.

The Presidential offices 

Palacio Salva (built in 1925)

Snuggled between two powerhouses (Argentina and Brazil), small Uruguay has a population of 3 million and 1.5 million live in Montevideo. The country sets itself apart from other South American countries by its strong economy and social characteristics. The past President Jose Mujica (a new one was elected March 1) was famous for donating 2/3 of his salary to charity (he was dubbed 'the world's poorest president) and running the country in sweaters (no suits) from his own home. He also introduced legal same-sex unions, abortion, marijuana, free education and banned public smoking.  During his tenure, Uruguay acquired the first ranking in Latin America in democracy, peace and quality of living.  Did you know that on a per capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to UN peacekeeping missions than any other country? The first night, we ate at the small, cheap restaurant called Santa Catalina where the past President supposedly ate at nearly every day.

On Saturday, we saw more of the Ciudad Vieja during the day and enjoyed it's quiet pedestrian streets, all lined with beautiful big trees, and the unique antique vendors in the park.

The last remnant of the gate that surrounded the old city back in the 1800's

Mark really wanted to buy that phonograph but the $800 price tag and transportation difficulties persuaded him to pass

I love seeing old photos of what plazas used to look like and compare to what it is today

We visited the historic port area and the Mercado del Puerto.  This historic market building now billows with parrilla (grill) smoke of all varieties of meat possible.  Except not shrimp (yeah, those were actually cow intestine I learned). We ate lunch and also drank the famous medio y medio (a delicious mix of sparkling wine and white wine).

After a fun birthday call to Mark's mother in Berlin, Fio arrived at our hostel to pick us up. Turns out she used to work at our hostel so she knew all the front staff. We soon were walking along La Rambla, the amazingly long and wide oceanside bike and walk path that runs east for 30+ km along the entire length of the city. 

Fio treated us to delicious churros which we ate while watching an amazing sunset (I'm a sucker for a beautiful sunset, especially over the ocean!). So many Uruguayans were out enjoying the evening, sipping on their yerba mate. It's a serious addiction here! Everyone is carrying their gourd of Yerba mate and thermos of hot water to refill.

Sipping on yerba mate through unique bombillas, always with a thermos nearby to refill.

Maybe the extra caffeine is why Uruguayans can dance til 7 am! Thankfully that wasn't on our plans. Instead, we made our way back to the Parque Rodo to experience something really unique. A big movie screen was set up to play the last movie of the summer movie series. Sounds normal, right? Well except that the only electricity that the movie would run off of was that generated by the 2 dozen or so bikes attached to a small lit-up apparatus that powered the projector. The movie was people powered! We were able to ride too.  Oddly enough, our bike-powered movie was about a Uruguayan family that drove their Jeep literally around the world over 4 years. 

After the movie, Fio, Mark and I walked back towards our hostel and enjoyed a fun dinner of chivitos, the main Uruguayan dish. Chivito is a cholesterol bomb of meat, eggs, cheese, papas fritas and sauce. As our time with Fio came to an end, we thanked her immensely for sharing a part of her Montevideo world with us!

On Sunday, we popped in to lunch at a highly rated but really affordable lunch place called La Fonda in the old city.  All ingredients were fresh and the eccentric chefs were prepping that day's ravioli in the open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant.  

The chef chatting with his amigo who is not only carrying his bombilla with yerba and a thermos but also a special pack to carry the thermos (or maybe a 2nd thermos?)

Mark thought the old city looks like Havana (like stepping back in time)

We then biked along La Rambla for over 24 km, enjoying the beautiful ocean views and perfect sunny weather.  Just about everyone else had the same idea and we passed many groups of friends sharing a thermos of mate, families playing on the grassy parks and intense games of sand football.

We stopped for many photos at the awesome Montevideo sculpture and to watch the fishermen out on a port.

We thought the other side was prettier with the grass and palm trees!

Eventually we returned to town in time to catch the street tango.  Yes, a bunch of cute old couples get together in the park to tango.

Before leaving town, we stopped by the Estadio Centenario, the football stadium which also hosted the first ever World Cup in 1930. Only 8 nations have ever won the World Cup and Uruguay won it twice.  Uruguay won at home at the inaugural event and again in 1950 in Brazil.  The museum commemorated these wins as well as other Olympic football victories in 1924 and 1928.  The stadium is showing its age but offers a beautiful view of the city skyline and I'm sure still buzzes with energy during game days. 

The home country flag that flew in 1930

A Pele jersey!  I remember my Bro being a big fan of him!

I also remember having a pillow as a child with this photo on it from Germany's World Cup win in 1990

The 1930 trophy!

The trophy from 1950

These few days in Montevideo have been wonderful!  This city is developed but still friendly and personable.  We loved catching up with Fio again, the hostel had a guitar (Mark's fav) and great breakfast (my fav) and thoroughly enjoyed the different options to explore this city!  

Mark practicing my favorite song in the hostel lobby.

Next adventure is renting a car and exploring the Uruguayan coast!  Mark hasn't driven a car in 3 months... wish us luck! :)