skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Posted On Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at
at
8:51 PM
by Alvin
Taking the 3 hours' ferry across the Rio de La Plata from Buenos Aires, we arrived in Colonia in Uruguay in good spirits, as the weather was fine and we looked forward to visiting this peaceful colonial seaside UNESCO town away from the grandeur of BA. The ferry crossing was pleasant and we were entertained by a local band performing in the middle of the boarding deck; the journey was definitely made that much more interesting. But, hey nobody told us it was a holiday weekend and to our amazement, all the hotels were booked solid and there were only 4 beds left in the Hostel Espanol - so bunk beds or church yards ? Never mind, the joy of travelling... so we spent a memorable night in a 10-person dormitory and it was actually surprisingly quiet and clean. Colonia (full name - Colonia del Sacramento) was picturesque and peaceful as we had expected and the two days we spent here strolling along the cobble streets, sipping cafe in cosy bars by the pier, energised and prepared us for the long journey up to northern Argentina.
BTW, we found out that Uruguayans were even keener mate drinkers than Argentinians, every local would walk around carrying their mate kit which consisted of a hot water flask (held by left hand and pressed against left chest), mate cup with a straw and sieve called bombilla (held by right hand and taking frequent sips as one walked along the leafy streets). A photo of the kit below in case you were wondering.
Taking the 3 hours' ferry across the Rio de La Plata from Buenos Aires, we arrived in Colonia in Uruguay in good spirits, as the weather was fine and we looked forward to visiting this peaceful colonial seaside UNESCO town away from the grandeur of BA. The ferry crossing was pleasant and we were entertained by a local band performing in the middle of the boarding deck; the journey was definitely made that much more interesting. But, hey nobody told us it was a holiday weekend and to our amazement, all the hotels were booked solid and there were only 4 beds left in the Hostel Espanol - so bunk beds or church yards ? Never mind, the joy of travelling... so we spent a memorable night in a 10-person dormitory and it was actually surprisingly quiet and clean. Colonia (full name - Colonia del Sacramento) was picturesque and peaceful as we had expected and the two days we spent here strolling along the cobble streets, sipping cafe in cosy bars by the pier, energised and prepared us for the long journey up to northern Argentina.
BTW, we found out that Uruguayans were even keener mate drinkers than Argentinians, every local would walk around carrying their mate kit which consisted of a hot water flask (held by left hand and pressed against left chest), mate cup with a straw and sieve called bombilla (held by right hand and taking frequent sips as one walked along the leafy streets). A photo of the kit below in case you were wondering.
