COLONIA DE SACRAMENTO

Back in Montevideo
Nacho's grin welcomed us back into Montevideo bus station. He had a bike polo match to get to so we threw our stuff in the back of his van and raced across the city. I've never seen polo before let alone bike polo. Two teams of three tear around a concrete basketball court with hockey goals at each end. A bunch of them meet each Friday night and play until the power to the floodlights are cut round midnight. It's a pretty intense high speed game. Nacho's brother in law lent me his bike and hammer. With a cervesa infused confidence and not understanding a word anyone was saying or the rules I had a crack. I was terrible, I put my feet down loads which is not allowed, I think I hit the ball twice and fell off once. Still no one really cared as it's all pretty casual, most of the players were either drinking beer or smoking joints in-between matches.

Stefi met us later outside a bar a few blocks way, nothing is far in Montevideo. We tried our best using our finest Spanglish to chat to the other polo players, then ended the night round 4am eating steak sandwiches and pizza. (Two of the best things ever!)

Stefi cooked up an amazing breakfast just before we left. It was well needed as me and Nacho were super hungover, not sure why H wasn't. It's been great hanging out with those guys, they have been so welcoming to us. Hopefully one day we can return the favour. We are definitely going to have to come back as I have unfinished business with Uruguayan surf and also it's just very nice!

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING NACHO AND STEFI!!!

Colonia de Sacramento
Three hours south / west of Montevideo separated from Argentina by the Rio de la Plata river/estuary is a charming cobbled town called Colonia de Sacramento. Built by the Portuguese in 1680 and every now and then being conquered by the Spanish this is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay. It's main attraction is it's historic quarter which has been granted UNESCO world heritage status. It truly is a very photogenic place, it's hard to take a bad shot with crumbly cottages covered in pink flowers and rusty vintage cars dotted about the place.

We wandered the small maze of cobbled streets and little squares eventually arriving at the tip of the peninsular for sunset. I had decided that Australia hands down has the best sunsets but now I'm not too sure. As the sun disappeared again fellow sun worshippers clapped and cheers raising their flasks and cups of Mate to the sky. A night of beer and wine followed leading us to nearly fall asleep on the hostel roof terrace under a clear night sky.

If you're in town on a Sunday it's worth checking our the local market. It not particularly special just a nice way to spend the morning and get fat as there is loads of cheese for sale. We finished exploring the old quarter then collapsed in a sweaty heap under a tree in the main square. It was super hot and definitely time for a siesta.

Time was nearly up, our boat to Argentina's Buenos Aires was due in to port in a couple of hours. We quickly climbed the lighthouse in the corner of the square, it overlooked the old town and the river. You could just make out Buenos Aires lurking on the horizon.

Uruguay has been an unexpected delight. The quiet beach towns, 4x4 sand dune busses, hanging out with the locals in Montevideo, Shaggy Dog, Asado and Nacho's coffee are just some of the things that have made our time here so good. To top it off this has to be one of the best border towns you could hope to hang around in.