March 2, 2020
Colonia del Sacramento
Another day, another country although the truth is that today we visited our first new country in two years.
After breakfast at the hotel we headed down to to the ferry port detouring to look for a camping shop so we could replace the gas cylinders we had to discard before we boarded the flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires. The first was still closed but the second was open so we bought two new cylinders for the road.
Once at the ferry port the whole process of checking in, passing through Argentinean and then Uruguayan passport controls couldn't have been easier. The border control officials sit in the same booths in the same way that they do between Laos and Vietnam. A very practical arrangement.
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Halfway though the ninety minute voyage we were joined by an Uruguayan born US resident called Martin who heads up a software company in Pennsylvania. He is also a cyclist and had latchedonto us because he had seen us cycle onto the ferry. He was full on information and good advice on Uruguay and it was a great way to pass the time on what is quite a boring ferry ride. Boring because the Rio del Plata is broad, flat and muddy so there is little aquatic or avian life visible and the calm waters don't provide much of an adrenaline rush.
Once in Colonia del Sacramento (thankfully called simply Colonia by the locals) we spent sometime trying to draw some cash from various ATMs without any success. So we gave up and headed to our digs, a very simple and unpretentious place called Casa de Teresa, about a kilometer from the historic old city.
Teresa is a lovely warm lady about our age and when we explained our predicament with the ATMs she summonsed her son Ariel to provide us with more information. Ariel speaks excellent English while Teresa's is almost as bad as my Spanish.
It was as hot as hell so I cooled down for an hour or two at our digs before heading out later in the afternoon to try my luck with the ATM's. After an hour or so, and lots of stress, I finally found one of my cards that would work so long as I followed a specific pattern of options.
With a bulging wallet I was now able to head off to the supermarket to buy some groceries secure in the knowledge that I would be able to pay for them. In the end, Leigh's credit card was happliy accepted at the supermarket with the added benefit that purchases with foreign credit cards are exempt from 22% VAT. So by paying with a credit card Uruguay's infamously high costs can be reduced substantially.
We going to spend two nights here so that we can spend some time exploriung the old town tomorrow. I saw some of it while chasing ATMs and it seems worth a least a day's attention.
Today's ride: 15 km (9 miles)
Total: 1,993 km (1,238 miles)
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