Growing up, I watched FIFA soccer world cup, I heard about Uruguay from time to time, kind of a funny name, never would have imagined I would be here one day, even for just 8 hours. It felt good. We arrived around 9:45am. I walked out the port and exchanged US$20 to local currency, the rate is US$1 to UYU$22.2. I figured I would only need some money for lunch. Walked down to the tourist office, a very detailed-oriented and helpful lady explained what I should be visiting in Colonia. It is their holiday, however, so all museums are actually close today, that is ok for me.
First, walked down to the historical area, the old wall surrounding the city, the canon, the lighthouse, the plaza, the street signs, and the colorful casas clearly had a Portuguese colonial style. Very Macau like but cleaner and more colorful. It is a beautiful day to visit Colonia, sunny blue sky with no clouds. I navigated myself streets by streets in the historical area. By noon, I was pretty much done. The tourist office lady told me I should try visiting Plaza de Toros, which is 6km away from the historical area. She mentioned there is a regular bus in town to go to that area, but she didn’t mention which one. At the end, I found that there are 5 different local bus routes, I noticed a bus stop on the main street, so I went into the convenient store, got myself a soda, get some change and then I asked the cashier, “Buses a Plaza de Toros ahí” (pointing the bus stop), she said “Si”, I asked her “Cuánto vale para bus a Plaza de Toros?” I intended to ask how much the bus ride costs, but not sure if it was correct. Anyway, she said something with a 7.
I walked out, still didn’t know which bus it was, I was guessing it was the bus to Real de San Carlos, since it is quite close to Plaza de Toros on the map. A few buses stopped by at the bus stop, I got on each one and asked the drivers “a Plaza de Toros?” anyway, who knows if the other bus passes there as well. The first two said No, pointing behind. After I came back down from the second bus, an older woman sitting at the bus stop asking in Spanish where I am going (I guess that’s what she asked me). I said “Plaza de Toros” and showed her the map, she said something about the bus to Real de San Carlos. She also said “.... también”. That word I know, it means “also”. So, I just guessed that she meant we are going on the same bus. I asked her how much, showing her the coins in my hand, I asked “Siete?” (7) She corrected me, and something “siete”. I guessed it must be 17. I showed her a 20 peso bill, she nodded. Si. It felt kind of amazing, we were actually communicating with very little language.
That was kind of the interesting part about this trip, I mean to figure out what bus to take, how much to pay, and where to get off. I felt that the locals usually would help if you are polite and you try. I will have to keep the bus ticket this time so I would remember this incident with the Uruguayan old woman at the bus stop. When you are on your own, sometimes you just have to thicken your skin and ask for help, or just give thing a try. You may walk triple distance, but you are making something happen, that feels good! Plaza de Toros had an old ruins or some source of a circular structure, nothing as spectacular as a Colosseum. There were also some beaches near Plaza de Toros, which you could see the historical town from the other side of the bay. I walked around the beach a little, almost not a soul around me. I guess most people stayed at the other side. After 30 minutes or so, I walked back to the bus stop and waited for a return bus.
The return bus was a trip from hell, some 30-40 junior high schoolers boarded the bus, they saw a chino and got all excited, and kept saying “Konichiwa”. That is Japanese, I wanted to say but I just let it go. They were pretty harmless, when I was about to get off, one particular brave girl touched my shoulder and asked me how to say Hola in Chino? Konichiwa? I said No, and the bus stopped, I said Ciao Ciao, they said Ciao back and then I got off the bus.
It was already 1:30pm, I needed to find something to eat, the restaurant by the seaside were all expensive, turista menu are all 500-600 peso. I walked back a little to find something my US$20 equivalent Uruguayan peso could feed me. After that, I was going to find a cafe to have a coffee before getting back to the port, but then turned out one could actually climb the lighthouse, I noticed some people were up there. Of course, I would not miss this chance. Well, I didn’t get on the lighthouse in Ushuaia, at least I got on this one in Colonia. To be honest, I was more freak out to take a selfie up on the lighthouse today than paragliding, that space on the top of lighthouse was really tiny, and you needed to let people through from time to time. I sat there for a few minutes, I was delighted that I went up. Very beautiful up there, breezy, felt good and dizzy at the same time.
So far, I have done all the things I have planned, Iguazu will be the last item on my list.
Other photos from today, Retiro area in Buenos Aires (taken after coming back from Colonia):
