Uruguay: Colonia-Tacuarembó

~9th February 2019~

Uruguay, a country that I haven’t read or heard anything about before travelling into the country. Instead of the normal border crossing by land, we crossed over this time with a ferry and Steve drove the truck over by land. The port is well built with interesting interior design and it was an easy immigration process to get into Uruguay since both borders’ process were completed pre-departure.

The ferry didn’t take long to cross over to Colonia, a beautiful cobbled streets town with lighthouse and artisanal market. We checked into El Viejero, our hostel for the night. We also caught wind that there’s a mini carnival happening in the evening that we could do after the walking tour.

We checked out the lighthouse and the surrounding areas, had lunch and chill at the square before the walking tour. It was beginning to feel like the heat is going to get worse from here on all the way to Rio. Even ice cream gave no consolation or comfort for the heat.

The walking tour was informative, pointing out the influences from Spanish and Portuguese with their differences in architecture around town with the stories of the town and Uruguay’s colourful history. We head over to the main street where the mini carnaval parade was scheduled and we heard the drums from afar knew straightaway that the carnaval was already in full swing. It was a taste of what’s to come in Rio.

~10th February 2019~

It was time to pack up and go to the next destination, Montevideo, a relatively short drive away. We arrive early enough to check into a very nice hotel, Crystal Palace, wander around town and go to the street market down Avenida 18 de Julio. There were surprisingly high amount of gold fish or pet fish on sale and with the weather being so hot, we were wondering how the survive the journey home from the stall. The market was a mix of absolutely everything, you name it they have it!

The weather was too hot to walk around for an extended period of time, so I head back to the hotel after lunch only to find that my roomies already in the room taking a nap. I took my laptop out and started working on updating the blog as much as I could until dinner time, bypassing any invitations to go out. Air conditioning, water and inspiration were all I needed at that time to be productive.

Dinner was amazing at Los Leños, a gluten free restaurant, and the food is delicious. One of the first conversations I had with Kent is that gluten free should be easy if people just cook from fresh rather than using processed product, and this restaurant is the proof for it. They have the most amazing fresh gluten free bread that I have ever had.

~11th & 12th February 2019~

Everyone was looking forward to spend time in the estancia for the next couple of days, learning the way of the gauchos and horse riding. I haven’t been on a horse for a long time and actually couldn’t remember when was the last time I did. I was however looking forward to learning the lifestyle and staying in a remote place surrounded by farm land.

Panagea Gaucho was the estancia near Tacuarembó, run by Juan and Susanne, providing a real gaucho experience. Juan taught us how to saddle up and ride the horse gaucho style, and while he was giving all the instructions I was trying to register everything in my head with the apprehension of working so closely with a horse. I had a horse that was very patient with me and was always avoiding water as if it doesn’t like getting wet. It was so evident that others noticed it too.

Apart from learning how to ride, we were actually helping to round up the sheep from the field to bring them back to the ranch for check up and treatment where needed. It was a life experience that I would remember for the rest of my life. The amount of work involved in the ranch to take care of the animals and land gave me a whole new perspective to respect what’s on my plate at every mealtime. I hardly leave anything on my plate anyways because of the awareness on the level of food waste when there are people who can’t afford to eat. Moreover, when travelling on budget I appreciate every morsel of food I am able to afford knowing that I am truly fortunate.

Talking about food, every meal was nutritionally delicious and fit for the activities that we were doing throughout the day. Susanne is a very talented cook using whatever the ingredients available and made them into spoonful of heaven in my mouth. With the estancia completely cut off from the world outside (no phone reception and wifi), it was interesting and quality conversations at every mealtime with different people.

~13th February 2019~

It was time to leave the estancia, the beautiful family by Juan and Susanne, and the simple living. After saying our goodbyes, we were on the road to Argentina for a day before we cross the final border for the trip to Brazil. The border was meant to be easy to cross but due to some confusion at the border coming into Uruguay for the truck, it took us four hours to complete the process. Apparently, the truck was not registered when it crossed the border and the officers were questioning it especially when it crossed without passengers and there were 15 of us on board trying to leave the country. In that four hours, we managed to build on my list of stuff we can do for truck gym session, some yoga, played catch and did some reading.

By the time we crossed the border, thanks to Kylie’s fluency in Spanish, it was like a race against the setting sun. It was too late when we got to the municipal campsite in La Cruz so the first dinner by cook group was delivered to us instead, pizza for the night.

It was a pretty campsite right by Rio Uruguay with horses grazing nearby, looked and feel peaceful enough until the morning at 5:30am. More of that in the next instalment…