URUGUAY

Approaching Uruguay came with a bit of a headache.

While Deb and Pat were in Argentina's last town along the way they decided to spend the remainder of their pesos on groceries to avoid loosing a couple of bucks in a cash currency exchange.  They only came to this decision after asking a local butcher if their were any more tolls on the way to the border.  He shook his head "no" in a very certain manner.  Well, by now they should have known not to put too much faith into the word of a local, but they chose to anyway.  They drove the remaining 30 kilometers to the border, and after crossing a large bridge over the huge Rio Uruguay came to a hault at the gate of a toll booth with no cash.  They begged and pleaded, even offering to sell the man in the window a used cellphone for the price of the toll.  After exhausting all possible options, they reluctantly drove back to town and payed an ATM fee and the standard 3% to withdraw about US $5.00 in pesos.  They were very bitter over the situation and the waste of time and gas but returned to toll booth with cash in hand.  

The border itself was reasonably smooth except for being the first where they were denied passage with the full 5 gallon container of gasoline that they often carry in the back of their car when entering a country where the price of fuel is higher than the last.  But with the border official's permission, they somehow managed to squeeze almost all of it into the tank which was nearly full already.  And then it was "Hello Uruguay!" Their first night was spent in Nueva Palmira not too far from the border on the shore of the same massive river near its mouth.  In the morning they visited the towns of Carmelo and Colonia Del Sacramento, and by the afternoon they had made their way to Uruguay's capital Montevideo where they began the process of acquiring a visa for Pat to enter Brazil.  

They found the brazilian consulate downtown quickly and were prepared with all the necessary documents.  Ironically the consulate says all visas are free but there is a paper processing fee that varies in price depending on what nation the applicant is from.  Pat would have to pay the high price of about $160.00 being from the U.S.  They were eventually called to the window, and the lady working behind it collected all of Pat's documents, but after looking at his passport she insisted that he would need to have pages added to it in order for the consulate to insert a visa.  This frustrated them because Pat had deliberately saved the last page in his passport for this purpose and there were still a few additional spots left for stamps.  They asked the consulate worker "why?" and showed her the space, but she insisted with a raised voice that it wasn't sufficient.  They tried hard to persuade her but she became very angry, started yelling, and eventually stormed off out of sight into the office behind the window.  Soon after showing Pat's passport to some coworkers she returned pointing to some text written on the last page of the passport stating that this page was in fact reserved for purposes other than visas.  So they left disappointed and frustrated that they would indeed have to jump through more bureaucratic hoops and pay more money to red tape government agencies.  Not too far away they found the U.S. embassy where Pat could have pages added to his passport.  They entered the highly secured building and a man working inside explained that it was indeed the place to do what they needed to do, but they could only make an appointment by internet and not in person.  Frustrated once again, they left the building borderline anarchists.  Some free WiFi was encountered nearby, and to Deb and Pats' satisfaction their was an appointment slot available first thing in the morning.  

They celebrated with a curbside meal of bacon pasta next to a park near the beach.  Across the street they admired some window washers dangling from the top of a tall building.  When they reached the ground Pat struck up conversation and was interested to discover they were climbers like him.  Soon he and Debora were invited to a nearby climbing spot that afternoon where Mauricio and Nicolas (the two window washers/ climbers) were going to train some future employees.  They chose to join and enjoyed the experience.  Nicolas, was extremely kind in offering assistance and friendly company during Deb and Pat's stay in Uruguay, so they exchanged contact info.

The next morning pages were added to Pat's passport at the cost of about $80.00, and soon it was accepted by the brazilian consulate for a visa which would take 2 days plus the weekend to complete.  By noon Deb and Pat were on their way out of Montevideo driving east along the coast towards Punta Del Este.  They stopped at numerous towns and beaches along the way admiring beautiful scenery and diverse architecture.  A night was spent in Punta Del Este, and then they continued along the coast visiting more towns and beaches before eventually leaving the car parked for a night (without them inside it for a change) while they walked several miles to a unique town called Cabo Polonio.  Personal vehicles are prohibited in this small touristy colony, so it can only be reached by foot, or by riding in the large 4 wheel drive trucks that shuttle people to and from it for the cost of a few bucks.  Deb and Pat slept on the beach under a blanket after having some food and wine under a full moon.  After touring the colony and its attractions in the morning they returned to their car this time by shuttle.  

Next, following the advice of their new uruguayan friend Nicolas, they headed inland on both paved and dirt roads towards a little town called Arequita to check out its surrounding attractions.  There were nice creeks, cliffs, a river to swim in, and a very nice place to camp in their car amongst a grove of large trees for the night.  After leaving the area they completed their loop back to Montevideo.  After arriving they got in touch with their friend and spent the evening with him and his girlfriend drinking Grapamiel and some homemade wines of Nicolas's.  They slept in the car as usual and picked up Pat's visa the next day. 

Before heading out, they stopped by Nicolas's apartment to thank him for his generosity and were both surprised and pleased to accept his goodbye gift: a bottle of Grapamiel.  And off they went towards their final border crossing into Brazil.