We were up a the crack of dawn again to get a taxi across the city to the Buquebus terminal at the port. Like all border crossing activities, we had to be there at least an hour before departure. We checked in and had our passports stamped for leaving Argentina and entering Uruguay (which is done at the same desk) and we had our boarding passes torn in the correct places to board.
The rapid boat to Colonia takes one hour and is a huge people carrier. We estimate it could carry as much as a thousand people. Being such a huge ferry boat, there was very little swaying on the waves at first. The waters were a bit rougher later in the trip which was like being rocked gently to sleep. We departed about an hour late because there were so many people and cars going to Uruguay on a Saturday morning.
Once in Uruguay, we walked out of the port area and let our eyes behold the old school colonial style town. Unfortunately, the town is slightly larger than that. The port area is surrounded by car hire companies and bus and taxi services. We managed to find our way to the tourist information centre and pick up a free map of the town. We were pleased to establish that the old colonial style town was down the main avenue about 5 minutes walk away.
The architecture of the old town has both spanish and portuguese influences because the town has changed hands so many times in its 4 or 5 century history. There are massive carved wooden doors and pink and blue houses with white plaster details and cobblestone streets. Being winter and a sea side port area, it was very cold and windy and we soon had our warm winter jackets zipped up.
We decided to pay to climb one of the old lighthouses. They only allow 8 people up at a time because the stairs go up and up and up for so long and are so very narrow that the guards must radio between look out points to confirm if it is the turn for people to climb up or down. Climbing the stairs too quick makes you dizzy.
We got a windy vantage point to look at the old town and the nearby islands to the port. We took some pictures and then waited for the go ahead to climb back down down down again.
For lunch we followed or tour operators recommendation to go to the restaurant at the very end of the main street. It is rather disconcerting that because the Uruguayan peso exchanges at 4:1 to the Argentine peso and 2:1 to the rand, the price next to the meals are in the low hundreds. We however had a splendidly delicious lunch. I had ricotta ravioli in tomato cream sauce and Eben had four cheeses gnocchi. DELICIOUS!!
We eventually returned to the cold outside and turn back towards the port direction. We boarded the ferry and napped pretty much most of the way home.
Now we are dressing up for going to the Tango Show tonight. Tomorrow we are set to go to the Tigre Delta flea market (to spend our remaining pocket money) and then boarding the evening flight home. Woooo. Holiday isn't over yet.
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