CYCLE TOURING URUGUAY

URUGUAY
596 Kilometres - 11 Days
27 February – 9 March 2011

MAP

PHOTOS 

E-BOOK

  

27 February - Buenos Aires, Argentina – Colonia De Sacramento, Uruguay - By ferry

Colonia dated to 1680 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Colonia thus came with a lively touristy trade. However, it’s primarily known for its Barrio Histórico, lined by buildings from its time as a Portuguese settlement.

We followed the narrow cobblestone path in the sweltering heat, which led through the city gate and down to the harbour featuring its historic lighthouse. At the campsite, the price and the quality of the facilities came as an unpleasant surprise. A decision was made to wild-camp from then on.

 

28 February - Colonia De Sacramento – Colonia Valdense – 58 km

Our first day of cycling in Uruguay turned out a pleasant one. The countryside seemed more lush, green, and the weather more humid than in Argentina. Stopping at an ATM to get Uruguayan peso, we met Jo, who lived with her South African daughter and son-in-law. We were invited to tea and ended up having supper as well as camping in their garden. Jo, Abigail and Andrew, together with their small child, Lucy, sailed the South American coast a good few years. As Abigail was pregnant, they came ashore in Uruguay. During our visit, their three-month-old baby, Sarah, was the picture of health and looked quite pleased being Uruguayan.

 

1 March - Colonia Valdense – Playa Pascual – 93 km

Reluctantly, we left our kind hosts and headed east towards Montevideo. Unfortunately, a headwind picked up, and it took churning our way into the wind the rest of the day, stopping ever so often to have a drink and a bite to eat – including the snacks Jo packed the previous evening.

In the late afternoon, about 33 kilometres before Montevideo, a petrol station sporting lawns outback, a shop and toilets made good camping that night.

 

2-3 March - Playa Pascual – Montevideo – 37 km

A service road made a comfortable ride into the capital. Montevideo was a relatively small city with barely over one million inhabitance. It was thus easy to find our way around. We headed straight to the old part of town, where locating accommodation was effortless. With its location on the Rio de la Plata, Montevideo didn’t only have a holiday feel but was beautiful, friendly and culturally rich. Like in Argentina, Mate remained the drink of choice. One seldom saw an Uruguayan without a flask clutched under their arm and cup in hand.

Strolling the historic Cuidad Viejo was pleasant and relaxing. Nearly all the old buildings had been renovated, and in a way, reminded me of Eastern Europe. The many pedestrian malls, street cafes and bustling squares with craft markets and statues, made lingering easy.

 

4-5 March - Montevideo – Piriapolis – 110 km

Montevideo had a 20-kilometre long beachfront and leaving, we shared the path with joggers and other cyclists. Our route led past plenty of beaches and small villages which made enjoyable cycling. Unfortunately, the wind picked up, making pedalling hard to reach Piriapolis. Andrew, from Colonia Valdense, arranged for us to stay at Laurence and Elisa’s place, where we pitched our tents in their garden.

The following day, rumours of an evening barbeque did the rounds, and we stayed one more day. What a delightful mixture of people; four South Africans, two Canadians, two Americans, one English, one Spaniard, two Swedes, an Irish and one lone Uruguayan. The asado was an authentic Uruguayan asado with more meat than anyone could eat. The Uruguayans sure knew how to party.

 

6 March - Piriapolis – La Barra – 52 km

Due to our late night, our leisurely departure came as no surprise and, after scoffing the leftover food, we reluctantly waved our very generous hosts goodbye and cycled out of town.

First up was Punta del Este, one of South America’s most famous and expensive coastal resort towns. Here the River Plate meets the Atlantic Ocean. Four colossal cruise ships anchored in the bay, and the rich and famous were doing their thing on the many beaches around the city.

A safe 10-kilometre distance from Punta’s glitz and glamour, a campsite provided more affordable overnighting. We presumed the weekend camping crowd, who filled the grounds, would soon be packing up. Unfortunately, that assumption was a mistake. The following week was Carnival week and campers were settling in for the weeklong holiday. Surrounded by mate-drinking campers, continually tending to their Asado fires, we were the odd ones out. Watching the Uruguayans enjoying themselves was fascinating, and sometimes amusing.

 

7 March - La Barra – Rocha – 91 km

The Uruguayan lifestyle of going to bed late and rising late was very suitable to Ernest’s lifestyle. So the time was around 12h00 before he was finally ready to leave. But, unfortunately, our late start meant Rocha was reached into a stiff headwind.

Rocha’s smallish town came as a pleasant surprise. Established in 1793, the settlement had cobblestone streets and rows of old, semi-detached houses where people still used horse carts. Apparently, not a considerable amount had changed since 1793. We were offered accommodation in one of these old semi’s (at quite a steep price – it was a carnival holiday, after all). The tiny, low-ceiling cottage had two bedrooms, a lounge, bathroom and kitchen, as well as a courtyard for stashing the bikes. The quaint setup made me want to read “The House of Paper”, a novel by Carlos Maria Dominquez. By the time we’d finished our beer and scoffed the pasta Ernest cooked, the time was 01h30 and way past my bedtime.

 

8 March - Rocha – La Esmeralda – 75 km

Coffee washed down the leftover pasta, and the time was passed midday by the time Mr Markwood was ready to hand in the key. The wind was even more intense than the previous day, and I’d no intention of going far. Nevertheless, the road remained undulating, and it took grinding into the wind the best part of the day. Finally, a friendly Uruguayan stopped and offered us a ride to the border - he looked perplexed when we thanked him but declined his offer.

The day turned out a picturesque ride past farmland and the ever-present pampas grass until spotting a road sign indicating camping four kilometres off the main drag. The sign promised a restaurant, pizzas, and so forth. We left the tarmac and biked down a dirt road, which I didn’t mind as I visualised a luxury room and pizza. However, on reaching the promised land, the setup was somewhat rustic amongst dunes that looked positively Saharan. It took walking the bikes over the dunes to a suitable camping spot. Following the initial disappointment and once settled in, the place wasn’t all bad.

 

9 March - La Esmeralda – Chuy – 80 km

The Next morning involved the same procedure of dragging the bikes through the thick sand to reach more or less solid ground, and onto the Brazilian border. Although still windy, the route flattened out, and cycling was past vast fields of grazing and wetlands. En route, I was surprised and impressed to meet Jorge, from Spain, who drove his little vintage Citroen from Spain via Asia, Australia and South America - very nearly the way we cycled.

Chuy was quite a remarkable town. The Uruguayan border was one kilometre south of the town and the Brazilian border one kilometre north, making Chuy a bit of a no man’s land. Moreover, the town itself was divided in half, one part being Brazilian (Chui) and half Uruguayan (Chuy). One side of the main road was, therefore, Brazilian and the other side Uruguayan.

Our search revealed a budget ground floor room in one of the side streets and, with that, we reached the end of our short visit to Uruguay. A country that felt more like a large farm than a country.