- Quick facts
- Total days on the road: 586
- Currently in: USA
- Miles Driven: 36821
- Countries Visited: 17
- Days Camping: 389
- Days Indoors: 202
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Uruguay
From Argentina we head into Uruguay for ten short days of meat grillin' delights. We cross the border at Fray Bentos and head south to Colonia, then into Montevideo for a night before heading into the pampas and back out to Concorida.
Below you'll find updates of places we're visiting and our usual cheeky shenanigans. Also, we'll try to add useful information about our budget, internet availability, and border crossings.
Uruguay's Meatopolis
Start: March 24, Buenos Aires{jcomments lock}
Finish: April 3, Iguazu Falls
Random Cow Parts Consumed: 12
Cuts of Beef Sampled: 4
Types of Sausage Ingested: 3
Duration of Meat-Induced Coma: 2 hours
We didn't originally plan to visit Uruguay, but we're glad we did. Since we added Brazil to the list we felt it was unfair to skip this tiny South American country. Before heading up to Igauzu Falls and into the third largest country in the world, we embarked on a 6 day circuit through Uruguay, including its capitol city of Montevideo.
Above all, we had one mission in Uruguay, and to be honest it alone was reason enough to come to this country. Ever since watching Anthony Bourdain chow down in front of a pyramid of meat in his No Reservation's Uruguay episode we knew this had to happen... a visit to Montevideo's Mercado del Puerto. A market dedicated to nothing but the art of grilling meat. Vegetarians may want to turn away from their computer screen now, things are about to get juicy.
Uruguay Wifi & Phone Report: Better than Argentina
This article is part of our Internet and Phone Report series. {jcomments lock}
General availability: Excellent
Quality of bandwidth: High
Frequency of internet in campgrounds: Medium
Frequency of internet in hotels: High
Areas Visited
We crossed at the southerly most bridge at Fray Bentos, then visited Colonia and Montevideo before heading inland to Durazno and Tacuarembo and exited on the west near Salto.
Overall Availability
Availability was excellent, very similar to Argentina and Chile. Expect internet in every hotel or hostel and there will be a good chance it is also in campgrounds. Many gas stations and restaurants also had wifi available for customers.
Bandwidth & Connectivity
Bandwidth was pretty good, at least compared to Argentina. We only tried out about a dozen networks the entire time we were there, so it's hard to know if your experience will be the same. Most places we visited had wifi good enough for voice-only Skype calls and your average browsing.
Argentina to Uruguay at Fray Bentos: Border Crossing
{jcomments lock}This article is part of our Border Crossing Report series.
Border name: Gualeguaychu - Fray Bentos Bridge
Closest major cities: Gualeguaychu, Argentina and Fray Bentos, Uruguay
Cost for visas: $0
Cost for vehicle: $0
Total time: 30 minutes
Date crossed: Saturday March 23, 2013
The Steps
- Drive over the scenic international bridge. Take photos, but don't stop. That makes the other drivers angry.
- Stop on the other side of the bridge to pay the fat $AR60 bridge toll.
- Drive to the booth that has the "turismo" sign out front.
- Hand over the passports for everyone in the car. You will be stamped out of Argentina and into Uruguay. (Two officials, one booth, amazing!)
- At the same booth hand in your Argentinian temporary vehicle permit. They will cancel it.