Montevideo

So a couple of days in the Uruguyan capital... It's been around 30 degrees, but often interrupted by a blessed cool breeze. No sign of any clouds, unlike in Punta. Montevideo has 1.3 million inhabitants according to Wikipedia, so comparable to Amsterdam or Stockholm. The feel however is very different. There is no bustling shopping disctrict downtown, and the public transport system consists only of buses. There is also a notable absence of any international chains, apart from McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and some hotels. There are some malls dotted around the neighbourhoods, but the overall feeling is not that of a major city. Even Nottingham has more going on in its city centre!

My lasting impression of Montevideo: shabby. Practically all streets are lined with trees on both sides, perhaps to disguise the decaying facades all over the city. There are large parts of the city centre that are so badly neglected the buildings are crumbling, despite their prime location. Seems like a huge opportunity for cash-rich property developers to come to Montevideo and upgrade the city. Uruguay is supposedly the safest country in South America (I do believe that), plus also the gay-friendliest (upon leaving my hotel on the first day, I saw two young men holding hands on the street! And later also two women holding hands. Can't remember when I last saw that in Britain!). Small quantities of marijuana are legal, the economy seems healthy, and winter temperatures don't normally dip below 15 degrees. And should you get bored with Montevideo, Buenos Aires is only 2 hours away by boat.

For the tourist, there is a circular open-top double-decker bus that takes you around the main sights in two hours. I sometimes use these buses when I visit new places, as it can be much more convenient to pay the high price of a day ticket than to figure out the local public transport system. Yesterday I did actually try a local bus as well, however, to get back from the Pocitos beach to my hotel. It was absolutely fine, although I think it went around the entire city instead of taking the shortest route.

The downtown hotspot is basically just one street, Avenida 18 de Julio. Most shops were already closed on Saturday afternoon when I arrived, and of course all day Sunday. You also need to plan your meals. Most restaurants close between 4 and 8 pm, so if you're accustomed to having your dinner around 6 after your sightseeing is done, you have the choice between two international hamburger chains. Speaking of which, your McReporter can inform you that a Big Mac meal is only 210 uruguayan pesos in the capital! 120 pesos less than in Punta, but at £4.65 still a bit pricier than the UK! I however plumped for a double Quarter Pounder. This is after all beef country, and it would be offensive to the country not to indulge in dead cow. If you manage to hit a restaurant while it's open, the local specialties include the chivito, a beef sandwich with a variety of fillings, milanesa (breaded chicken or pork fillet), fresh seafood, and of course pizza, pasta, and hamburgers.

I am very happy with my hotel room! Much airier and more modern than the one in Punta. The bathroom is huge, there is a safe and a phone, and I'm within a few minutes walking distance of the main drag. For all this, I am paying the princely sum of £22 per night! So I can put up with slow wi-fi (I still managed to watch the latest Simpson and Family Guy episodes today) and lacklustre breakfast service.

I am learning some valuable lessons about air fares. Booking a flight with Aerolineas Argentinas was signficantly cheaper on Expedia than on their own web site! Now I am trying to book a domestic airline in Chile, whose air fares are much cheaper when booking in Chilean pesos than in other currencies. The only problem is their web site doesn't accept foreign credit cards! I have read online that you can call them and they can take your card details over the phone, but this morning's attempt ended in a disconnected call after 10 minutes of waiting for their call centre! 175 pesos down the drain. Yes, this is still Latin America, don't expect too much.

Having a lazy day today as I've already seen the city and it's still 30 degrees outside. Signed up for some summer university courses in Sweden, and will try to finish an article about South America for a Swedish online newspaper that I've been putting off for far too long. I'll probably get around to booking some more accommodation in Patagonia and finally nailing down the remaining itinerary for South America. And I will try calling Chile again!

Tomorrow: Buenos Aires.

P.S. I will add some more photos later, the wi-fi here can't handle it.