Best Immigration Ever

12/2/09

This morning I woke up under an overpass in the rain. This doesn't look like a bus station, but who am I to judge.

After a good sleep on the bus (which is still a bad night's sleep in a real bed), the conductor woke us up and told us we were at our stop. I was still sleep deprived and didn't notice we weren't at the bus station (which should give you an indication of some of the bus stations we have been through) until it was too late. There were two things that didn't make me too worried. The first was that we were right beside a police station and the second was that there were two taxis waiting. Of course there were 12 people, but minor details like that aren't going to bother me this late in the trip.

People seemed to get taxis in the order of how good their Spanish was. When we finally left in taxi there were still three Dutch people standing there looking confused. We saw them later so we know they made it.

Our taxi took us to the Uruguayan border and then further on to Salto. The border was the most efficient immigration I have ever seen. Both Uruguayan and Argentinian immigration are in the same building, with desks right beside each other. I handed my passport to the Argentine official and got it back from the Paraguayan official, and everything was taken care of. Best immigration ever!

The Salto bus station was one side of a shopping mall, so we got to engage in a little retail therapy while waiting for our bus. The grocery store had a bottle of scotch (Johnny Walker Gold Label) that was more expensive than the motorcycle in the front. I also saw a real gaucho (Uruguayan cowboy). he had the hat, the belt, the boots and the knife and he looked like he was made of leather.

The drive to Montevideo was very scenic. Uruguay looks like a nice country. It has nice scenery. We drove through a lot of agricultural land, with lakes and forests thrown in to make it look nice.

Montevideo looks very European. Both the architecture and the layout remind me of a coastal town in Europe. Another reason I like it here are the chivitos. A chivito is a steak sandwich. It is a thin piece of steak, some lettuce, tomato and an egg in a roll. They are delicious. A chivito canadiense comes with bacon. It is a beautiful thing. We have dinner (chivitos & beer) at an outdoor restaurant in the square and watch the youth prepare for a protest.