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Uruguay
Uruguay
Bec2004-09-17 12:09:50
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Chui
Chui is really a border town for the border runs down the middle of the main avenue shown here. The left side of the avenue is in Uruguay and it's called Avenida Brasil. The right side, that belongs to Brazil, is appropriately called Avenida Uruguay!
It was dark when I got here and border towns are often rough so I was alert and watchful as I walked down the center of the deserted side streets looking for a place to sleep. A couple of teen aged girls showed me the way to the Rivero hotel where I spent the night for only 4 US$.
La Paloma
There wasn't much to see in Chui so I moved on to the seaside town of La Paloma where I stayed at the Viola Hotel.
La Paloma was obviously a resort town but it was small and charming being made up mostly of private secondary residences rather than noisy hotels.
Even under cloudy skies, La Paloma was peacefully beautiful.
Actually, it was a bit too peaceful. The high season (Dec. Jan. Feb.) had just ended and the beaches were already deserted although it was still warm enough to go swimming.
Uruguay's economy is roughly one tenth of Argentina's and one thirtieth of Brazil's. It is largely dependent on the prosperity of its larger neighbours. Difficult times since Brazil's 1998 financial troubles and Argentina's 2001 monetary crisis culminated in Uruguay's worst economic crisis of its history with a run on banks, riots and looting in the summer of 2002.
The situation is improving but hard times are not over yet, half of the secondary residences in La Paloma were for sale when I was there in March 2004..
Montevideo
Montevideo's strange 1927 Palacio Salvo still dominates the skyline across Plaza Independencia from the Puerta de la Ciudadela where this photo was taken.
The horseman
...
See photographs from:
Uruguay Gallery
