Home » Uruguay » The Pear-shaped Puzzle

And in this section we cross the Foz, ride thru´a bit of don´t-cry-for-me-land, have a run-in with the cops, and win!, make the easiest frontier yet, discover another hidden treasure in Uraguay, choose the Devil over Eden, and more....<br />

The Pear-shaped Puzzle

Bill Shum
2006-03-24 21:35:53

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view out across the jumbled maze of thatches and down to the sea...breaking waves against the rocks...in the mornings I could open the door and get a framed picture of the thatched roofs, waves breaking over the rocks and, in the far distance, the lighthouse on the next point...

Swallows swooping around just millimetres above the ground, snapping their wings as they brake and dive around the verandahs...and millions of dogs!!...some of them v well cared for and otheres just your regular, street mongrels..

Diablo is actually a fishing village and on the other side of the little point is the fishermens beach with a coule of dozen sturdy looking boats drawn well up the beach...they´re pulled up by big, permanet, hand winches....and thats another story.....at the end of the point is a strange white, 3 sided structure that houses a larger than life and, as is the norm, fiercer than life, statue of someone whose name escapes me..but v imposing and you can see it from all over town, out on the point, high on the rocks, windswept, wet and cold....standing up for the patriotic, founding fathers ideals that have probably since been sold off and re-cycled by the jingoistas...I don´t know...

Theres a nice little scrapped together bar/restaurant down by the fishermens beach where I hang out in the afternoons...ice cold beer and a chat with the locals...but its been getting colder...what the...I don´t do cold!!...but sort of nice to sleep under a blanket for a change...how quickly we forget the sweaty airless sleepless nights of recent times..

Anyway...we quit Diablo and head south...nice to be back in a country you can drive from one end to the other in a day!...get to Colonia..over the river from Buenos Aires!!...walk around the old historic centre in circles about 50 times, trying to find something elae...I´m sure it was a fabulous town, cross culture influences from Portuguese and Spanish...but another touristy hangout with lots of shitty touristy things trying to drown out the historic aromas..

Baby it Hearse so bad: in the hotel carpark we find an enormous 1930, hearse...covered in dust which adds to the appeal..right out of the Adams family..its huge..open cockpit and the back a massive carved wooden construction....musty, dusty shrouds along the side windows...I have a peek inside..looks like man-bones..aarrgghh...on closer inspection its old paintbrushes and some boxes...would really like to bring this baby home and do it up...just amazing..another thing...thruoghout Uraguay there are thousands of old cars!!...all along the road, acre lots of old cars and trucks..one was even open as a sort of museum...if you wanted to make an old movie this is where you could come for cars!!...and lots of real old timers, immaculately restored, or maintained, perfect..and still being used...some of the old pickups had beautiful, handmade rails of hardwood..a real treat....and duco like they haven´t painted this thick and strong for 50 years..
Then it was the ferry across to BA...more like a plane...plane seats, plane boarding style, plane announcements, plane hosties, plane food, no windows opened, no smoking anywhere, and all the regular idiots that jump up and squash queue around the exit as soon as we slow down and way before they open the doors!!.........
Try for photos again...and tomorrow some thoughts on the bib BA....it is fantastic!

And with a combination of good weather, parties and the inevitable last-minute panic to get things finished/done before the xmas break I´m not expecting any of you to have time to read this anyway...but if I don´t get another chance..Happy Christmas........