Surprise! A feriado in Salto!

Summer's over! Everyone was bundled up in coats, scarves and toques (gorros!) with their matés in one hand and their thermoses tucked under the same arm. I joined them at the bus station this morning to catch the 7:05 bus to Salto. Baby steps as I inch forward towards Colonia.

The first real evidence of progress today came when I got a new stamp in my passport! I was a little apprehensive since I didn't have an explicit visa but apparently I didn't need one. Then again, that information was from the same source that said I didn't need for for Brazil! In any case, it was a piece of cake and I've finally made it to Uruguay. Hurrah!

I arrived at the Salto bus terminal at 08:15 and my heart sank when I was told that the next bus to Colonia was at 15:55. I am not having much luck with the bus schedules. I was even more sad to discover that it's an 8 hour journey. Oh man am I ever earning a night at a fancy hotel!

Salto turned out to be a charming little town.

The national holiday in Uruguay is the 19th of April which they make into a nice long weekend so today was a 'feriado', or public holiday. Fortunately some stores were open in the morning so I poked around.

I often wonder what kind of chaos would ensue if there was ever a maté shortage!!

Everyone seemed really friendly and I left with the feeling that I'm glad for the 'gift of time' in which I got to see a little more of Uruguay. Lovely though it will be, Colonia will have the feel of a tourist town. Salto felt anything but. Again, I was something of a curiosity today to most! It's actually quite a rare and special feeling.

Finally - the bus I'd been searching for for nearly two days!!!

Good thing I brought movies on my iTouch. It sure seems that I've seem a full range of buses on this trip. The one from Mendoza to BA was like business class on an airplane. Now I'm on one that's...well...it's kind of clean.

The journey was fine for the first six hours or so but the last two were almost unbearable and I desperately wanted OFF! When I finally arrived in Colonia at midnight I kitted up in my backpack and other bags and walked the six blocks to my hostel with only a cursory study of a map ahead of time. Any other city and that might have been asking for trouble but there was something so peaceful about Colonia del Sacramento and I felt completely safe. Yep. I'm going to like it here.