Map http://www.odysseyatlas.com/trip/8j2
Greetings from the small beach resort of La Paloma, about 80 miles west of Chuy and 50 miles east of Punta del Este. I spent last night in the VERY small resort of Aguas Dulces, where there was no internet.
The Uruguayan concept of "summer" does not jibe with that we have in the United States. South of the equator, December corresponds with June in the US; it is the first month of summer. In the US, the summer beach season gets underway at Memorial Day, at the end of May, and by June, the beaches are packed. Not here. Here, the "summer season" does not really start until the day after Christmas. What this means is that many beach towns are still pretty much locked up for winter right now. A case in point is Aguas Dulces, where I was very lucky to even find a place open to rent me a room, and where I had a choice of exactly one restuarant to eat in the evening. Nothing else was open. Lots of people were in their places of businesses, getting them ready, but they were not ready yet. The situation is the same here in La Paloma, most of the restuarants and hotels in town are not yet open for summer.
After I finished up in the internet place in Chuy on Wednesday, I emerged into the light of day outside to see that the sun had come out. So, I went back to my hotel in Brazil, retreived my bike, and went for a ride about 8 miles east on State Highway RS-699 to Barra do Chui, which is the southernmost spot anywhere in Brazil. From there I crossed a little bridge into Uruguay, and returned another 8 miles or so back to Uruguay Route 9, about 5 miles south of Chuy. I rode a mile or two north, and discovered why so many RS plated cars had been crossing into Uruguay at the out of the way bridge in Barra do Chui--the Uruguayan immigration station was actually checking cars. I assume that, for one reason or another, all the cars detouring out to Barra did not want to come in too close of a contact with customs, something I, who have forgotten to pay tax on LOTS of stuff I have taken to Mexico, can easily understand. I, on the other hand, went in to Customs to get an Uruguayan entry stamp in my passport. Back in Chuy, I got an absolutely terrible steak (What part of "rare" people are not understanding I do not get. Incinerated meat has been a problem for me this whole trip.) and that was the end of my day.
Yesterday, I jumped on my bike at 8 sharp and rode down to get my no longer dirty clothes from the laundromat, packed them up, and set off east into Uruguay. I had, again, the wind in my face, and that slowed me down to an average speed of about 10MPH. After 50 miles of this, I decided enough was enough and turned off of Route 9 onto a secondary highway, route 15 and ended up in Aguas Dulces. For 700 Pesos, I got what amounted to an efficiency apartment, which was not a bad deal at all. 700 Pesos today is just about exactly $30 Dollars. Two years ago, 700 Pesos would have been $40 Dollars. I am very happy with the changes in the exchange rate... The apartment had a little refrigerator in it, so I went and bought a 2 liter bottle of Coke and a couple of little bottles of water for today´s ride. Thinking ahead, I decided to put one of the water bottles in the freezer, so it would keep the other bottle cold in my Camel Back. About 2 AM I woke up and, on a whim, checked the bottles; neither was frozen. So I turned the refrigerator up to Max cold. This morning, the bottle in the freezer was still not frozen, but the bottle of water and my bottle of Coke that were in the refrigerator were.
This morning, I rode the 40 miles from Aguas Dulces to La Paloma in about three hours. I could have turned right and ridden another 15 miles north to Rocha, but decided the beach would be a better place to stay. I checked in to a hotel run by an old hippie type who I know from previous trips to Uruguay, and then, sans saddle bags, went for about a 15 mile ride around the town. Coming back in, I found a Choripan (sausage sandwich) truck and had a few. O my were they good.
Tomorrow, I will continue on eastwards, towards Montevideo.
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