There really hasn't been too much to report. I had a horrible experience trying to send some of my things back to Australia; involving walking for 4 hours in 39° heat, with 15kg worth of souvenirs in multiple shopping bags, only to be told that I wasn't allowed to send 15kg, I could only send 5. Then finding an ATM a further 1km away because for some stupid reason, the post office didn't take Eftpos. Oh. And that measly 5kg cost me US$100.
I've also started coming down with something- not sure what. But I am extremely tired all the time but unable to sleep; I have constant hunger/stomach pains, except when it comes around to eating, then I feel nauseous; my glands are swollen and I have chunky green flegm; I feel dizzy and disoriented when I'm on my feet for too long. And the worst part is that I started getting sick on my last day in Buenos Aires. Yeah, I just spent 2 weeks in San Telmo with not much to do- I probably could have afforded to get sick THEN! But no, leave it to the day I am about to start travelling again.
Yes, travelling again. That fateful post office day, I went trudging around the city to find a place to buy tickets for a boat to Uruguay. I found it alright. But there was some massive protest going on and the streets were more chockers than Circular Quay on New Years Eve. Now add the 10kg worth of bags in the heat with no shade to the mix... And lets not forget that I don't speak Spanish. I didn't get there easily.
Uruguay, being another country and all, required my passport at the time of purchasing my ticket. Well I thought I may have accidentally posted it because I emptied the remaining contents of my bags and didn't find it. Probably because it was in my pocket the whole dang time.
I did finally manage to get to the English bookstore at some stage! There I stayed and read children's books until I felt that my welcome was being overextended. It was however, a bookstore and not a library. So I bought Peter Pan and spent a whole day reading, sleeping and packing for my next adventure.
I didn't sleep at all the night before departing so I wasn't feeling very good on top of whatever sickness I had. At the port (Puerto Madero), waiting for the ship, the room was PACKED. And I mean more packed than the Japan subway. There were no seats, no floor space, nowhere to put my bag down, no where to sit and it was hot. I mean super hot. I just didn't cope. Forced to stand the entire time with a mammoth backpack on, while the lady kept announcing "5 more minutes until boarding" which I believed every time, even though it was NOT 5 mins, it was 2 hours later. I remember at Quito airport, when I was about to depart for Galápagos, how sick I felt then. This doesn't even compare. There wasn't anywhere to eat even if I wanted to. So i just had to endure it. The boat ride claimed to take a hour, but it felt much much longer. 2 at least (Probably because of the torture of it all).
At Colonia, I got directions to the nearest ATM and the bus terminal. The ATM was out of order, after I had waited in line for 15 mins but later found out that the bus terminal accepts visa! Hurray! I bought 2 bus tickets, one to Montevideo and then one to Punta del Este, where I hope to spend the next few days on the beach.
The bus ride to Montevideo was ok. It was long, but it was ok. I was asked to move about 3 times, because apparently I couldn't get my seat number right. This made it impossible for me to get any sleep so on the bus to Punta del Este, I was too on edge to even put my eyemask and travel pillow on to try and sleep.
This bus ride was the worst. Someone must have crapped themselves because the stench was unbearable. A nearby passenger must have been allergic to the smell because she sneezed for the entire three hours. Anyone that knows me, knows that sneezing irritates me to no end. I have no excuses, I just hate it. Trying to preserve my phone battery, I tried not to listen to music. But the sneezing became too much for me to handle so I needed to drown it out with a good dose of RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, as Sufjan Stephens didn't quite cover up the sound.
When I finally made it to the hostel in Punta del Este, it was about 10:15pm and upon checking in, I realised that I had booked for the following two nights... And not for that night. They talked in Spanish for a long time and finally told me that they did have room in a 10bed dorm. So I paid for three nights worth (at least it was cheaper than the original 4 bed dorm that I booked)!
Wifi is pretty terrible here so Skype was a problem last night. I'm hoping it holds out long enough for me to upload this post! It's quite nice here, pool and deck chairs etc.. Although on a closer look this morning, the pool doesn't look too swimmable at the risk of becoming even more sick!
I'll try to upload photos. Fingers crossed it works!
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