View Full Version : Visiting Uruguay
FireDawg2000
01-10-06, 02:04
Finally, a newbie poster who offers something valuable to the board. Welcome FireDawg. Let us know if there are things we can help you with. You certainly will enjoy your upcoming trip to BsAs.No problem Hunt. Glad I can help. I actually did post a question in the TRAVEL PLANS section under the title MARDI GRAS, but I should have put CARNIVAL and that's probably why I haven't had any replies yet. I feel like a dumb dumb, but anyway, If there's anyone who could help I would appreciate it. I'm trying to get an idea of what Carnival is like in BA. I want to go to South America for Carnival this year, but not to Rio. Too crowded. I hear all South American countries have their own version of a Carnival celebration.
Also, if anyone has any info on nearby Uruguay I would appreciate that too. I would like to visit two countries in South America during my short 2 week vacation.
Thanks Guys
Jaimito Cartero
01-10-06, 02:34
Also, if anyone has any info on nearby Uruguay I would appreciate that too. I would like to visit two countries in South America during my short 2 week vacation.
Thanks GuysUruguay is pretty close. You can take Buquebus, or a number of other companies. I was in Tigre today, and saw a lot of different boats there that had packages to Uruguay. I think $30-$100 US Dollars is the range.
Well you are lucky the "old guard" probably did not see that post, otherwise you would have been flame broiled, barbecued and shot. Take it from a senior member. Anyway I accept your apology.
I took the 1.5 hour ferry ride to Uruguay into Montevideo on my first trip to AR but it was disappointing, too many local party animals, the atmosphere is not as friendly, less cosmopolitan, and the dollar does not go quite as far.
The Rio De La Plata is kind of dirty but there is on great beach there apparently called "Punta Ereste" or something like that supposedly the best beach around if beaches are what you are into. You will note that Buenos Aires has no beaches to speak of.
You will also note that you are posting to a "pussy hound" site and the premier one at that. If that is what you are looking for stay in Buenos Aires because in that department Uruguay has verry little to offer in comparison.
Also for this reason you can experience Carnival & Mardigras in Buenos Aires every day of the week.
Goblin.
No problem Hunt. Glad I can help. I actually did post a question in the TRAVEL PLANS section under the title MARDI GRAS, but I should have put CARNIVAL and that's probably why I haven't had any replies yet. I feel like a dumb dumb, but anyway, If there's anyone who could help I would appreciate it. I'm trying to get an idea of what Carnival is like in BA. I want to go to South America for Carnival this year, but not to Rio. Too crowded. I hear all South American countries have their own version of a Carnival celebration.
Also, if anyone has any info on nearby Uruguay I would appreciate that too. I would like to visit two countries in South America during my short 2 week vacation.
Thanks Guys
Rock Harders
01-10-06, 03:50
First of all, the beach resort that I think "Goblin" is refering to here is Punta del Este (East Point en ingles) Punta del Este is the most luxurious (as per reputation) beach resort in South America- the Porteno elite tradionally flock here during the months of January and February. Although I have no experience with the working-chica scene in Punta myself (I deal only with non-pros in such a target rich environment) I would bet my bile duct that with the amount greenbacks in circulation that there is an alive and kickin' certified professional chica scene in business in some way shape or form.
Second- THIS IS A THREAD ABOUT WORKING IN BUENOS AIRES, NOT VACATIONS- PLEASE KEEP IT ABOUT WORKING AND OTHER ISSUES, THERE IS A SECTION FOR VACATION TALK.
Firedawg,
Visit the Mardi Gras thread where I am about to post about Carvanal. In short, I think the Mormons in Salt Lake City have a more rockin' Mardi Gras party than the Portenos do - go to Brasil.
Punta del Este is the most prestigious NAME in these parts, thats all. The place itself is not at all impressive, nor is the beach that Argentinos claim is 50 times better than the Argentine ones. Some important people go there - politicians, athletes, my attorneys, everyone from Recoleta. 90% of the people are wannabes and/or usedtobes that go there mainly to be able to say that they holidayed in "Punta". I went there once and the mongering scene sucked balls. I had to drive out to some shantytown district 20km outside of town to find some P4P. Mongering was not the purpose of my trip, but the entire trip was dreadful.
Firedawg visit the Mardi Gras thread where I am about to post about Carvanal. In short, I think the Mormons in Salt Lake City have a more rockin' Mardi Gras party than the Portenos do - go to Brasil.
Punta del Este is the most prestigious NAME in these parts, thats all. The place itself is not at all impressive, nor is the beach that argentinos claim is 50 times better than the Argentine ones. Some important people go there - politicians, athletes, my attorneys, everyone from Recoleta. 90% of the people are wannabes and / or usedtobes that go there mainly to be able to say that they holidayed in "Punta". I went there once and the mongering scene sucked balls. I had to drive out to some shantytown district 20km outside of town to find some P4P. Mongering was not the purpose of my trip, but the entire trip was dreadful.That's correct.
The city you are referring to is Maldonado, where Uruguayans working in Punta live.
Andres
Maldonado. I've killed some brain cells since that Punta trip a few years ago, but yes I think that was the name.
Nibu Raphael
03-27-06, 15:41
Hey guys,
I have asked this many many many times before in the Nibu in Uruguay section. No one has though replied to me on this at all. It is about other areas in uruguay like chui, rivera, paysaundu and salto. I only here of montevideo all the time and sometimes about punta del este and maldonado. Also the great Johnny Wadd once did a good report on a club with girls in colonia. But what about these other small cities in Uruguay? there is a guy latina addict that posts in the uruguay section of the isg but he only goes to Montevideo all the time. Guys uruguay is so damn small. Why is there no mongering info avaible on the border cities for argentina or for brazil? any action right outside of Montevideo too? I know more xxx action has to exist in uruguay but why no info? is not paysandu I think like the second biggest city in uruguay and I think a port city to a river and the industrial powerhouse for uruguay? there must be some xxx action here for sure. Guys I need this info as I want to enter brazil thru uruguay. I will probably do it from chui / chuy border of brazil or by the border of brazil leaving rivera and entering santana do livermento. Guys is this info that hard to get? cum on someone help ole nibs out on this for sure.
I did the Buquebus trip to Colonia yesterday. Fast boat. Quaint little town and nice scenery, but BORING. It would be ok for a chica. Alot of little shops. If you are thinking of doing this, I would take a chica if possible. I recommmend "Le Drugstore" for eats and ambiance. It's just off the main drag to the left as you are heading down towards the river. Portugal and Vasconcellos. Pics of Le Drugstore:
http://www.pbase.com/lexfrank/image/10626805
http://latergator.my-expressions.com/archives/1885_1801552295/103419
Dog
I recently spent 24 hours in Colonia. Also took the Buquebus over. It's a very easy trip, approximately 15 dollars or thereabouts. Once you land in the terminal, go straight out a block or two, and the "old city" is an easy stroll to your left. Get a map in the terminal, it will be useful. No need for a taxi. While many / most of the establishments accept Argentine pesos in addition to Uruguayan ones, I think it would be a good idea to find one of the two or three exchange places in town in order to have some local currency. You can also exchange in the Buquebus terminal, I have no idea on the rate. Note that I don't recall seeing even one ATM machine in town. They certainly must exist, but they are not plentiful. I did see one internet / telephone locutorio, but only one.
Several small hotels and beds-and-breakfasts are scattered about, at reasonable price levels compared to BsAs. Occasionally you will encounter a property owner who will offer an apartment or room to stay in when you walk past.
There are probably a dozen small restaurants of varying quality scattered through the older portion of town. I ate at two, and can't say anything particularly good or bad. Small touristy shops, and the typical historical sights like old city walls. Probably good for 24-48 hours if you are not easily bored with such things (I'm not)
The streets are interesting, an old Spanish colonial layout and architecture. One dominating feature, in comparison to BsAs, is the QUIET. It really is a low-energy, low-noise place compared to the city across the river. Which can be a refreshing change.
I was there on a Monday night in early autumn, and had most of the town to ourselves (brought a chica with me, there's no "scene" to speak of). I imagine it is busier on weekends, and during the summer months, when Argentine tourists flock over. If you want to go somewhere to get away from the blasting sound of Porteno buses and cars going at all hours of the night, I can recommend this destination.
Re Colonia: I went by the Buquebus office today and they have a special on the slow boat, the Eladia Isabel, for 79 p ida y vuelta or round trip or "return" as Aussies would say. Maybe Brits too?
There's about 7 or 7.5 Uruguayan pesos, known as "uruguayos," per Argentinean pesos.
Round trip to Carmelo is 67 pesos.
Pappy,
Are there any decent "yuppie" amateur chicas in Uruguay? Or only 6s and below like in Argentina and Danzon? In Colonia, are all the guys staring at your multiple dates? You are "Da Man"!
Based upon my own very unscientific opinion, women in Uruguay are 23% less attractive than women in Argentina.
Based on 8 trips I would say they are 56% less attractive bordering on UGLY.
I spent two days in Montevideo recently. I got there by taking a bus from Colonia to the capital city. It cost about 10 bucks and took approximately two and a half hours of a ride through a very sparsely populated coastal countryside.
Montevideo has about half of Uruguay's 3 million people living in the city. It is similar to Buenos Aires in how it looks, although there is not as much open poverty and begging. On the flip side, there is also not as much ostentatious wealth on display.
I stayed at the Radisson Hotel, which is a fine, 4 star choice. Rack rate on a walkin was 125 bucks a night. I arranged for a three hour city tour through the hotel's concierge, which was a good idea, and which let me hit all the tourist highlights without hunting for them myself.
I have no idea about the scene, as I was visiting my my own imported chica in tow. However, I saw little, if any visible evidence of any scene. Restaurants and shopping options appear to be inferior to Buenos Aires in most respects, and although I had good meals, they were not anything which wowed my unsophisticated palate. The prices for just about everything were about the same as in Buenos Aires, except for my hotel, which was cheaper than a comparable place in BsAs.
In sum, there is nothing especially special in Montevideo which compels you to visit. It's not a dump, and interesting enough for two days of a visit. And I do get the impression that it is a better place to live a normal life than Buenos Aires is. But for my purposes, one trip was enough, and I don't see any need to return. The trip between Montevideo and Buenos Aires was on the Buquebus boat, which cost approximately 30 dollars for an easy three-hour ride.
This is a copy of a post I made also under URUGUAY in "Travel Reports-Other Areas".
In the interests of warning about potential danger, I am making this post about Montevideo here. I will have a more complete report in the ISG Uruguay forum.
Be very careful in Montevideo. From the standpoint of theft, this may be the most dangerous city I have been in outside the US. Fortunately, the people of Uruguay seem to be very unaggressive with regard to physical violence. I can't see any evidence that armed robbery, mugging and kidnapping are prevalent.
What is prevalent is thievery and manipulative pricing. I have never had as stong a feeling about being a target as in this city. I feel as though I am constantly being watched and measured. The first time I walked down 18 de Julio at around 11:00 PM I reached the corner of Convencion and 18 de Julio and thought "this area is very dangerous". There was a group of young men in the 16-20YO range hanging on the corner. There were various other young men in 18 de Julio hanging around. All were relatively poor wearing "felony shoes" (sneakers) Generally, I consider groups of boys in the 15-19 YO range as the most dangerous. They feel invulnerable, and egg each other on.
Also, there is a look I would have to describe as "envy". There just seems to be a real attitude here, and I suppose it is justified. They are Buenos Aires wannabes, and are VERY sensitive about comparisons to Argentina and Buenos Aires. There is also another attitude, what I would call "complacency". They don't generally seem to be very ambitious. This is a dangerous combination, because they probably don't feel they have a lot of control over their destiny, and their ability to impove things thru personal effort.
As luck would have it, in my first 5 days here I witnessed some part of 5 crime scenes. All took place in the areas of Andes and 18 de Julio, Andes and Colonia, and the area of Colonia around the Radisson Casino. The Plaza independencia also looks dangerous, although I saw no actual crimes there.
The 1st night here, I was standing on Andes and 2 young men ran into the street from the Plaza and tore down two blocks and turned left onto Soriano. I knew they were running from a robbery, and sure enough about 2 minutes later a middle aged couple entered the street looking for them, with the woman complaining about a robbery.
I saw one arrest by the police from the casino. I didn't see the crime.
I saw in Colonia in front of "Moon River" near the casino 2 boys about 17 going down the street suspiciously, "gingerly". They weren't running, but were moving purposefully but worried about what was behind them. Sure enough, about 15 seconds after they turned the corner, 2 policemen came running from the direction of the casino in pursuit. They were much too late.
I got robbed on the corner of Andes and 18 de Julio at about 12:30AM. I was standing talking to the street tout on 18 de Julio about 20 feet from the corner, near the curb with my back to the street. Someone crossed the street behind me and walked up behind me on my left side, unbeknownst to me. I was taking some little fliers for whiskerias out of my pocket and sort of reading them and talking to the tout. Suddenly, there was a grab in my left rear pocket, and someone ran to the corner of Andes and dissappeared around it. Fortunately, all they got was a plastic envelope containing a copy of my passport, the entry stamp page, and a card from the hotel. So that system worked. DO NOT carry a wallet in Montevideo, especially at night.
After they robbed me, I was talking to a young woman at the hamburger wagon on Andes. I was also sort of looking over her head to 18 de Julio. After about 10 minutes, on the other side of 18 de Julio, on the corner, there was a pair of young women talking. The same thing happened. A young man walking down 18 de Julio crossed Andes, and as he approached behind the woman with her back to him, he grabbed into her left rear pocket, and then ran down Andes away from us. He turned the corner at Colonia.
Watch out for pricing of all kinds, especially gringo pricing situations. I will say more about this in ISG Uruguay.
I have been here now 16 days, and have seen no other crimes. But I still have a feeling of being watched on the street.
The Exact Reason I Don't Care For Uruguay.
Exon
In my stay in Uruguay I never saw anything which resembles what Lexton describes. It's unfortunate that he got pickpocketed, and I'm glad that what was taken was inconsequential, but from my own experience I don't see Montevideo as being more dangerous than Buenos Aires. If anything, just the opposite. I think there is less overall poverty in Montevideo than in Buenos Aires, and as we all know, poverty is the stomping grounds of crime.
But being careful is a good policy, no matter what your destination is. I'd never carry around a wallet in a back pocket while traveling. You're just asking to have your billfold stolen.
What's the difference between tourist / first /"premier" class on Buquebus? Is it worth the money (352/407/422 pesos round trip) Is there another reputable company that makes the trip?
Thanks
I don't know but you can fly for $81.50 US round trip including tax (see Travelocity) so even with the departure tax ($18 US) and the ride to the airport (45 pesos round trip) you'd be better off. Note also you can go overnight on the slow boat for 131 p RT. What is the purpose of the trip?
Buquebus has a dominant position and is much easier to use. Go with them. 1st class is what you would expect - bigger chairs spread out more. Regular class is just fine, however, and I cannot believe it is worth the price difference. I agree with Hunt - safety issues are not that bad. Just use normal caution, as with any other journey.
Did the visa run to Colonia today for the umpteenth time. Don't forget the hour difference. I did. Not that big a deal, as there was another boat leaving in an hour. Tacked on about 60p to the total cost though.
Also did my run to colonia for same day visa renewal and noticed a change that adds some time to enter and exit. Not that big a deal, but since Dec. 05, we only had to get our passport stamped out / in when leaving, then returning to Argentina on buquebus. No customs form before.
This time, there was one more piece of paper bureaucracy - they make you now fill out a customs form when exiting Argentina to declare whatever stuff you might be bringing into Uruguay, and then when you leave Uruguay, same thing - you fill out another customs form to leave Uruguay and enter Argentina.
Seems to be a Uruguay imposed thing, not from the Argentina side. Having ppl hand over their customs forms makes the line go a bit slower on each side but if you are day traveling with no packs or bags they just wave you through and collect the forms without really checking you. Looking around, I didnt see the Uruguay officials checking ppl with bags much either so not really sure what the whole point of adding this customs declaration and check is for yet.
PS: If it's available on your boat, there's in addition to the tourist class and first class, a first class especial or basically the top premium section. I took that and frankly to me it was worth the extra 100p roundtrip it tacked on. Difference between first class and first class special was only 40 pesos.
It's an upstairs balcony area with full recline back easy chairs, and a dedicated kitchen with staff that takes orders and delivers right to your seat. For something like $33 even on a short 1 hr trip each way, I thought it was worth it.
Sidney is not in jail or not held captive, although I was 75 days beyond the 90 day ''limit''! At EZE, they sent me to the Emigration Office and the bank. I paid the 50 peso fine. About a 20 minute hassle. Sure beats a boat to your!El Sid-did you intentionally misspell "Uruagay" in your title, or is that a subliminal message to somebody living in Puerto Madero?:)
Jaimito Cartero
01-01-08, 16:39
Sidney is not in jail or not held captive, although I was 75 days beyond the 90 day ''limit''! At EZE, they sent me to the Emigration Office and the bank. I paid the 50 peso fine. About a 20 minute hassle. Sure beats a boat to your!Hasn't it been mentioned that if you overstay often enough they may not let you back in?
Banditx666
04-25-08, 21:53
Just wondering I would like to take the boat to Montevideo. Could someone throw me a bone on this where, when ect.
Thanks for your help.
Thomaso276
04-26-08, 13:08
http://www.buquebus.com/cache/HomeARG.html
Here you go.
Banditx666
04-26-08, 16:36
Thanks for the info dude. Have you ever taken the Boat? Is it pretty cool coming down for a couple of days in May wanting to get out of the be. A. Scene for a day or so.
Thanks,
Bandit
Thanks for the info dude. Have you ever taken the Boat? Is it pretty cool coming down for a couple of days in May wanting to get out of the be. A. Scene for a day or so.
Thanks,
BanditMost of the reviews on the board about Montevideo have been pretty negative, but if you go post a report on how you find it. I don't know if Thomaso has been to Montevideo. Maybe he did in his "dude" days.
Jaimito Cartero
07-29-09, 21:41
For those doing a visa run, or checking out Montevideo, currently, you can get a room at the Holiday Inn for 5000 Priority Club points. This equates to a $30 or so rate. You can buy points for about $50, if you need to, but PC points are easy to earn. I think you can book rooms until the end of October for this rate.
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