CouchSurfing - Uruguay

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Uruguay	Main pages	Places	Other links
	Uruguay Uruguay Category	Montevideo • Colonia • Punta del Este • Atlántida • Cabo Polonio • Minas • Salto	CS group Wikipedia Wikitravel Hitchwiki

Uruguay
Region: South America

More Information:
CS Group	Wikipedia
Wikitravel	HitchWiki

Uruguay is a country in South America. It's only land border is with Brazil, to the north. To the west lies the Uruguay River, to the southwest lies the estuary of Río de la Plata, with Argentina only a short commute across the banks of either of these bodies of water, while to the southeast lies the Atlantic Ocean. Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America, being larger than only Suriname. Often called the Switzerland of South America not for geographical features but for a stable democracy and social benefits such as free education.

Currency

The currency in Uruguay is the Uruguayan Peso ($U, or UYU). The national bank has the updated exchange rates on their website.

Getting in and out of the country

Ferry

There are several daily ferries from Buenos Aires to Colonia and Montevideo. In order to get to Montevideo the cheapest option is usually to take a ferry to Colonia and then a bus to Montevideo. For fares and schedules, look at the following ferry companies:

Plane

You can get to Uruguay by plane, arriving at Carrasco International Airport (airport code MVD). From there you can get to Montevideo by either taxi or bus.

Bus: It's the cheapest way, but the service stops after midnight. You have to take any bus which has a sign "MONTEVIDEO" (outside the arrivals section) and buses will drop you off either downtown, on the Tres Cruces or in the Terminal Rio Branco, also downtown. The ticket costs around $U30. You can see some schedules and fares for one of the bus companies here.
Taxi: A taxi downtown from the Airport costs about $U700. Keep in mind that after midnight taxis are only allowed to carry 3 passengers.

Bus

International buses will come from several places in Argentina, Brazil, and other parts of South America. The main bus station in Montevideo is Tres Cruces, and from there you can get buses to everywhere in the country.

Weather

The average weather in Uruguay is 17,5ºC (64ºF). The average high is 28ºC (83ºF) in January, and the average low 6ºC (43ºF) in July. The average amount of rain is 1300mm (or 51 inches) per year. the month with most rain is April.

You can get local forecasts for Montevideo at Weather.com's website.

Security

Uruguay is the safest country in South America, but as always crime could be a problem, so precautions should be taken. Montevideo provides the highest opportunity for a run-in with pickpockets, so try to avoid streets without people—mainly at night, and be careful with your backpacks and digital cameras in markets.

In an emergency, call 911 for police/ambulances or 104 for firefighters.

Food

Uruguayan cuisine is typical for temperate countries, high on meat, butter, fat, and grains, low on spice. If you are from the Mediterranean, you will find it bland, but if you come from the UK or Russia or the Midwestern US, you won't have trouble getting used to it.

Empanadas (hand-sized meat or cheese pies) make an excellent portable, inexpensive, and delicious snack or lunch. You can find them easily at many corner bakeries.

At bars the local specialty is gramajo, a dish made of fried potatoes, eggs, and ham. If you ask they can make it without the ham.

The meat is excellent, "asado" (barbequed meat) is typical from Uruguay. One dish that should not be missed is chivito, a heart-attack-on-a-platter sandwich that combines a combination of excellent Uruguayan meat, tomato, lettuce, onion, eggs, ham, bacon, mozzarella cheese and mayonnaise and fries. The fish and other sea food is good, and available through most of the southern coast.

For desserts, dulce de leche, a kind of caramel, is found in all manner of confections, from ice cream to alfajores (dulce de leche-filled cookie sandwiches).

Typical drinks

The two typical alcoholic beverages are Medio y Medio, which is half champagne and half white wine, and Grappamiel (Grappa with honey).

Yerba Mate is widely drunk on the streets, but can hardly be ordered in restaurants. You may have to buy a package at a supermarket and make your own. The drinking gourds are widely available and range from economical to super-luxe silver and horn. Yerba Mate is a social drink. It's a very bitter drink, but if you try some it will make everybody happy.
More info:

Uruguay is also acquiring a reputation for its fine wines, especially those made from the Tannat grape.

Places to go

There are lot of places you can go. Here you can find some references and guides:

Arteuy This is a list of museums.
GoogleMaps You will find this map very useful.
Shows

Internet

You can find an internet café almost anywhere on the country (known as "Cyber Cafes"), for ridiculously low prices (around $U30 per hour.) You can find open wi-fi networks on some public squares and food courts on malls.