It just takes a short ferryride from Buenos Aires to get to Uruguay, to the town Colonia del Sacramento. You certainly realise why the "barrio historico" - the historic quarter of the town makes it a tourist attraction: cobblestoned streets, an old lighthouse, and those oldfashioned street laterns everywhere....if I ever thought argentinians were crazy about their "mate", then I don't know how I could possibly increase this decription to make it appropriate for the uruguayans: whereever you go, you see people carrying mate-cups and thermos - in the parcs, in supermarkets, in bars, while repairing their motorbikes ( onehanded, of course) or selling veggies at the market, while having a walk or a little chat in the evening.....I also went to Montevideo, and on to Punta del Diablo, a little village with nice beaches nearby. From there, I went to nearby Santa Theresa, which is a nationalpark with a little fortress ( which was unfortunally closed ) and a lot of remote and stunning beaches ( were I could spend some time instead ;0)). Leaving the coast behind, I traveled further into the county, to a place called Tacuarembo, which you wouldn't find on any touristic map if it weren't for the nearby birthplace of tangolegend Carlos Gardel. It feels good, though, to be at a nontouristy place again where I'm forced to torture people with my 3-words-of-spanish and where you can get dropped off by busses in places in the middle of nowhere that are so peaceful and remote that even horses are having naps next to the roadside.