In general with this blog I want to be interesting to you, dear reader. I could avoid risk and say that I’m writing down information on my trip so I can remember it and I don’t actually care what you think – but I wouldn’t spend time updating this online if it was all just for me. Yes, your opinion matters. The truth is that I’m a sucker for your attention. I want you to read. I want to you to smile. A moment of absolute triumph is when someone actually responds with a comment or an email. Yes, this is all about you…well, it’s all about you paying attention to me.
However, I’ve realized a need to diverge from the path a little. As I’m traveling, I’ve been very frustrated by the English language information available online for South America. There are three types: 1. Very basic tourist guides spending only one page on the entire city of Buenos Aires. 2. Very specific opinionated message board posts written about X company praising how absolutely wonderful X company is – clearly written by X employee. 3. Message board posts that have one informative post for every 400 crap posts you have to read to find the information.
In an effort to fill the gap a little more, I’m starting a new blog category called “Just the facts, ma’am.” I’m going to try to be a little more informative in these entries for poor internet searching fools like
myself. Clearly, I don’t work for X company, so I shall tell you no lies. However, these posts may not be all that brilliantly interesting to you, dear readers, if you’re not actually searching for the info for a trip. So, you’ve been warned you might want to skip this tedium
So, here goes. March 8th - 9th, 2008 I travelled to Colonia, Uruguay. I’m going to do a series of posts on the trip that are hopefully more entertaining. But for now, just the facts ma’am. If you’re not going to Colonia, the rest is probably boring. Funner (yes, I know it’s not a word) posts about Colonia to follow on another day.
My friend Rebecca and I travelled to Colonia via Buqueubus and the trip itself was much easier than getting tickets for the trip. We were told not to get them online because our departure date was three days later and sometimes they don’t respond quickly enough, so we called on the phone. Many times. Apparently, the phone message said someone would return at 2:30 pm ...so we called after 2:30.
Nothing. We gave up and decided to purchase in person.
Let me diverge to tell you something about purchasing anything in Argentina. You will need to take a ticket so that you have a number before you do just about anything. Look for the small (often red) ticket dispensers as you come in the door or approach the counter. At the ice cream place near me, you even need a ticket to order ice cream. It’s crazy.
Back to Buquebus. I walked into the office on Cordoba 879. There were two ticket machines – one for just transportation and one for transportation and hotels. I took a ticket for just transportation. I sat in a chair for an hour. Eventually, my number was called. The woman did not speak English but we got by on my Spanish and a helpful brochure that was in English. I made my reservation for which I needed my passport. Buquebus has a fast boat and a slow boat to Colonia, Uruguay. The fast boat takes an hour and the slow boat takes three. You might think
that the three hour trip would be peaceful, maybe romantic, scenic boat ride. Really, there is little to see and from what we could tell there’s no way to get outside. Take the fast boat. I asked for a round trip (ida y vuelta) ticket. She filled out a bunch of stuff in the computer and took my little numbered ticket.
Next, I had to go to the cashier window at the back of the office…and take another ticket. I sat in another chair for 15 minutes. (And this was about 2:00 on a weekday afternoon...I can’t even imagine how busy it would be after work or on a weekend) Eventually, my new ticket number was called. I approached. He asked me for my OLD ticket number which luckily I remembered. I told him. He entered it into the computer, took my money and my new numbered ticket, and then gave me a travel ticket. Mission complete (and all in Spanish!) My friend bought her ticket online after several attempts and frustrations and she did get it in time, but just barely, and then she had to print it out.
The next challenge. Where the hell do we get on the boat? The website says Darsena Norte and I was told my cab driver would certainly know where Buquebus was located. He did not. The terminal is on Cecilia Grierson at Avenita Antartida Argentina. However, my cab driver did not know either of those small streets either. Cecilia Grierson is really just Av. Cordoba so if you tell the cab driver Av. Cordoba and the Rio de la Plata, you’ll end up at the right spot. If you’re savvy enough to travel by bus or subway, look it up.
We were advised to arrive at the terminal two hours before the departure time but we couldn’t even check in until an hour before departure time so really we just waited around. The check in is downstairs and you’ll need your ticket and passport. They’ll give you a boarding pass and a customs form to fill out. You take that upstairs to go drop your stuff through a security scanner where the guards look very board. Then, you’ll stand in line for customs. We were the only people in customs because we were so early. We approached the front of the “line” and we were ignored by the employee behind the desk. Eventually, another employee called us over to help us and as we passed the woman who had ignored us, we saw she was very deeply involved in a game of computer solitaire. Great. The other guy was really nice though. He took my passport, the ticket/boarding pass, the customs form, and he gave me back a small printed out form (Keep the small printed out form!) and just the boarding pass part of the ticket. At this point, you can put your passport away.
We waited in a very nice waiting area where people lounged around on comfy couches until a few minutes before boarding when magically they somehow knew to flock to the gate. Join the flock. The lady at the door will need the boarding ticket for you to get on.
The boat is not like a boat. It is like a wide, expensive dentist’s waiting room. The seats are cushy. You can buy food, liquor, and even cologne on board. There are flat screened tvs with advertisements and the seats have a fold out table and recline a lot. Relax.
We arrived in Colonia, got off the boat, and there was another customs form to fill out. Where do you get the form? Well, that’s not exactly clear. Look for the mad rush of people and follow them. For us, we found a pad of the forms on a metal table near the exits. Fill out the form, but don’t fret. They don’t even look at it. I think they looked at my passport but I don’t even remember that. At this point, you’re free to go. You can take buses into Colonia or other cities, or you can walk out the front door, bare left, follow around the parking lot, up a set of stairs to the street, and then historic Colonia is directly in front 10 blocks or so or to your left. I recommend you walk left until you see the water and then following the water around. You can’t miss it and it’s about a five to ten minute walk.
We did not make reservations for a place to stay or even research any. We walked into the first hostel we saw. The name of the hostel is El Viajero and we rented a private room with a double bed. No complaints. Well, one complaint. The bathroom was very loud with wooshing water sounds, but really not a big deal. The rooms were clean and comfy. The public space was bright and inviting. The employees were very friendly and spoke English if we wanted to speak English and spoke Spanish if we wanted to speak Spanish. We also rented bikes (with extremely uncomfortable seats and no gears) for about usd $8 a day. I wouldn’t recommend the bikes. They were convenient but not great and lots of other places in Colonia specialize in renting bikes which are probably better. You really need to be able to shift gears or at least sit comfortably. You can also rent golf carts, small go-carts, mopeds, and regular cars around Colonia. The hostel was conveniently located and even though we checked out the next morning, the let us leave our things while we toured the city and also let us use the bathroom and internet when we returned, though we weren’t staying there that night. I recommend it.
Food – unfortunately, I didn’t write down the names of everywhere we ate, but all the food was good. The one notable place was El Drugstore on Portugal 174. It has a very kitschy interior, bright colors, an exposed kitchen, and outside you can sit in an old car that has been converted into a dining table. They have strange, for South America, food options like stir fry plus all the usual options. Fun.
Before you go, look up the exchange rate so you have an idea what is expensive and what is not. Believe me, when you see that a pizza is listed for $200 pesos, you may be shocked...but these are Uruguay pesos – not Argentine. At this time, that’s about $11. You can pay for everything in US dollars or Argentine pesos and we did not exchange money. It probably would have given us a better exchange rate to actually exchange money, but it wasn’t worth the trouble for a two day trip.
For the return trip from Colonia to Buenos Aires on Buquebus we arrived at the station 2 hours early again. The pier is located in the same area as where you arrived, but it’s not the same pier – it’s slightly further away. Don’t arrive 2 hours early. You can’t check in until an hour ahead of departure and customs won’t let you through until half an hour before departure. Either way, the return wait will not be very pleasant. The line for customs will be long and cramped. You need to fill out a form which you can pick up on entering the building again. You need your passport AND you need that ticket that they gave you at customs on the way over. Really, they don’t look at any of it and once you make it through the line, moving through customs is quick and painless. I saw signs for some kind of tax but we never paid it. The waiting room on the Colonia side is serviceable but not as pleasant as in Buenos Aires and the boat ride back was uneventful. Returning to Buenos Aires, I don’t think there was any immigration or customs at all that I remember – just a long line of tired people streaming out of the boat and a big search for cabs. There you go, those are the boring facts of the journey – if anyone finds this helpful, do let me know. More actual fun to follow.
