MONTEVIDEO After about 5 days in Colonia(even though you could see the place in a couple of days it was so nice and relaxing there so we spent longer) we went to Montevideo, capitol city of Uruguay, where we spent about 3 days. Not a lot to say about it really except it rained quite a lot, which might have dampened (excuse the pun) our enthusiasm for the place. Highlights of our time in Montevideo were, Spending time in the port market (Mercado del Puerto) which was an old building in the port area that contained about 20 open bars, each one having a huge bbq in the middle of the bar, where you ordered lumps of meat which they threw on the bbq, whilst you waited for it to cook you were served with beer or the local brew 'medio y medio'(basically half sparkling win and half still wine) which was very potent. Here we met a German and his american girlfriend plus a Spanish girl and her mother. We spent a great afternoon with them getting sloshed on the local brew in a brilliant atmosphere. Meeting an eccentric Uruguayan woman who owned a company that specialised in Estancia tours. Estancia's are Uruguayan working catlle/sheep farms where you can stay for a few days. We decided to book up and spend a few days there, also she helped us make a route through Uruaguay onto the North West part of the country. PASO DE LOS TORRES We left Montevideo after 3 days there with a Swiss guy called Phillipe, who had also booked to go to her farm. After a 3 hr coach ride and a 40 min taxi into the heart of Uruguay we eventually came to the farm. We were met by Cecillia (the farm owner and same person we met in Uruguay). She showed us around the place and got us settled in, everything was very basic but seemed clean. After a quick bite to eat we went for a swim in the local creek, which was fun. In the late afternoon we all went horse riding in the brilliant sunshine. This was fantastic, in the middle of nowhere riding horse over big wide open plains, it was better than we both could have imagined. After a couple of hours though, we noticed black clouds coming over. Before we new it we were in the middle of a thunderstorm with about an hours ride left back to the farm. Must admit we were a bit wary about the horse, as there were lightrning flashes everywhere and the rain was torrential. We made it back safely and were soaked to the skin but because the rain was warm it was kind of invigorating. The next few days were the same, but without rain, lots of horse riding, walking and swimming, absoloutely brilliant!!!! Really enjoed the 3 days there and will never forget it, also made a good friend in Phillipe. Other highlights were being taken to a secluded beach on the River Negro, where you had to cross a huge dam to get to it. SAN GREGORIO From the farm we headed north to a small town called San Gregorio, not very touristy but had lots of the buildings painted by local artsits. VALLE EDEN This was the furthest north we got and we spent a night here, in the daytime went to see Valle Eden, which was a nice drive through green hills (bit like England) and also visited the house/museum of Carlos Gardel, famous Tango Singer. SALTO and TERMAS del DAYMAN After Valle Eden we travelled west across to Salto, via Paysandu (bit of a detour actually but its a long story). Before we got to Salto we stayed for a few days in Termas del Dayman, which were hot thermal pools from deep beneath Uruguay. This was a bizarre experince for us both as the weather had hit 35 - 40 degrees but the water in the thermals was approx 44 degrees. When you first jumped in it was though you were going to get burnt but as you giot used to it, it became really relaxing. Spent a few days here relaxing by the pools in the heat. Salto was a small town on the border of Argentina, not a great deal there but it had a couple of nice squares and the peole were really friendly, I don't think they got many western europeans going there. As it was so hot we just took things easy and slow, this S American way of life seems great.