Hello! Well I am now in Uruguay and it is a pretty cool place. Was not planning on even travelling here but am so glad that I have. Left Mendoza on Sunday evening and had a 15 hour bus ride from hell back to Buenos Aires then got on the 6pm ferry to Colinia to meet my friends that I met in Chile. Colonia is absolutely beautiful - the tree lined streets are all cobbled stones and all of the buildings are so old fashioned but well kept. The only bad thing was that for some reason the water in the river was brown! Apart from that everthing else in Colinia was perfect and although there is not much to do there I could quite happily have stayed there for a week just relaxing! We got a bus to Montevideo yesterday lunchtime which took 2 and a half hours and we went exploring around the capital. Definitely prefered Colinia but am glad that I have been here too even though I think a day is enough! Montevideo is an interesting place with lots of cool plazas and buildings. Sampled another delicious steak last night and we managed to get free wine and ice cream as we were the only ones in the restaurant. The girls left this morning for Rio as I am going the opposite diretion to them. I have finally made a plan and am getting on a 12 hour bus (oh joy!) tonight to Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil and am making my way up to Rio to meet Paula on 23rd!! Am a bit nervous about travelling alone in Brazil without knowing any Portugese except for obrigado but it will be a challenge!!! xx