Uruguay

5th and 6th March
Colonia
This quiet Colonial town made a plesent change to crazy Buenos Aires.
I am traveling at the moment with an English guy called Sam and an American guy who I met in Cusco called Stuart.
They are both good fun.
We swam in the sea which at this point is still more like a river, really brown water.
We got bikes from the hostel and cycled a little.

Mad for Mate.
The big thing to do arround here is Mate.
Everone you see walking around of an evening, or any time any place, has a shiny thermus flask tucked under their arm and a mate cup with metal straw.
You just fill up your mate cup which is full of mate leaves, from your thermus and pass it to all your friends.
The bus drivers even have a special compartment to hold the flask and cup.
You don´t seem to be able to order mate in cafes or anything so it seems to be a do it yourself tradition.

7th, 8th and 9th of March
Montevideo
We spent some time wandering the streets of the crumbling colonial town.
We met some Uraguayans who were celebrating womens day with painted faces and drums.


10th and 11th March
La Paloma
This is a seaside resort town.
The big holiday time here is January and February.
So last month the population was 40,000 and this month 3,500.
This makes it a bit like a ghost town.
The guys rented a surf board and we met some nice Argentinian tourists and had a nice barbeque in the appartment that we rented.