Uruguay--Take 3, Carmelo

So, with finishing another 3-month increment in Argentina, I've been met with the obligation to leave the country once again. Last time, I discussed that the fine for not leaving the country (regardless of how long you overstayed your visa) was 50 pesos ($15) while the cost to renew your visa without leaving the country was 100 pesos ($30) and the boatride out of the country and back in was 130 pesos ($40).

A few days after writing this post, the government raised the fine and the cost of renewal to 300 pesos (just under $100) making leaving the country for the day the obvious choice.

Uruguay, being the closest country (and me, not having a lot of time quite yet, see The End?) was also the obvious choice. However, having seen Montevideo, Punta del Diablo, and Colonia before, I decided to try something new and visit the little pueblo of Carmelo.

Hindsight being 20/20, a Sunday is NOT the optimal day to visit a small town in a latin american country. Aside from some bakeries and butcher shops, there were three places open--an ice cream shop, a restaurant, and a bar. Curiously, the bar was open when I arrived at 11 a.m., it was closed when I passed by later, around 2 p.m.

Although Uruguay is very close to Argentina, arriving from La Plata takes some doing...Carmelo involved a bus ride to Buenos Aires, a train ride to Tigre, and finally a boat ride into Uruguay.

So, Carmelo is a sleepy town, typical of Latin America, with colorful buildings, colonial architecture, a church, a firehouse...

...and a villa. Or rather, surrounded by villas. Villas are the south american ghetto. They're usually a bit like trailor parks, only instead of mobile homes, they have handmade housing. They can also be very dangerous, so as I was exploring the town--and being a small town, I explored the center quite quickly, I branched out toward the river...and found myself surrounded by some of these houses, and a sudden absense of road traffic.

Meandering back, I crossed the town, passing by the river, with its famous red bridge...

I assume its fame is purely aesthetic, but everyone seems to take pictures of it, so I did too. And I got a horse in the photo! That made me happy. Crossing to the otherside of town, I was again encountered some mud-brick houses. As there weren't any boys taunting me with whistles on this side of town, I quickly pulled out my camera and snapped a photo.

Once again, my fabulous hindsight proves that I should proves I should probably stay closer to the colored buildings, like this one (a shoe store, not a house in the villa):

On a side note, Argentine law gives those in the villas rights to the land once they build a property there. They start out as squatters, and go from tents, to some often impressive multi-storied dwellings.