Category:Uruguay

From MyVacationsTo

Uruguay[1] is a country in South America. It has a south Atlantic Ocean coastline and lies between Argentina to the west and Brazil to the north. It is the second-smallest country in South America (after Suriname).

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 6.1 Bus 6.2 Taxi 6.3 Hitch Hiking 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Work 13 Stay safe 14 Stay healthy 15 Respect 16 Contact

[edit] Regions

Uruguay is divided in 19 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Artigas, Canelones, Cerro Largo, Colonia, Durazno, Flores, Florida, Lavalleja, Maldonado, Montevideo, Paysandu, Rio Negro, Rivera, Rocha, Salto, San Jose, Soriano, Tacuarembo, Treinta y Tres

[edit] Cities

• Montevideo - Capital.
• Chuy - Right on the border with Brazil
• Colonia del Sacramento - a colonial town and World Heritage site
• Fray Bentos
• Juan Lacaze
• La Paloma
• Nueva Palmira
• Paysandu
• Punta del Este
• Piriapolis
• Salto

[edit] Other destinations

Beaches on the Atlantic Ocean (Punta del diablo, Fortaleza de Santa Teresa, Cabo Polonio), birdwatching in Rocha, touristic "estancias" and horseriding.

[edit] Understand

The name Uruguay means river of the colorful birds. It is related to the name Guyana: Arawak Guayana, land of many waters.

The country has a mostly low-lying landscape. Cerro Catedral, the country's highest point, is 514 m high.

[edit] Climate

Subtropical. Due to the absence of nearby mountains, which act as weather barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes from weather fronts.

[edit] History

A Marxist urban guerrilla movement, the Tupamaros, launched in the late 1960s, led Uruguay's president to agree to military control of his administration in 1973. By the end of the year the rebels had been crushed, but the military continued to expand its hold throughout the government, with widespread torture of political oponents. Civilian rule was not restored until 1985. Uruguay's political and labor conditions are among the most free on the continent. In 2004, a leftist coalition which included the Tupamaros won elections which left them in control of both houses of congress, the presidency, and most city and regional governments.

[edit] Get in

Holders of passaports (or MERCOSUR ID cards) from the following countries can enter without a visa: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Iceand, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Noruega, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal , Dominican Republic, Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, Seychelles, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela. Travellers from other countries should contact the local consular section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[edit] By plane

Pluna (the Uruguayan carrier) has connecting flights from São Paulo and Madrid.

There are other companies that also have flights to Montevideo. In 2004, American Airlines launched a non-stop flight from Miami to Montevideo. The flight is not daily and only operates during the North American winter season. Most long haul flights from Montevideo stop in Buenos Aires, Santiago, or Sao Paulo before going on out of South America.

You can see a list of airlines at the international airport's web site.

[edit] By train

There are limited commuter train services around Montevideo. There are some tourist trains which do not have a fixed schedule. You need to find annoucements for them at the Montevideo train station. There is no regular long distance train service.

[edit] By car

The Highways are in good shape. Speed limit is 90 km/hour in most of them but it's not enforced. Most people go about 120 km/h and slow down a little when they see a highway patrol car!

[edit] By bus

There are many buses runing from the Brazilian cities of Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Bus service is very spread among the people and there are many services that run from Montevideo to different cities across the country. Terminal Tres Cruces , Agencia Central and Terminal Ciudad Vieja are the three main hubs. Travel by bus is very safe and much better than Greyhound

[edit] By boat

The Buquebus ferry service operates between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and both Colonia and Montevideo, Uruguay. Some services continue from there to Punta del Este. The travel time is approximately three hours.

[edit] Get around

[edit] Bus

Uruguay has an extensive internal bus system. Non-local / departmental buses leave from the Tres Cruces station which also serves the international buses. The buses are frequent and many companies serve the same routes.

[edit] Taxi

Unlike other South American Countries, taxis in Uruguay are safe and fairly affordable. Costing about $2 USD per km.

[edit] Hitch Hiking

In rural areas hitch hiking is fairly common in uruguay and as safe as hitching is anywhere. Uruguay has the lowest level of violent crime in latin america outside of cuba. Even though I would not recommend this!

[edit] Talk

Spanish is spoken everywhere. The pronunciation and the use of the vos pronoun instead of tu is practically identical to the Spanish variety spoken in Argentina.

Portuñol (or Brasilero) is a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish used on the Brazilian border.

Amerindian traits can be found everywhere in Uruguayan culture, from cuisine to vocabulary.

Most Uruguayans living in the cities have studied some English at school but do not actually speak it. Outside Montevideo and Punta del Este there are few English speakers.

[edit] Buy

The Uruguayan currency is the peso. Prices are often quoted using the U$ symbol, which may be easily confused with the US$ (US dollar) symbol. As of October 2006,

• 1 U$ (peso) = US$ 0.042 (four cents)
• 1 U$ (peso) = Euro 0,033 (three cents)

Prices in Uruguay are considerably lower than in the US or Western Europe and comparable (if a little higher) to other Latin American countries.

Popular items to buy include yerba mate gourds and antiques.

[edit] Eat

Prices:

• Breakfast for 4 people can cost as little as $58 pesos (U$2) in a supermarket
• 1 box(1 litro) of Tropical Fruit Juice - $30 pesos
• 2 packages(5 ounce each) of coconut biscuits - $28

There are many public markets where you can get a hundred varieties of meat. Vegetarians can order ravioli just about anywhere.

At bars the local specialty is gramajo, a dish made of fried potatoes, eggs, and ham. If you ask they can make it without the ham. One dish that should not be missed is chivito, a heart-attack-on-a-platter sandwich that combines combination excellent uruguayan meat, tomatoe, lettuce, onion, eggs, ham, bacon, mozzarella cheese and mayonnaise and fries. The meat is excellent, "asado" is typical from Uruguay (try it at the "del Puerto" market, in Montevideo); the fish and other sea food is good.

[edit] Drink

Yerba Mate is widely drunk on the streets, but can hardly be ordered in restaurants. You may have to buy a package at a super mercado and make your own. The drinking gourds are widely available and range from economical to super-luxe silver and horn. Yerba Mate is a social drink. If you are with a group of Uruguayans they will probably not offer you any because they assume that foreigners do not like the bitter taste. If you try some it will make everybody happy.

Uruguay is also acquiring a reputation for its fine wines, especially those made from the Tannat grape.

[edit] Sleep

There are plenty of hotels in Uruguay, although fewer serve the backpacker/traveler crowd than many places in latin america.

For nature lovers, birdwatchers, and those seeking a respite from the fast-paced world, there are many "estancias" in serene and peaceful environments, surrounded by many species of native and migrating birds, which offer an unique opportunity to reconnect with nature.

[edit] Work

There are numerous English language schools which are looking for native speakers as teachers. They can arrange papers or pay teachers under the table. The pay is not good, but enough to live on in Montevideo. Work permits are not particularly difficult to obtain and Uruguay lets you convert a tourist visa to a work visa without leaving the country. Residency visas without permission to work simply require you prove access to $500 USD a month. Work permits are not particularly hard to get.

[edit] Stay safe

Unlike its South American neighbours, crime is not a serious problem in Uruguay. Like anywhere, however, sensible precautions should be taken. That being said, Montevideo provides the highest opportunity for a run-in with pickpockets.

In an emergency, call 911 or 999.

[edit] Stay healthy

Tap water is safe to drink in all major cities. The Hospital Britanico near the Tres Cruces central bus terminal has European-quality service and is clean and efficient. Just don't make any unwise drinking decisions.

[edit] Respect

Uruguay is a socially progressive country. Women got the vote in Uruguay 70 years before France. Although Uruguay is a nominally a Catholic country, it is the least religious country in Latin America. Clothing and styles in Montevideo and Punta del Este closely follow trends in Spain and Italy. In the country people are much more socially conservative.

Uruguay is not particularly open to its gay and lesbian communities in comparison to Brazil. There is a city monument to sexual diversity which was erected in 2005. It was the first in Latin America. There are a few gay and lesbian bars in Montevideo and in Punta del Este, but outside of those two cities there is no public "queer" community.

[edit] Contact