Wednesday, January 23: A lazy day in Colonia, Uruguay

Just an hour away from Buenos Aires by ferry, the World Heritage site of Colonia seemed like a good side trip. It was built in the 1600s as a Portuguese trading post, and became rich as a site for free trade (avoiding the steep tariffs of Spanish-controlled Buenos Aires.) Today, it is a small, sleepy town with a decent beach and some gorgeous historic neighborhoods.



At the hostel, I met Pip from England, who is traveling solo for a year before heading to university. She and I borrowed bicycles from the hostel, and spent a day riding along 5k of pleasantly deserted beach. At one point, we found a restaurant on the beach, with umbrellas and strawberry daquiris. Not a bad excuse for a pit stop!

Pip had just come from a fascinating little journey by tandem bicycle. A guy named Dom Gill is riding from Alaska to Patagonia on a tandem bike, with one seat open to all takers. His website is Takeaseat.org . Very cool project. After a week riding with Dom the Andes mountains, Pips was in pretty good cycling shape, so she got back to the hostel a good bit before I did.