Rough Roads Empty Country

 Sunday was a day of driving across country, the part of Uruguay that they say is empty and they aren’t wrong. For a small country Uruguay has vast empty spaces strewn across the north of the country, ranch land with cows sheep horses and cowboys. 

According to something called the worldometer Uruguay has a population numbering three million four hundred thousand which translates to 19 people per square kilometer which in old money is 7 people per square mile. Either way it’s not hitting the average out here.

And on Sunday traffic was equally sparse. 

The road was a mixed bag, some pretty good and some pretty terrible. 

We made slow progress toward the beach which is my goal for a few days rest. The coastal strip is also where most Uruguayans live. 

The day started rather briskly with sunshine and barely 50 degrees at the abandoned roadside park. I think I d been rooming in SouthAmerica as some kids showed up in the early hours speculated loud music for a while. I had actually expected it being a Saturday night and I even fell back asleep during the performance. I never bothered to look out and they never bothered me. Perfect. 

I ghost a call from a friend in Key West and that made my evening. We reminisced and I wished I had taken the time to go to Key West on my last visit. I thought my time was limited by the Machu Picchu tour I had booked and then I was too sick to do that either. Annoying. 

Rusty and I left around ten and it was a slow drive as the roads were crap to start with.

The villages I did see were small, no gas stations or supermarkets for instance but lots of horses. 

We drive and paused to give Rusty a rest and drive some more. I was ready to be done with the interior of the 134th most populated country in the world and get to see some ocean. Patience grasshopper.

Finally I reached a town with a supermarket called oddly enough the Ta-ta, promising to lower prices for Uruguayans. I thought that was just advertising as I spent a hundred bucks easily and bought no meat or alcohol or weird foreign foods.

I first had to walk himself of course. 

Then this guy approached me and asked me about the trip I was on. You need anything he said I live here. 

I could easily have spent the night on the street had I wanted to. And after I got back with my shopping another guy approached me to practice his English to invite me back to his ranch. He told me there is a man from Oregon ranching in the neighborhood the only known foreigner in the town of Melo. I mentioned his WhatsApp number to Layne and she sounded interested so we’ll see but it’s a long way to drive from the coast.

It felt like it wasn’t going to end this  road through the wilderness even though it got smoother and my dues increased. 

The bushes growing alongside the highway have been cut back and Sunday entertainment for some couples is to come out and pick up some free firewood. I’ve seen people doing this all over Uruguay. Pretty smart. 

With 45 minutes to go to my planned stop I saw this pull out, a bit trashed but a hard surface and flat and it was past five so close to Rusty’s dinner time. 

It was cold as the sun went down so I hit the gasoline cabin heater for a while. Pretty luxurious this set up. Next I hope the beach. Interior Uruguay is explored.