Visiting Uruguay

[Jaimito Cartero]

For those doing a visa run, or checking out Montevideo, currently, you can get a room at the Holiday Inn for 5000 Priority Club points. This equates to a $30 or so rate. You can buy points for about $50, if you need to, but PC points are easy to earn. I think you can book rooms until the end of October for this rate.

[El Perro]

Thanks for the info dude. Have you ever taken the Boat? Is it pretty cool coming down for a couple of days in May wanting to get out of the be. A. Scene for a day or so.

Thanks,

Bandit

Most of the reviews on the board about Montevideo have been pretty negative, but if you go post a report on how you find it. I don't know if Thomaso has been to Montevideo. Maybe he did in his "dude" days.

[Banditx666]

Thanks for the info dude. Have you ever taken the Boat? Is it pretty cool coming down for a couple of days in May wanting to get out of the be. A. Scene for a day or so.

Thanks,

Bandit

[Thomaso276]

http://www.buquebus.com/cache/HomeARG.html

Here you go.

[Banditx666]

Just wondering I would like to take the boat to Montevideo. Could someone throw me a bone on this where, when ect.

Thanks for your help.

[Jaimito Cartero]

Sidney is not in jail or not held captive, although I was 75 days beyond the 90 day ''limit''! At EZE, they sent me to the Emigration Office and the bank. I paid the 50 peso fine. About a 20 minute hassle. Sure beats a boat to your!

Hasn't it been mentioned that if you overstay often enough they may not let you back in?

[El Perro]

Sidney is not in jail or not held captive, although I was 75 days beyond the 90 day ''limit''! At EZE, they sent me to the Emigration Office and the bank. I paid the 50 peso fine. About a 20 minute hassle. Sure beats a boat to your!

El Sid-did you intentionally misspell "Uruagay" in your title, or is that a subliminal message to somebody living in Puerto Madero?

[Mpexy]

Also did my run to colonia for same day visa renewal and noticed a change that adds some time to enter and exit. Not that big a deal, but since Dec. 05, we only had to get our passport stamped out / in when leaving, then returning to Argentina on buquebus. No customs form before.

This time, there was one more piece of paper bureaucracy - they make you now fill out a customs form when exiting Argentina to declare whatever stuff you might be bringing into Uruguay, and then when you leave Uruguay, same thing - you fill out another customs form to leave Uruguay and enter Argentina.

Seems to be a Uruguay imposed thing, not from the Argentina side. Having ppl hand over their customs forms makes the line go a bit slower on each side but if you are day traveling with no packs or bags they just wave you through and collect the forms without really checking you. Looking around, I didnt see the Uruguay officials checking ppl with bags much either so not really sure what the whole point of adding this customs declaration and check is for yet.

PS: If it's available on your boat, there's in addition to the tourist class and first class, a first class especial or basically the top premium section. I took that and frankly to me it was worth the extra 100p roundtrip it tacked on. Difference between first class and first class special was only 40 pesos.

It's an upstairs balcony area with full recline back easy chairs, and a dedicated kitchen with staff that takes orders and delivers right to your seat. For something like $33 even on a short 1 hr trip each way, I thought it was worth it.

[El Perro]

Did the visa run to Colonia today for the umpteenth time. Don't forget the hour difference. I did. Not that big a deal, as there was another boat leaving in an hour. Tacked on about 60p to the total cost though.

[Hobby Fan]

Buquebus has a dominant position and is much easier to use. Go with them. 1st class is what you would expect - bigger chairs spread out more. Regular class is just fine, however, and I cannot believe it is worth the price difference. I agree with Hunt - safety issues are not that bad. Just use normal caution, as with any other journey.

[Dickhead]

I don't know but you can fly for $81.50 US round trip including tax (see Travelocity) so even with the departure tax ($18 US) and the ride to the airport (45 pesos round trip) you'd be better off. Note also you can go overnight on the slow boat for 131 p RT. What is the purpose of the trip?

[Slugfest]

What's the difference between tourist / first /"premier" class on Buquebus? Is it worth the money (352/407/422 pesos round trip) Is there another reputable company that makes the trip?

Thanks

[Hunt99]

In my stay in Uruguay I never saw anything which resembles what Lexton describes. It's unfortunate that he got pickpocketed, and I'm glad that what was taken was inconsequential, but from my own experience I don't see Montevideo as being more dangerous than Buenos Aires. If anything, just the opposite. I think there is less overall poverty in Montevideo than in Buenos Aires, and as we all know, poverty is the stomping grounds of crime.

But being careful is a good policy, no matter what your destination is. I'd never carry around a wallet in a back pocket while traveling. You're just asking to have your billfold stolen.

[Exon123]

The Exact Reason I Don't Care For Uruguay.

Exon

[Lexton]

This is a copy of a post I made also under URUGUAY in "Travel Reports-Other Areas".

In the interests of warning about potential danger, I am making this post about Montevideo here. I will have a more complete report in the ISG Uruguay forum.

Be very careful in Montevideo. From the standpoint of theft, this may be the most dangerous city I have been in outside the US. Fortunately, the people of Uruguay seem to be very unaggressive with regard to physical violence. I can't see any evidence that armed robbery, mugging and kidnapping are prevalent.

What is prevalent is thievery and manipulative pricing. I have never had as stong a feeling about being a target as in this city. I feel as though I am constantly being watched and measured. The first time I walked down 18 de Julio at around 11:00 PM I reached the corner of Convencion and 18 de Julio and thought "this area is very dangerous". There was a group of young men in the 16-20YO range hanging on the corner. There were various other young men in 18 de Julio hanging around. All were relatively poor wearing "felony shoes" (sneakers) Generally, I consider groups of boys in the 15-19 YO range as the most dangerous. They feel invulnerable, and egg each other on.

Also, there is a look I would have to describe as "envy". There just seems to be a real attitude here, and I suppose it is justified. They are Buenos Aires wannabes, and are VERY sensitive about comparisons to Argentina and Buenos Aires. There is also another attitude, what I would call "complacency". They don't generally seem to be very ambitious. This is a dangerous combination, because they probably don't feel they have a lot of control over their destiny, and their ability to impove things thru personal effort.

As luck would have it, in my first 5 days here I witnessed some part of 5 crime scenes. All took place in the areas of Andes and 18 de Julio, Andes and Colonia, and the area of Colonia around the Radisson Casino. The Plaza independencia also looks dangerous, although I saw no actual crimes there.

The 1st night here, I was standing on Andes and 2 young men ran into the street from the Plaza and tore down two blocks and turned left onto Soriano. I knew they were running from a robbery, and sure enough about 2 minutes later a middle aged couple entered the street looking for them, with the woman complaining about a robbery.

I saw one arrest by the police from the casino. I didn't see the crime.

I saw in Colonia in front of "Moon River" near the casino 2 boys about 17 going down the street suspiciously, "gingerly". They weren't running, but were moving purposefully but worried about what was behind them. Sure enough, about 15 seconds after they turned the corner, 2 policemen came running from the direction of the casino in pursuit. They were much too late.

I got robbed on the corner of Andes and 18 de Julio at about 12:30AM. I was standing talking to the street tout on 18 de Julio about 20 feet from the corner, near the curb with my back to the street. Someone crossed the street behind me and walked up behind me on my left side, unbeknownst to me. I was taking some little fliers for whiskerias out of my pocket and sort of reading them and talking to the tout. Suddenly, there was a grab in my left rear pocket, and someone ran to the corner of Andes and dissappeared around it. Fortunately, all they got was a plastic envelope containing a copy of my passport, the entry stamp page, and a card from the hotel. So that system worked. DO NOT carry a wallet in Montevideo, especially at night.

After they robbed me, I was talking to a young woman at the hamburger wagon on Andes. I was also sort of looking over her head to 18 de Julio. After about 10 minutes, on the other side of 18 de Julio, on the corner, there was a pair of young women talking. The same thing happened. A young man walking down 18 de Julio crossed Andes, and as he approached behind the woman with her back to him, he grabbed into her left rear pocket, and then ran down Andes away from us. He turned the corner at Colonia.

Watch out for pricing of all kinds, especially gringo pricing situations. I will say more about this in ISG Uruguay.

I have been here now 16 days, and have seen no other crimes. But I still have a feeling of being watched on the street.