Back to Buenos Aires and Onward to Brazil

For my trip back to Buenos Aires from Montevideo, I booked an overnight slow ferry because it was the cheapest option.  This meant that I had to take a bus leaving the capital city at 1:00am for Colonia and then a ferry that left from the port at 4:30am for Argentina.  Since it was so late, I took a cab from my hostel to the Tres Cruces bus station and was actually able to board a bus that left Buenos Aires shortly after 12:00am.  I guess they just fill buses up as people arrive at the station and then take off when they are full.  The only problem was that this meant that I arrived at the ferry terminal shortly before 3:00am.  I was hoping that they would let us on early so I could just crash in one of the reclining seats.  In the end they didn't let us on until more than an hour after I arrived.

When we finally got on board just before 4:30am, I chose a seat out up front and out of the way.  I wore my eye mask and put in headphones, but unfortunately my seat was by the snack bar so I all I could hear was two people yammering away at a nearby table.  I finally moved a bit farther back, but not soon enough since I kept thinking they would eventually shut up.  I probably only got about two hours' sleep before the boat started pulling into the harbor.  The sun was just rising so it was actually really pretty, but by the time I got motivated to pull out my camera, the magic hour had already passed.

When I got back on dry land, I forced myself to take the bus all the way back to Palermo even though I was itching to just hail a taxi.  The ferry docked shortly before 8:00am, but by the time I disembarked, walked to the bus stop and rode the bus to Adela's, it was after 10:00am by the time I arrived.  I was so tired that I went directly to my room and crashed for quite a few hours.  I was even able to sleep through the private acting classes that Adela's daughter gives in the adjoining room.  Still feeling lethargic, I didn't do much all day long besides nap and go out for food.

On Thursday, the last day of May, I was scheduled to fly out to Sao Paulo, Brazil. To try to save money again, I decided to take public transportation instead of just grabbing a cab.  Since I had no idea how long it would take, I left the house in the early afternoon on the advice of Adela.  Suddenly, as I was riding the bus toward the airport shuttle stop, it dawned on me that I had no idea if I was flying out of the international airport or the smaller regional one.  I had assumed it was the international terminal since I was flying out of the country.  In the end, I'm really glad I checked because it was actually the regional airport.

Once I got off the bus at the end of the line, I had to walk a while to get to the spot where I could pick up the private shuttle.  I then had to wait about 25 minutes until the next bus was scheduled to leave.  Luckily the regional airport is not too far from the city center so, though I cut it a tiny bit close, I made it reasonably on time.  However, if I'd gone to the wrong airport first, there's no way I would have made it (flashback to Malaysia!)

Since I had booked my ticket on a Uruguayan airline, I had a short layover in Montevideo.  Luckily, I still had a few Uruguayan pesos remaining so I was able to get some dinner at the airport.  It was like I had never even left.  I got to Sao Paulo just before 10:00pm and, even though it cost me a small fortune, at that point I did spring for a cab.  At that hour I had no motivation to try to figure out how to get to my hostel by public transit.  I just wanted to get into bed.