I finished up my time in Uruguay without gastrointestinal incident, which is great, since I ended up buying a second sandwich from the former Harbringers of Doom. It probably would have been better if I'd gotten sick, now I have no fear of food. From La Paloma, I travelled to Montevideo for one evening. It turns out the night I selected was Uruguay's Inauguration Day. This was a nice surprise for me, as it meant no stores were open and firecrackers the caliber of anti-aircraft shells were being lit off throughout the night. Honestly it was pretty interesting to see all the parties and parades going on around the city. There was a tremendous amount of national pride. All the taxis were streaming flags and most people walking through the streets were doing the same. Presumably, this would seem a terrific last impression of Uruguay, which is why I probably wouldn't let it rest at that. The hotel I selected from my guidebook ("A slightly faded, once famous, 1920's hotel") turned out to be a true rat hole. My first room had a television, which was a very nice surprise, but that was about all, literally. There was a wooden platform that probably could have served as a bed, if there were a mattress, a swarm of silverfish on the wooden window shutters, and a bathroom at the end of the hall.
Not being intimately familiar with faded, 1920's-era hotels, I spread a couple of blankets on the wooden platform and watched the television until my ass went to sleep.
When it became apparent that my ass was the only part of me which would be getting any sleep in this room, I went downstairs to ask for a mattress. They gave me a new room. This would seem to be a step up, and insofar as the room had a desk, a mattress and a room fan, this is true. Unfortunately, it also had a smell vaguely reminiscent of rotten meat, and was without a locking door (and the TV, but that was the least of my concerns). It also came with a very unwelcome roommate.
I tried to put a credit card in for scale but was too scared to get it close enough to give a true idea of the size. All part of the adventure, I suppose.

The following day, I shot across the country to Paysandu, from which I made a border crossing back into Argentina. Paysandu, was a nice border town with a fairly relaxed feel to it. Not a lot for the tourist trade, though.

All in all, I really did enjoy Uruguay. Not just because it was cheap (6 days for US$119), but that certainly helps. It was a country heavily reliant on livestock. Everywhere we drove went through expansive animal fields, whether cow, sheep or emu. Being a forester, I also began to notice that almost every large estancia had a small patch of eucalyptus neatly planted. I presume this was a source of firewood, as they were all quite small. I got the feeling they were really trying to increase their tourist industry as well. There was a substantial increase in the prices (20-25%) for bus travel over those stated in my guide, which was supposedly for this year. It was still reasonably inexpensive, but only because the trips were fairly short (what can I say, it's a small country). Well, no matter, it's back to Argentina for me.