Nan and Alice left for Montevideo airport this morning for the long trip back to Sheffield (via Buenos Aires, Paris and Machester), so I’m back to travelling solo again. We had a good time in Montevideo, but it was a little more low-key than Buenos Aires — partly because it was rainy and mid-week, and partly because the population of Montevideo (and therefore Uruguay as a whole) has shrunk dramatically in the last few years apparently as young people migrate away in search of better opportunities. According to Paula, a friend of Nan’s brother David who we met with last night in the bus station, many young Uruguayans have left for Spain.

I plan to leave Montevideo today (after shopping for a sheepskin jacket), heading up to las termas, some thermal spring resorts about 100km outside of Montevideo. After spending a few spa days I’m planning to go to Punta del Este for the weekend, before crossing over into Brazil early next week.