Buquebus

11:19 pm 13/2/09

So this is my return trip back to BA from Montevideo, UY. I'm aboard the Ana Silvia liner of Buquebus. I just found this out...I kept seeing the name Ana Silvia on my ticket and other papers and figured it was the name of the lady who helped me on the first day at the counter in BA, I thought it was strange that they kept such good tabs on customer service....it wasn't until I was walking onto the ferry an hour ago that I noticed her name in huge white block letters painted along the side of the boat...wow they really love this lady, I thought...just kidding...thats when it clicked.

The ferry ride is three hours from Montevideo to Buenos Aires, its the fast one. The cheaper ride is 300 hundred pesos less but also three hours longer...no thanks. I wasn't sure what to expect about taking a boat to another country. I've never done it before. The longest I've been on a ferry ride was when I was 11 and went on a class trip to Vancouver Island to the city of Victoria....I think that was two hours. I remember it being the funnest thing ever, they had food, arcades, you could basically run around inside and out, there were different levels...way cooler than a plane ride.

This ferry ride is not much different except for the running around part, I mean its possible, there are kids doing it, but I would look strange, plus I have no friends. Well, at first I thought that's what all the kids did, run around, but not quite. I noticed the last time and now the amount of kids on this thing was outrageous! I didn't think I would survive. As soon as I ate and found a row of three empty seats to occupy, I started reading my book and fell asleep. It wasn't long before I heard the faint laughter of children...I could hear but it sounded muffled...awakened and staring at the ceiling, it seemed like the sounds were coming from the vent above me... I looked around and noticed all the empty seats and other adults fast asleep. Hmm, weird, I wonder where they put them all...and then I discovered at the front of the plane they have a mini kindergarten, with clowns and everything! smart....also they have two Wii stations downstairs in the center of the boat. also smart. so now its relatively peaceful.

These boats are huge....two levels and a car deck below. There is a two-level duty free shop with Prada sunglasses, clothes, alcohol, American chocolate and a whole level for perfume and makeup. Its all in US dollars and people are spending like crazy. I have to say, when I first was told to take the ferry over I had my reservations. A boat? with hundreds of people? I was skeptical about the conditions....but it turns out this is the preferred method of travel for most wealthy Argentines. Riding the ferry there and back were the only times I ever saw Louis and Chanel bags, gorgeous tans, iPhones, blackberry, iPods, Macbooks....even the children were beautiful. Of course, when I got off in Montevideo I never saw these people again, until I went to Punta del Este and I discovered their hiding spot, but thats a different story.

All in all, this is definitely way more relaxing than flying, even if the flight would have been only forty-five minutes...with two plane crashes in a month the odds are really high and water seems like a way better alternative than a twenty person baby plane....I'm leaving the nice blue water of the Atlantic behind and heading into the brown, murky, familiar waters of el Rio de Plata... Ciao!