Carmelo, URUGUAY

A pleasant drive past the dairy farms of western Uruguay took me from Colonia de Sacramento to the sleepy town of Carmelo. This is cowboy town with all the cowboys being shot dead the previous day. Architecture is reminiscing of the old western cowboy movies. The preferred mode of transport is the bicycle and very tiny and old motorcycles. Oh....and the horse cart is still very much loved. I have never ever seen so many cars from the 60´s and 70´s on the road -- Morris, Chevy´s, Studabaker -- they´re all still running. Not as antique shiny collectors items, but as rusty and tired vehicles which have to keep moving as there is no money to buy modern cars. After one night sleeping here I´m off to Colonia Suiza, also known as Nueva Helvecia.

Freedom is a universal right -- don't take it away from each other or even from the smallest creature.