Uruguay
Campo
March 2023 • The Uruguayan countryside (campo) has good roads but minimal bus service and no passenger trains, so a car is needed to go deeper into it. At first the vibe is Minnesota because people drive glacially slow. Then it becomes Texas because of the big sky and sprawling ranchland. And just when you've settled on the word “indistinct” to describe it all, along comes Fiesta de la Patria Gaucha—part rodeo, part state fair, part cultural heritage celebration. Tacuarembó—Uruguay’s self-proclaimed Capital of Traditionalism—hosts the event annually and books up months in advance, so the only hope of getting a decent hotel room is a last-minute cancellation. It was 100 degrees and I poured sweat the entire time, but what a sight for jaundiced eyes. Nowhere close to being indistinct.
