Already long past dusk I took a taxi out to the highway and proceeded to wait by the side of the road for the 7:30 PM bus.
Finally, at 8:00 PM I saw my bus approach. Relieved to be getting out of the cold wind and to be continuing my travel north, I stepped out onto the outer lane with arm and ticket raised to flag it down.....and it kept on going.....
In disbelief I ran out on the road behind it, frantically yelling and waving, but to no avail. As it vanished around the curve of the road I stood stunned by the side of the road, contemplating my next move.
I waited for another 30 minutes on the slight chance I was mistaken and another bus would be along. I soon gave up on this fantasy, remembering when I bought the ticket I was told that particular bas company only made the trip once a week...
Dejected and angry I made the 10km walk back to the township, failing to flag down the small number of cars that passed in an attempt to hitchhike back. It was a long, dark and dusty walk back to the hostel I had left two and a half hours ago...
Back at the hostel I hastily made a plan to keep me going. There was a bus to Chui (a very small town on the border of Uruguay) in 5 minutes, after quickly buying some US dollars from the hostel owner (I had spent all my Uruguayan money in the belief I would not be back) and made it to the bus with minutes to spare.
I arrived to Chui at 10:30 PM, and wandered the dark and empty streets until I found the seemingly abandoned bus station. After 10 minutes a light came on and an employee appeared, I was told a bus into Porto Alegre, Brazil, would arrive in 10 minutes. They would not accept payment in US dollars, and had no EFTPOS / credit card facilities so I hurriedly rushed to get my cash changed. This was done by a dodgy looking guy loitering on the street outside the local casino, but it was done without any problems.
I made it back to the bus station without any knives being pulled on me, and with relief I boarded the bus. After the hassle I had of getting my Brazil visa, the border crossing went without a hitch. After a mostly sleepless bus ride I arrived to
Porto Alegre at 7:00 AM, and bought the onward ticket to Florianopolis.
I tried without success to get my original ticket refunded, but if my Spanish was very poor my Portuguese was beyond abysmal!
At 9:30 AM I boarded the bus to Florianopolis, glad that I had not lost too much time but annoyed at the needless waste of money... The bus ride was long but uneventful, and I finally arrived in Florianopolis at 8:00 PM. Not the best time to be hunting down a hostel (which I had booked but the address was vague), I caught two more local buses and finally arrived in Ilha de Santa Catarina....
Brazil, you better be worth it!
