Tacuarembo

Tacuarembo is a town in the Northern Interior region of Uruguay with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. It is popular for both being an important center for the Gaucho-culture and for being one of the presumed birthplaces of Carlos Gardel, perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango.

A ticket from Montevideo 3-cruces station is about 360U$ (07/2008, 18.50US$, 12EUR) per person in a comfortable coach and takes about 5 hours. More Information can be found at the webpage of Turil.

The city is fairly small and almost everything interesting can be reached either by walk or by catching one of the frequent taxis.

• The museum of Carlos Gardel and the museum Del Indio y del Gaucho which can be found at the crossing of Av. General Artigas and Av. General Flores

• The Fiesta de la patria gauchos which takes place annually at the beginning of march.

• Hotel Plaza: Av. 25 de Agosto 247, Tel. +598 (0)63 27988, +598 (0)63 27989, offers nice basic equipped rooms, a triple costs 900U$ (07/2008, 30EUR, 47US$) per night
• Tacuarembo Hotel: Av. 18 de Julio 133, Tel. +598 (0)63 22104, +598 (0)63 22105, +598 (0)63 22945
• Hotel Central: Av. Gral. Flores 300, Tel. +598 (0)63 22341

Take care, it seems that there are only three ongoing busses per week (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday) to Salto. The trip takes approximately 5 hours and a ticket costs 185U$ (07/2008, 6.2EUR, 9.7US$). Take a camera along. Despite being a bumpy ride, because of bad road conditions, the environment can be outstanding and typical for the Pampa area in Uruguay.

• Not much going on in Tacuarembo. The army barracks are the real activity here, and thats why i spent a few days. There is a nice festival for showing your horse riding skills with a nice "feria". Otherwise it is the last city on your way to the Brazilian border (Rivera, Santana do Livramento) • Jean R.