COLONIA DEL SACRAMENTO URUGUAY

Dengan Nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah lagi Maha Pengasihani

Assalamualaikum,

Bangan seawal pagi dan bersiap sedia untuk ke Uruguay. There is a fast ferry option to travel to Colonia. The ferries depart from the Terminal Internacional de Cruceros on Ave. Inmigrantes in Buenos Aires, and take 1 hrs 15 minutes. Services are not as frequent as those of Buquebus,  but their prices are very competitive. However, bear in mind the initial price you’ll see doesn’t include taxes. One way tickets on their site for only 150 Argentine pesos including taxes.

When you  arrive  at   Colonia Port  Passenger  Terminal, all you have to do   is  pass   your luggage          through     x-ray security – remember that you cleared                    Uruguayan immigration in Buenos Aires and cleared Buenos Aires in Uruguayan side when coming back.

Founded by the Portuguese in 1680, Colonia del Sacramento is located at the tip of a short peninsula with a strategic position on the north shore of the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires. In the region, the Historic Quarter of Colonia is the only example  of an  urban

plan that does not conform to the rigid "checkerboard" grid imposed by Spain under the "Laws of the Indies." Instead, this city has a free plan adapted to the topographical features of the site, although strongly influenced by its military function.

Throughout the successive destructions and occupations of its territory, the Historic Quarter acquired the urban and architectural heterogeneity that characterizes it:  to the contributions of the Portuguese and Spanish, were added those of the artisans who emigrated there during the second half of the 19th century.

All of its modest buildings, in regard both to their dimensions and their appearance, are a particularly interesting testimony to the singular fusion of the Portuguese and Spanish traditions that is evident in the construction methods used. The civil and religious buildings with long stone walls, wooden trellis and tiled roofs reveal an excellent knowledge of traditional construction systems and contribute to the architectural unity specific to the Historic Quarter.

The special nature of Colonia del Sacramento is also based on its urban landscape, a mixture of large arteries and large squares, with narrow cobbled streets and more private spaces. The scale of the Historic Quarter is marked by the predominance of

single-storey houses, those of two stories being rare. From the bay, only the outlines of the lighthouse and church towers stand out. Surrounded by water on three sides, the relationship of the city to the river is one of the natural aspects that additionally characterizes it.

The  border dispute between Portugal and Spain gave this remarkable urban site an identity profile enabling appreciation of the survival of its essential characteristics: the dominant human scale, the texture and the "time" of this unique scenario, and the value of its integration into the environment.

Colonia del Sacramento ialah bandar bersejarah bagi dua kuasa besar ketika itu.  Portugis dan Sepanyol.  Bagi ZBA bandar ini tidak lebih daripada sebuah bandar yang  tenang dan sunyi daripada kesibukan kota. Jarang kelihatan kenderaan dijalanan.

Kepada pembaca yang ingin kesana tidak perlu mengambil guide memadai dengan sekeping peta jalanan.  Tiada kenderaan kecuali buggy kecil jika ingin berkenderaan mengelilingi daerah bersejarah ini.  Boleh dikatakan tours yang beroperasi disini semuanya ialah "walking tours" yang mengambil masa sekitar 3J sahaja. Banyak restoran-restoran dan hotel-hotel berbintang dalam kapasiti jumlah bilik yang kecil disediakan untuk keselesaan pelancung.  USD dan UYU sahaja diurusniaga disini.  Bas disediakan jika pembaca ingin meneruskan perjalanan ke Montivideo.

Sehari suntuk di daerah ini memberi ketenangan dan pengalaman menghayati sejarah negara Uruguay yang jarang-jarang dilawati oleh penduduk NegaraKu. 

Sebagai tanda kenangan aku abadikan bersama "Hijau dan Putih" agar satu hari walaupun bendera ini belum mempunyai negara yang sah tetapi kibaranya akan membawa cahaya ke Islaman keserata pelusuk dunia.  Insyaallah.

SHINE EVERY WHERE IN THE WORLD