Amazing coincidences for Russian stranded in Uruguay

The couple had met two years earlier in the United Arab Emirates. Jao, 31, is a French engineer who was contracted to work on the electrical grid. Kate, 28, who is Russian had arrived in her early twenties. She was building a glittering career in hospitality management at a luxury Marriott-owned hotel. They were happy together but felt unfulfilled by corporate life in Emirates. So when Jao’s contract ended they decided a radical detox was in order. An off-line off-the-beaten-track cycling trip through South America was the farthest from their lives in UAE as they could imagine.

A cycling adventure gets started

In Buenos Aires they purchased bikes. It took longer than they had planned. Besides, they realised that they would need a bit of time to get used to biking long distances. Looking at the map, east of the River Uruguay, the countryside looked flat and Uruguay is a country “famous for its safety” said Jao. So they made a last minute decision to start the trip riding along the Uruguayan litoral and cross back into Uruguay at Fray Bentos. They rode off the ferry in Colonia on March 13.

Each day they rode and camped and a week later arrived in Fray Bentos. As they drove up to the international bridge it was evident that something was wrong. Only cargo trucks were entering. The few cars that had passed them by were being turned back. At the border they were told: the crossing is closed for the next two weeks, come back then.

Facing lockdown in Uruguay

On the airplane to Argentina Jao recalled a fellow passenger talking about the very first case of coronavirus in the whole of South America just being announced. But in Fray Bentos, they had no idea the bridge closure was related. They had been so overwhelmed by modern life in UAE that they had resolved to travel with zero internet connectivity for days at a time. So, they resolved to ride to the next bridge in Paysandu and try their luck there. In preparation, they stopped at a petrol station for something to eat and drink.

As they were sitting, a customer approached them. “You need to know,” he warned, “you’re in a war right now. A war with an invisible enemy.” At which point Jao and Kate decided to make use of the free Wi-Fi and check the news. It was March 23 and they discovered that Uruguay was in lockdown.

Hastily looking for a less-populated town, Jao checked their downloaded maps. If there was a virus out there, better to be with fewer people. There appeared to be a small town that fitted the bill and it was 20 km away.

Getting to San Javier, Uruguay

Darkness was falling as Kate and Jao cycled in to a deserted San Javier. They were tired and stressed by the recent news. Jao felt depressed by the empty leaf-strewn streets, more so after they were attacked by “mutant mosquitoes” as they set up a make-shift camp by the side of the river. They would definitely be leaving in the morning.

But Kate’s mind was in overdrive. As she cycled through San Javier, she couldn’t believe her eyes. On the sides of buildings, there were murals of people in traditional Russian dress and phrases written in Cyrillic. Russian dolls (matryoshka) adorned the street signs.

“How can this be?” she asked herself, “I’m all the way across the world and I feel like I’m home.”

A bit of Russia in Uruguay

They went to bed that night with very different feelings. Next morning as they were discussing their situation, a man with a huge moustache walking his dog came up to the tent. He tried to start a conversation. “He looked so Russian,” said Kate “but he was speaking in Spanish”. Despite the language barrier, Rodolfo Golovchenko introduced himself. After finding that Kate was from Russia, within half an hour he told them everything about his family, his history and the history of the village.

Incredibly, San Javier, the town that Kate and Jao had randomly chosen to shelter in, had been founded over 100 years ago by 300 Russian families seeking religious freedom that they had been denied under the Czar. Today it’s a town of 2000 inhabitants incredibly proud of their heritage.

Rodolfo was so excited with the newcomers. “He was ready to invite us that the first day for an asado,” remembers Kate “although because of the circumstances of course that was impossible. When he realised I was Russian, he went in for a welcome kiss (of greeting)–which he hastily changed to an elbow bump.”

The rest of the town was not quite so excited about the arrival of strangers on bikes in the middle of a pandemic. The only other foreigner, a German who has since returned to Europe, told them that their picture was posted on a community Facebook group. “I can understand that people were alarmed,” said Kate.