14.05.-17.05.11

Punta del Este/Punta del Diablo

The bus ride from MONTEVIDEO TO PUNTA DEL ESTE took only 2 hours. When I arrived in PUNTA DEL ESTE I was firstly shocked. A quite big beach resort with a lot of high rise buildings, four and five star hotels, posh bars and restaurants and a Yacht harbour with incredible nice and expensive yachts! But later on when I strolled along the main avenue and the harbour I started to like it. Well, I guess the main reason was it was low season and very quiet which I liked! There were just enough people around to keep the main restaurants, cafes and shops open.

There are only about 7.000 people living in Punta del Este but as it is "THE" beach resort in Uruguay it attracts a lot of Argentinians and Brazilians during the summer months.

I had a reservation for the "El Viajero Hostel" which was very close to the beach. Unfortunately there was a big group of 20 old and ugly Argentinian blokes around who were very annoying and load for the first two days. Well thank God I didn't spend too much time at the hostel as I was mainly walking through town, along the beach or strolling around the harbour.

On my second day in Punta del Este I took the bus to the famous house "CASA PUEPLO" build by the Artist "Carlos PaezVilaro". Although I didn't visit the museum it was absolutely worth seeing the house from the outside and taking photos as it seemed like a Mediterranean fantasy house to me.

On Monday, 16.05.11 I took the bus to PUNTA DEL DIABLO. The day before I met Richard and Becky from London at the hostel and as they had the same destination we booked the same bus to Punta del Diablo.

"What a huge difference to the last town"... we thought when the bus dropped us off in the middle of a little fishing-surfing village with 700 inhabitants. But we all loved it straight away as there were no paved roads and you could see the beach and ocean more or less from every house of the village. This village seemed more like a beach resort for Backpackers, Hippies and Surfers.

After we checked in at the Hostel "El Diablo Tranquillo" which was right at the beach we felt like in heaven. From my room I had a stunning view to the ocean, beach and sand dunes and the hostel was only 10 Minutes away from the centre.

First we had a bite to eat on the terrace of the hostel and as it was a warm and sunny afternoon I went for a nice relaxing walk along the beach until I found a perfect spot in the sand dunes to lie down and doze a bit.

Later on we cooked dinner together, drank a wine and exchanged travel stories. Richard and Becky also helped me to make a decision regarding a flight to Salvador in Brasil. So before I went to bed I booked a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Salvador for the 26th of Mai!

Richard and Becky left straight after breakfast the next morning as they continued their journey to BRASIL and I took the bus at 11.15am back to MONTEVIDEO.