Uruguay - Punta del Este

Punta del Este

After the relatively short journey from Del Diablo to Del Este (roughly 3 hours) we arrived in Punta Del Este. Punta is very different from Punta Del Diablo as it is a highly developed and large port city and is not so much a place for surfing and sunbathing rather for commerce and boats, yachts etc. Having said this, we did attempt swimming on our first day although we found it a slightly more unpleasant experience compared with the array of wonderful beaches in Brasil. The water was certainly colder, the sand coarser and for some reason hotter and the drop between shallow and deep sudden and drastic! So needless to say we didn’t do too much swimming. Shame really as this was the last chance for a while that we’d be able to go to the beach.

On arrival in Punta, the place immediately strikes you as an affluent and well off city simply by looking around and seeing the gleaming high rise business blocks and apartments as well as the nice cars everyone drives (even the taxi drivers all drive mercs!). Driving through town from the coast to inland Maldonado (the name of the state and the area we were staying in) I thought to myself that it very much reminded me of the nicer parts of the UK with lovely pine wooded neighbourhoods, pleasantly presented roundabouts and similar looking buildings. Apparently, according to John, an English guy who works and lives at the hostel we stayed at, the reason for such affluence and high development compared with its other fellow south American countries is because while the Spanish and Portuguese where fighting over the land, the British came along and negotiated control of the water and governed the area but just did not claim the territory and it appeared that the Uruguayans very much appreciate the Brits, one guy in a shop when hearing we were British even said God bless England, God bless the Queen and God bless the beatles which I found endearing. It seems we’ve had a great influence on this country and yet the majority of us Brits probably have no idea. I think I will read about the history when I get the chance.

When getting to Maldonado I noted that the buildings were all very low and the streets all rather short so it was fairly easy to navigate around through the blocks which I needed to do on more than one occasion. The tallest building in the area was easily a grand old cathedral with two shiny domes either side of the main basilica which if lost, one could easily find the hostel just by getting ones bearings using the cathedral as a reference point.

I was very pleased with our choice of hostel this time and everyone was extremely helpful and friendly and due to the fact that they had their own roof terrace bar, it meant that I was able to socialise with the other guys in the hostel when the others went to sleep and as an added bonus it had wifi up there so I could take the netbook up with me. The layout was almost like a Mexican courtyard with central steps leading up to balconies going all the way round the inside the building with each room looking out into the main courtyard. It was certainly a cool place. Up on the terrace I met John (the English guy who told me of the history of the country) who was a very nice guy we shared a good few beers together just chatting about life, England, relationships and the rest. Turns out the poor guy has a daughter in Brasil but he’s not allowed to go back to Brasil as his visa has run out! I also met two nice Argentinean girls who were great to talk to and the first people I’d really had a chance to practice Spanish with although John only spoke Portuguese and no Spanish so things were being translated across 3 different languages at times which was confusing but fun to try and understand.

During the day in Punta del Este there’s lots to do, the weather was generally very hot although it did pour down last night for a good few hours but it is nice to head to the beach and see the hand coming out of the sand. 

This was a pretty cool site, five giant fingers emerging from the sand although the enjoyment was somewhat tainted when Lee dropped his iphone in the sand without realising and so instead of taking photos and enjoying the site, we were instead frantically retracing steps and scouring the hot sand for his phone. Many of my photos I took had Lee looking totally stressed out searching between the fingers for his phone which we can now look back on and laugh as he eventually found it with just the tip of the phone jutting out from the sand! Needless to say the relief was great for the 3 of us as this would’ve put a bit of a downer on the trip as Lee wouldn’t be happy without his little baby. After visiting the fingers we walked around town for a little and it really struck me as a wealthy area as all the designer name shops lined one of the palmed roads with gleaming white buildings. We then walked along the coast and then alongside the marina which was highly pleasant with lovely yachts and a nice lighthouse at the end. As both Lee and I are big Chelsea fans we stopped in on one the most suave Irish bars I’ve ever known called Moby Dicks although with the suave setting and location came at a cost with a small bottle of Lees favourite type of beer , dunkel (dark beer) costing about £4! We ate in there too which was probably a bad idea due to the prices but Chelsea won the game with a late Terry header to make it 2-1 against Burnley so it all seemed worth it in the end and brought more relief and smiles to our faces.

I’d just like to make the comment now that all the Uruguayans I have met so far have been so friendly, I don’t think I’ve ever met such a friendly nation of people, they are all so laid back and chilled, the majority speak pretty good English and they will even ask if you need help if you look lost on the street rather than the other way round. The food too has generally been of very high standard and on the first night we treated ourselves to some big fat steaks (entrecot) which were great and again the staff were great, so friendly one of the girls even saw me passing the next day and came out to say hi and gave me a kiss which I was taken aback by as I could never imagine such a thing happening in England.

So having seen the fingers, the marina, the town, the cathedral in Maldonado and another day to do things I decided that Id take the bus out 15km away to a place called Punta Ballena to see the site on the front of a tourist map we’d been given called Casapueblo (literally housetown) which is a big white building with no right angles painted bright white overlooking the sea and it is also as I found when I got there, an art museum. I went alone as the guys wanted to watch Arsenal v United as did I but I wrongly assumed I’d be back in time since I left at midday and the game wasn’t until 2 but how wrong was I! On arrival at the Punta Ballena stop, in asking the driver of the whereabouts of Casapueblo he simply said si, esta aka (it’s there) pointing in a very vague direction up a hill. So I headed up the hill. At this moment bearing in mind it was midday, the sun was scorching hot and I was already pouring sweat when I reached towards the top of the hill the views were stunning and this was clearly a very very affluent area I was in judging by the size and location of these houses. I asked a guy washing his car where and he said 1km to the right! Goodness I thought to myself a km in this heat with my bag is going to be tough but I ploughed on. Since he had said a la derecha (to the right) I took the next right which was actually one of the nicest residential roads I’ve ever been down with every house having sea view balconies, swimming pools and huge lush green gardens with humming birds to boot! One of the houses looked a little like the picture of casapueblo so I headed down towards the beach to get the money shot. After a good few minutes I realised I was not in the right place as I took a narrow little path down to the sea front and was clearly encroaching on peoples gardens and private piers as I got many funny looks and then a helicopter went over so I thought then it best to head back to the main road and keep going.

Eventually I reached the place and by now I was dripping with sweat and it had unfortunately gone rather cloudy so that was my money shot out of the window as I wanted the dark blue of the sky as contrast against the bright white of the buildings as shown on the tourist map. Oh well I thought, I wasn’t coming all the way here not to get some snaps. I decided I wouldn’t pay to go in the museum but instead take photos of the outside but could not seem to get the money shot I desired from the side I was on so d3ecided to head to the other side. This proved almost impossible to get to as the residential areas all said no paso. So beginning to get agitated I headed down a steep rock face with just my flip flops on and then again down a tiny pathway fighting through thick vegetation and cobwebs. This had better be worth it I thought to myself. I finally got down to the beach front where I would get the shot and realised I clearly wasn’t really meant to be here but my determination for this shot wasn’t going to falter now. Suddenly whilst walking across the rocks at the shore I felt a sharp pain in my right foot. A nine inch nail had gone straight through my flipflop but luckily only slightly pierced my skin! That could’ve been so much worse I thought, game over, I would’ve needed an ambulance and there was certainly no way I was getting back up that escarpment! In the end I got the shot and was highly disappointed with it after so much effort had been exerted. Here I might add that I hadn’t eaten a single thing and had just a little amount of sprite left and now needed to walk back a km and get the bus at God knows when (there was me hoping they just came along every 5 minutes) but how wrong was I! There were no buses, any bus that passed heading in my direction simply whizzed by ignoring my attempts in vain to hail them down, one guy even started laughing. So I made the decision to walk it, I mean what else was I to do? I was exposed this time, no food or liquid, no shops around for miles, 15 kilometres back to where I needed to get to. Sod it, by now it was 1.45 so if I had got a bus I would’ve just made it for ko. Instead I got back at 4.45 feeling half dead, still not having eaten although I did find a shop for water albeit I was only 5 minutes from the hostel by this time. So was it worth the effort, certainly not but it was certainly an experience and as John said, you can watch the footy any day but you won’t be back here any day so I’m glad I went really and all that walking certainly would’ve kept me fit. Turns out the game wasn’t great anyway with Man Utd just running the show coming out 3-1 winners.

I’ll certainly miss Punta del Este and it’s cool people, special thanks to Ricky, the guy who works and pretty much ruins the hostel for his friendliness, advice and help with the Spanish lessons. Hope all Argentines are as nice as him as he’s from Buenos Aires but comes along every few months to run the place for his parents.

Off to Montevideo now, the capital of Uruguay which I’m very much looking forward to seeing. Was a place I’d heard about but never envisaged going to. Don’t know anyone else who’s been here or to Uruguay for that matter so it’s a ll a novelty to me. I just hope the high standard of great people and food is maintained which I’m sure it will be as it seems to be the Uruguayan way.