East Coast of Uruguay

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Well, took me a little bit longer, but here´s the next blog-entry. It describes my journey from El Pinar (near Montevideo) along the east-coast of Uruguay (Piriapolis, Minas, Pan de Azucar, Punta del Este, Maldonado, Jose Ignacio, La Paloma, Rocha, Valizas and La Coronilla to finally Chuy (at the border to Brasil)).

Today (10.11.) Laura (my CS-Hoster) and I went by bike to the beach. She showed me a beautiful place (as you can see on the pictures) and we spent some time just sitting in the sand, listening to the sea and chatting. After that we visited a friend of Laura (from Germany) and they told me, that a Swiss-couple will make a scenic-flight with a small plane and if I want to join. I agreed and so it seems, like I will be able to see Uruguay from above soon! :-) The next days (11.11. - my saints day :-) & 12.11.) I spent just relaxing, exploring the near surrounding of el Pinar (the village, where Laura lives).

On Thursday we went to town, to a woman Laura knows, that works with different, alternative methods. I got a "energy-cleaning", reiki and an Indish-mantra called deeksha, which was really powerful. I did enjoy it very much and feel as if I have left some heavy, unnecessary parts behind - really a great feeling. In the evening I met Uli, a nice guy from Germany. He's living in Montevideo already for 10 years. I got to know him via the sister (Miriam) of my spanish-teacher (Sarah). By the way Sarah: I have to thank you. I'm still a little bit afraid of speaking spanish, of course, but whenever I do, people tell me, that I have a very good pronounciation and ask me, where I've learned such a good spanish. They are even more surprised, when I tell them, that you are not a spanish native speaker! So, this is a very big praise to you and a big thank you from me too! To be honest, I'm still learning spanish and not speaking a lot, but I can already understand some parts and make myself understood. In conversations I still miss plenty of words, but thats normal and I try to enhance my knowledge of spanish words. But up to know still a lot of people speak english, so ... I often switch to this language, because it's more easy for me ...

I went to Atlantida on Friday. It's a small, nice village at the coast, not far away from el Pinar, so I went there by bus and spent a few hours walking around and laying on the beach. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures of Atlantida ... In the evening we went to the house of Laura's goddaughter and went together with her to a nice restaurant, where we ate Empanadas. I didn't know, that you can have such a wide variety of Empanadas! I ate a Chilene-, German- and Strudel- Empanada! Yes, Strudel! This was really with apple-pie! Very, very, delicious! We came home at about 2:30 and tomorrow I have to get up at 7:30, because of the flight!

Getting up on Saturday was hard ... but I succeeded :-) It was very windy and cloudy, so after breakfast we called and they told us, that the flight was cancelled, because of the weather. So we went to bed again :-) When I got up, I spent a few hours, learning spanish and then we left to a small village near by to have dinner at a small restaurant with home-made food, directly at the sea. The meal was excellent and we also had a great view. But the water was very high and still rising. When we left, it even had reached the house! When we arrived home, I realized, that I had forgotten my bag there ... so I took the bike and they brought me by car about half the distance back (to a toll-station) and the rest I went by bike, to get my bag back. It wasn't really far, but with all the wind a bit exhousting.

The Sunday (16.11) I spent learning spanish and at the beach, as well as chatting with my parents and my sister and writing the travel-blog. Tomorrow I will leave el Pinar and continue to Piriapolis. Maybe I can organize a SIM-card for my phone, so I can more easy get in contact with the CouchSurfers and make appointments, because via the Internet it's not that easy (when do I get an answer ... wheres the next Internet-cafe ... lot's of waste of time!). But it seems not to be so easy, because although my mobile is unlocked, the SIM-cards do not work (I can see a net, but I'm not allowed to use). Uli told me, that I have to go to the customs first and have to declare, that I want to use it and then they will do some kind of unlock for use in Uruguay. I guess, I try to do so tomorrow.

After Breakfast on Monday, I left Lauras home, where I really have spent a good time. Thanks Laura! I went to Montevideo and stored my just too heavy backbag at the bus-terminal and went to the customs. But I didn´t succeed to "unlock" my phone, somehow it seems to be, that you need to work in Uruguay, or live here, to be able to use your own phone. At least that´s what I understood. They where just speaking spanish and talking very fast and about technical stuff ... hardly understood a word ... but this is, what I think, I´ve understood ;-) So I think I will not have a phone - doesn´t matter too - maybe it´s even better this way ... Finally I took my bus to Piriapolis and went to the Hostel. Had a look at the famous Hotel Argentina and bought something to eat at the supermarket and had dinner at the beach at sunset :-) Really great!

Well, didn´t sleep too good (very loud and annoying mosquitos), but nevertheless ... During breakfast (18.11.) they told me, I got a new room-mate (was alone up to now) - I´m already curious, who/how it will be. I had a look at the town and some fontain, but that was really not worth mentioning. After that I took a bus to Minas. Nice little town, not much to see, but very silent and easy going. I missed my bus back and therefore had to go first to Pan de Azucar and then use a local bus to Piriapolis. At the hostel I meet my room-mate. A nice guy from Buenos Aires (originally from Israel) and we chatted a while and exchanged addresses - maybe I can visit him Buenos Aires - would be fun! Tried to call my next CouchSurfing-hoster in Punta del Diablo, but didn´t reach her.

On Wednesday I took a bus to the Pan de Azucar (hill) and visited a small zoo there and then went up the hill. Nice walk, about 45 minutes and on the top, there is a big cross, with stairs inside, so you can climb it. You have a nice view from there. Continued to Pirinas Castle (from the same guy, who has built the Hotel Argentina). It´s a nice building and you can see some of the old furniture and stuff there. When I returned to Piriapolis I had to try a "Hungarian" for lunch, because I was curious, what this would be. I asked and as far as I understood should it be some kind of spicy sausage. Well, surprise, surprise, it was a "Debreziner" (that´s how we call it) ;-) So this is already the second meal I knew before, but didn´t recognize by it´s name (the other one was the Milanesa (Schnitzel)). Called Magda and everything is okay, I can come to her place today. So I took a bus to Punta del Este and tried to catch the correct bus there, but somehow I got it wrong and so I asked at an petrol-station. I had to walk quite a bit and again I have to say my backbag is much too heavy! Magda´s home is nice. She lives with her man and two kids. I watched the sunset at the beach (just accross the street from her home :-) and we had a nice conversation (in English, of course :-).

Today (20.11.) I had a look at Punta del Este. Well, the landscape is beautiful and it´s really not easy to find a place with such big beaches (as you can see on the pictures). But for me, it´s also very touristic. You have one big hotel-tower after the other and I thank good, that I´m here off season, because during high season I can imagine, what happenes here ... After I had a look at the old town, I went to Maldonado. It´s a little bit bigger and I visited a museum of Artigas (famous war-hero) there. After that I continued to Punta Bellena and visited the Casa Pueblo there. It´s an interesting building from an local Artist (Carlos Paez Vilaró), but somehow reminds me to Gaudi from Barcelona. Got a little bit sunburned and took pictures of the sunset at the beach. In the evening I made a "Gluehwein" (hot wine punch?) - for the first time in my life ;-) Well, I guess it was okay, at least noone died and we finished it. :-) The next day I wanted to visit a museum, but it was closed, so I relaxed a little bit and in the evening went to Maldonado to see a hostel a friend (from Germany) of Magda will open soon. But I missed my bus and have been late, so I didn´t manage to see him, but had a look at the hostel - really nice.

On Saturday (22.11.) I continued to Jose Igancio. Nice little village, very silent. There´s not really much to see there, but if you want beaches without thousands of tourists and just silence in the night, I assume, this is the right place to go. They have a good restaurant at the "center", that also serves good coffee and sweets :-) Unfortunately it was very, very windy. I continued to La Paloma and therefore had to return to Punta del Este and take a bus to San Carlos and from there another one to La Paloma. On may way I met to older woman from Argentina, who gave me some tips, what to visit there (in Spanish! :-) and a guy from Buenos Aires - so I could practice my Spanish. In San Carlos I had to walk almoust through all the town, to get from one bus-terminal to the other ... my legs have already really been hurting ... I have to change something ... 20kg are just too much ... maybe I can send some stuff, I don´t need at the moment, to Buenos Aires per post ... let´s see. When I arrived in La Paloma I had to ask for the way, because I had not city map. But noone really seemed to know, where the hostel is. On my search I met another traveller - she looked a little bit confused too and it turned out, that she is trying to find the hostel too. So Amy (from the US) and I started to search for the hostel together. We came to an parade and it turned out, that today there is a festival for the young girls, who have just reached the age of 15. This is a big celebration here and it was fun to watch. We finally succeded in finding the hostel, which is really nice situated within a park. Amy and I went for dinner and had a good conversation, so when we returned (at about 3 in the morning ...), the main entrance of the hostel was closed and noone was there to open us! But I could enter through a back-door (luckily I had my storch with me ;-). The next day Amy and I explored La Paloma. Also very small and nice, but not very much too see. So we had a look at the lighthouse and the beach and after lunch I studied spanish. In the evening we went for dinner and wanted to have a cup of coffee, but we realized that on Sunday at midnight all the restaurants are already closed. So we went to the Hostel and had the coffee there (went to bed at about 1:30 and have to get up at 7:30, because the bus leaves at 8:30).

I was a little bit tired the next day and after breakfast we went to catch our bus. I got off in Rocha and Amy continued to Punta del Este. Really a nice girl, that also has already lots of travelling-experience (stayed in Africa for some month!). She´ll come to Peru next year - maybe we can meet up again - would be fun. Had a look at rocha and after lunch I continued to Valizas. This village is between the famous Cabo Polono and the also famous Punta del Diablo and was a tip of Laura. And it´s really a great place! I tried to find the B&B she recommended, but didn´t find. Instead, I met two girls from Finnland who where also trying to find the hostel or an B&B. But it turned out, that the hostel and the B&B seemed to be closed (still off-season). A local man brought us to a nice woman, that offered us a small house to stay. That is really cute - you can tell by the pictures! So we stayed together. Luckily the girls speak Spanish very well, so it is more easy to communicate with the locals ;-) And now the funny things: The girls have stayed at the same hostel in La Paloma the last night! Amy even has told me from them, but we never met! Is´nt that funny? :-) I had a look at the beach, but unfortunately it was really windy and I didn´t manage to come very far. Valizas is really a nice little village, where you can just relax. As you can see on the pictures, there are no paved roads, almost no traffic (just horses ;-) and lots of sand and beach! In the evening we went to an restaurant and had some really great, very tasty (and much ;-) fish there. Unfortunately I realized that I had mixed up the amount of money, I´m carrying with me ... so I will have to leave tomorrow, because I can´t effort to stay another night and there´s no bank here ... but nevertheless, it was worth comming here!

Today (25.11.) I had a look at Valizas and the beach and continued to Castillas in the afternoon. In the morning the girls made breakfast and we set in front of the house, surrounded by the chickens ;-) That was funny. In Castillas I had the problem, that the ATM didn´t "accept" my card. At least, it always stopped the transaction - I could enter the amount of money I want and when I continued, it said something of "sorry ...". So I went inside the bank and asked, if I can cash my card (yes, in Spanish! And the did understand me! :-). But this wasn´t possible, so I was sent to another person and we argued for a while. They told me it is only possible to get 1.000 or 2.000 Pesos with my card and I told them, that I´ve tried this, but it didn´t work out eather. So finally they said, that today the ATM has some problems, but I should try later - maybe it works. So I asked for another ATM - but this was the only one in the whole town! And I needed money to pay the bus! So I tried again and a employee did "help" me. First it didn´t function too and then he told me the clue: I was always wondering, why some of the ATM´s don´t continue, after entering the code and pressing the continue-button, but you can continue with another button, where you also can enter the amount of money you want. At some ATM´s in the past I didn´t succeed to get money, some of them asked for the code a 2nd time. Now this is the "trick": You enter your code and continue with the "special" button and also it seams there is no difference to not entering the code on the first mask, this time the machine gives you the money ... :-) Well, something new learnend. From Castillas I continued to La Coronilla (didn´t have a long stay there, because the buses don´t go very frequently, so I had to take the next, or stay overnight). I decided not to go to Punta del Diablo, because I assume it will be more touristic and I have seen a really great place almost compareable to this - Valizas. In La Coronilla the hotels where closed, but I managed to talk to the owner of one and the woman agreed to host me anyway. She even made a better price and breakfast was included - very friendly. Nevertheless in La Coronilla there´s nothing to visit, but that isn´t the reason, why I´m here - I want to see the Fortalezza Santa Theresa, which is near by.

On Wednesday I went to the Fortalezza, but it was closed! My travel-guide says opned from wednesday, but the sign here in front says opned from friday ... well, unfortunately also in La Caronilla noone did know this. I took a walk in the surrounding and saw something about 5km away, that I assumed could be the Park Santa Theresa, but I wasn´t sure. So I haded back to the main street to catch a bus (I had to run, because it was the only one, for the next 4 hours!). But I succeded and went to the Park and yes, I was right, I had already seen it from the Fortalezza. But I had to leave after 10 minutes, because the next bus back again would have been only at night. Back in La Coronilla I missed another bus, so I had to stay for 3 hours to get a bus to Chuy. I went to a restaurant and spent the rest of the time learning spanish at an park nearby. When I finally arrived in Chuy I realized that I have no bus today to the Fuerte de San Miguel (Fortress), so I asked for a rather cheap accommodation and the nice woman from a small local bus-agency told me a private accommodation - it´s nice, clean and rather cheap - good! A went to an Internet-cafe and bought dinner at a supermarket in Brasil! Yes, Chuy is at the border and the border is just the main road! So when you cross the street, you are in Brasil! Bought a delicous bread with butter there! On my way to the hotel it was already dark and some begger (child) did talk to me (first tried to ignore them, but one came running after me), asking for the time and then wanting to have my watch as a present ... when I told him, I need it, he said I can use my cellular - so I told him I don´t have - he said I can buy one really cheap - I don´t want - so he finally decided to ask me for 5 Pesos ... :-) Gave him some (I think 6 - I had in my pocket). Didn´t feel to well on the way back, because it was dark and there was a bigger group of older boys hanging arround too, but gladely nothing happened. It´s really hot here ... guess, this is, because the town has no access to the sea ... needed to turn on the van for sleepin ...

Today (27.11.) I went by bus to the Fuerte de San Miguel. Quite intereseting with an military-museum inside. The Criollo and Indio - Museum nearby was closed, so I just sat in the garden and learned some spanish. When I returned to the border to go back to Chuy, they told me, that there will be a bus in one hour and there´s nothing to do here. So I went by feet to a hostel about 1,5 km, but it was some kind of closed too, so I just returned and waited for the bus. The rest of the day I just relaxed and had a coffee and did talk via Skype to my family. By the way: In the hotel the agreed to wash my cloth (private) and the even did iron it - for the first time, since I´m on my travell and this is already the 52nd day! :-)

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Photos

Dangerous
Here you see the wild animals of Uruguay ;-)

Hawaii
View, while eating at an restaurant ...

SAP
And you really think, your SAP is outdated?

El Pinar 2
Sadely a little bit windy and almost flooded!

El Pinar 4
Laura and her Cousin

El Pinar 5
My place for the next days (small garden-house - really nice!)

Comments

[Pablo Podhorzer]

Buenos Aires
Hey, nice blog! Of course you can come to B.A. I dont live near the center, but it is also the opportunity to know some different places in the area.