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Published: January 25th 2006
View from my bed at Hostel 1949
View from my bed at Hostel 1949I´m starting to get used to taking long distance buses. After listening to Spanish lessons for a few hours I get sufficiently bored to fall asleep. I arrived at Montevideo still thinking about my time in Brazil and the friends I made. But then I also felt good about moving on, as it was the beginning of something new.
Although a bit exhausted, after checking into Red Hostel and buying a ticket to Punta del Este, I went for a walk through the east part of the city, and then the beaches in the south. Later, when I returned to the dorm I noticed someone sleeping on my bed, and my clothes ( previously on the bed), placed neatly on the adjacent chair. Too tired to be amused I decided to take the next bed for the time being, and have a talk with the guy when he wakes up. After taking a closer look at the bed however I noticed a bikini under the pillow, and as I was contemplating what to do next the guy woke up, resulting in a rather unpleasant confrontation. After consulting reception, it turned out I was allocated an already occupied bed.
Later I managed
Crazy Argentinian girl
Crazy Argentinian girl to make friends with the man (A Spaniard called Gonzales, taking a two week holiday to see his Argentinian girlfriend) and we ended up going for dinner together. Although Montevideo is not one of my favourite cities, something interesting seems to happen to me every time I go there.
I arrived at Punta del Este in late afternoon the next day. The town has a reputation for being one of the top holiday destinations in South America, frequented by by the rich & famous, which apparently is also reflected by the prices.
Finding hostel 1949 was pretty easy, it´s only a few blocks away from the bus station. I was greeted by the cheerful (& rather eccentric) manager of the hostel (I think his name was Al), cracking a joke about I´m only allowed to bring women back to the hostel who´s at least a '7' (out of 10). It didn´t seem to register with him when I mentioned that our tastes may differ, and therefore also the scores we may give. Instead he went on explaining that I´ll be staying in 'room 0', so I´ll have the privilege of sharing with the staff (I was later told however, that
Chatting in bar
Chatting in bar during January the staff normally stay in an apartment).
The significance of this statement however escaped me until I was showed the room. I was quite amazed to see the three storey bunk beds, each positioned next to the wall, leaving approximately a two square meter space in the middle, then the home of bags, rubbish, and random items of clothing. As I was only staying at the hostel for four nights, and not wanting to ruin such cheerful reception, I decided not to complain, and made my way to the bar area as soon as I could.
The bar at the hostel is the main area of activity. In the morning it is where people eat breakfast, in the evening where people drink, and during the day where people laze around in the designated hippie area.
This is situated at one end of the bar, and made up of a bunch of pillows and small tables. After a bit of time it is easy to see that the place itself is run by hippies, with very calm and peaceful personalities, some wearing loose colourful clothing, letting each afternoon slowly pass by to the sound of quiet (mainly Indian) instrumental
Bar
Bar music in the background.
After sitting alone for a while I started chatting to a Mexican guy, and we were soon joined by his brother Antonio. I must go to Mexico one day, so far everyone I met from there were really cool and friendly.
As I popped into the dorm to get my camera I bumped into a Swedish guy, who later sat with us in the bar. After telling my story at the Red Hostel, the Swede mentioned that someone just moved into his bed, dumping a bunch of clothes on it, including a funny green scarf. This reminded me of the beach blanket I bought in Brazil, and after asking him the position of his bed, it turned out I was again without a place to sleep.
After a few hours, as I started to contemplate sleeping on the cushions, the staff advised me there was a spare bed in room eight on the second floor, which was a lot more spacious and fun, as I was sharing with a group of girls from Montevideo.
When I was taking a shower the next day after going for a run on the beach, suddenly the water stopped running
More Crazy Argentinian girls
More Crazy Argentinian girls and I recalled a conversation I had with the manager of the hostel earlier. In his wast experience of running the hostel, he claims nothing surprises him anymore, and I got the impression that this made him a stronger person as he went on explaining that he learned to deal with people in a very calm manner. For example, when a guy came to him half naked with shampoo in his hair saying the shower stopped working, he dealt with him swiftly by advising him to use the shower next door, a logic the guy apparently couldn´t argue with.
As I was standing in the shower, shower gel all over me and contemplating going over to the next dorm, the thought occurred to me that the reason why the water stopped running maybe something to do with someone is using it downstairs, and there isn´t enough pressure for it to come up. I didn´t fancy the idea of going to 'room 0' on the ground floor, and not wanting to disturb the harmony of the staff (having already learned from the manager´s wisdom), I opted to do breathing exercises instead (being influenced by the holistic atmosphere in the hostel) until
Bar at Hostel 1949
Bar at Hostel 1949 the water started running again (which took approximately 10 minutes). Feeling fresh, in both body and mind, I looked forward to going out with my new found friends in the evening.
Punta del Este offers a great night life for tourists, and I get the impression the many young Argentinians going there take full advantage of it. One night I bumped into a group of girls from Buenos Aires, all very friendly and keen to practice their English. After a nice conversation about Argentina I introduced them to my Mexican friends, since they were standing near by, no doubt wanting to join in the conversation. One of the the girls who seemed to be their leader initially kept on apologising about her English (which wasn´t bad at all) and after a few more drinks started saying ´chinga tu madre... waay' which kept the Mexicans entertained all night. Eventually one of the girls became sick and threw up in the toilet, and as we were leaving the bar she passed out on the street (in the process of course they forgot to pay for their jug of cocktail). After one of the Mexicans found them a cab, they said good night
With Uruguayan girls
With Uruguayan girls to us and also wished us a 'good life', even though we invited them out the next day.
The next evening I was asked to move back to 'room 0', after expressing my displeasure I decided not to make a fuss, again not wanting to disturb the peace at the hostel. I later bumped into the girls from Montevideo, who were always happy to converse. Through them I met a guy named Pablo from Cordoba, and some of his friends. I got on really well with the 'Cordobans', even though I did not share their passion for drinking heavily. I guess for me Punta del Este was just a place to visit, whereas for the Argentinians this was their holiday, so they made sure they had a good time.
One night I bumped into an Irish guy who seemed to bear some degree of resentment towards Argentinian women. Apparently a few nights before he bought some drinks at a bar, and left some behind since he couldn´t carry them all. On his way back he noticed some (allegedly) Argentinian girls sipping his drinks, and when he confronted the thieves, they got him thrown out by the bouncer, and then teased
With staff at hostel, manager of hostel in hammock
With staff at hostel, manager of hostel in hammock him through the window.
Towards the end of my stay in Punta del Este I went to Bikini Beach with people from the hostel. Apparently here sometimes they hold (fashion?) shows with top models. Unfortunately this time there were only two girls posing before a band went on the stage, however there were plenty of girls to stare at on the beach itself.
According to the manager at the hostel, the beach to go to is Chihuahua, which is the local nudist beach. Apparently in the past he spent an entire year wearing absolutely nothing (perhaps he worked near the beach?), something he unfortunately cannot get away with at the hostel.
The girls from Montevideo returned home after a mate ritual, where strangely the mate cup did not pass through my hands very often. My departure the next day wasn't so glamorous, only one of the waitresses I got to know at the hostel kissed me goodbye as my Argentinian friends were still asleep, even though it was seven in the evening.
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Antonio
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The mexican Guy
Hey Georgy boy how you doing. great blogg you got there, and it was chinga tu vieja wey the thing that the cresy argentinian girl was screaming, and of ocurse its totatly wrong, cause the right way is chinga to madre. but any way see you arraound soon so you can compare mexico from the rest of the american country that you been Saludos