Uruguay Has Nice Sand and Cold Water!

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After waking up in the dark (the sun doesn´t rise here until about 8) we trudged down to the small Colonia bus station to catch our bus to Punta del Este. Not as nice as the Argentine busses but much cheaper and a short, 5 hour ride. Passed through the capital of Montevideo along the way. We´ve heard from various sources there isn´t much to do there so we decided to just pass on through and head straight for the beaches of Punta del Este. Our boat back to Buenos Aires leaves from Montevideo Friday morning at 1130 so we may end up back there for a walk around.

The beach is beautiful here. Very Florida-ish. However one step into the water and I was instantly reminded of home. FREEZING. We can´t even go swimming, after looking forward to it for so long. And we didn´t think that we would be able to go far enough south to see penguins... but sadly enough it´s not too far north here to get the dead ones washing up on the beach. Very sad, that the only ones we get to see outside a zoo are dead....

And this town is definately a tourish haven. There is nothing open hardly, and the streets are bare. They even have all the traffic lights turned off! Very eerie. Walking around made me think of what Florida or the Caribbean must be like when a hurricane is about to strike. It didn´t help that the sky was black and ominous all day. Apparantly they had some crazy thunderstorms here yesterday, but just a few showers this evening. We had a HUGE meal of pizza (best yet!) and cake. Jacqueline had some Tiramisu kind of thing, while I had this HUGE piece of dulce de leche (caramel) with pie crust and marshmallow toppings... Now you must know that I have a good appetite but I almost had to give up on it. I managed but am now paying the price of a sore tummy... even 4 hours later!

Our hostel (the 1949 hostel) is the cheapest thing in this overpriced tourist town, only $8US for a bed. But I can see why it´s cheap. It´s pretty dirty and the toilet in our room runs non-stop. Good thing it´s only for a night or two. But there´s only one other person staying here besides us so that should make for a quiet night and a good sleep!

We may head back to Montevideo tomorrow, depending on the weather for beach going, and when the bus leaves for Montevideo Friday morning. We don´t want any more 6am mornings thank you very much!

5 days from now we´ll be at the airport getting ready to leave South America behind! Sad times, but we´ll both be glad to sleep in our own beds.

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