BUS FROM MONTEVIDEO TO PUNTA DEL ESTE
From Montevideo I headed east along the coast of the River Plata to the resort town of Punta Del Este. It was 2 and a half hours on the bus again, so not that far. The buses in Montevideo are very comfortable and run quite often as it is the main form of transport in this country. The bus ride cost me 155 Pesos, which is approximately US$8.
Along the trip I felt like I was at home in Australia as we kept passing bushland full of Eucalyptus trees. It was very strange to see lot´s of trees like we have in Australia. Then just before we arrived in Punta del este we came over a hill top and got our first view of the town. I could have been back on the gold coast as the town is all highrise apartment buildings and beaches.
From the bus terminus I walked a block and a half to where I was staying at the 1949 Hostel. I checked in and was put on the top floor, level 3. Everyone must think I need lot´s of exercise as they keep putting me on the top floor and I have to walk up and down all those stairs. I shouldn´t complain as it is making me much fitter and it is getting me ready for when I have to start climbing mountains later in my trip.
I went and checked my emails downstairs in the hostel, which was free and the first person I hear speaking is an Australian! his name was colin and he was from Sydney. Then while I am sitting there two more Australians came in and checked in. Alanna and Micheal. They were also near the beginning of there journey and stayed in Punte del Este for the same days as me.
KERMIT THE FROG
The first full day in Punta del Esta I hired a Moped and went off to investigate the surrounding area. But don´t worry.... the roads here are very good, and there are not many cars as most people can´t afford them. The moped was almost brand new and only had 1000kms on the clock. I went to Punte Bellena ( which aparently is whale point, because it looks like the shape of a whale!). It is a look out that looks back towards Punta Del Este. On the oppostie side of the look out there are some amazing houses the go down the side of the hill. One of them was built by a famous artist and it took him 37 years to finish the house. It is an amazing house, but it is big enough to be a major hotel.
From there I went to a beach called Playa Chihuahua!!!! a beach named after a funny looking litter dog! who would have thought! I didn´t see any Chihuahua´s there and it was so windy that day that I nearly got blown away.
Next I went to a neighbourhood north of Punte del Este called La Barra! and no there was no Barramundi there. What is there is a very strange bridge that has a double bump, like a camels back. I rode over it and it felt like I was on a roller coaster. Very strange.
I continued up the coast a bit having a look at all the nice beach houses before turning around and heading for Beverly Hills. No not the one in California. This is the most expensive neighbourhood of Punta del Este and there was alot of very big houses there. Almost every second house I went past had two gardeners working in the yard mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges.... the houses looked amazing.
My last adventure on my moped was back into town and I rode around the old part of town looking at all the buildings in the historic area. There is a beautiful lighthouse here and the parks have really big palm trees.
I even came across a motor mechanics workshop with some old cars in it that Poppa would have liked. I stopped and went in to ask if I could take some pictures. The man was very nice and let me look at his 1950´s Mercedes convertible that he had fully restored himself. It was originally from North America and he had to replace the entire floor of the car as it had rust from the salt they spray on the roads during winter. He had the bonnet up and the engine was so clean you could brush your teeth using the engine as a mirror.
The man also had a 1970´s mercedes convertible, an early 80´s mercedes coupe, a Triumph motorcycle from the 1950´s, a royal enfield motorcycle that looked older that the triumph and a rolls royce phantom 3.
The second day in Punte del Este was spent at the beach as the wind had finally stopped and it was a stunning blue sunny day. Michael, Alanna and myself headed to the beach which was 100 meters from the hostel. We were joined down there by another Australian girl and her french boyfriend. It was nice to hang out and just relax on the beach. It is very funny here though as all the women wear bikini´s.... even the really old ones! not such a pretty sight! The other funny thing is that men walk along the beach selling stuff. Typical items were nice blouses for women to wear over their bikinis, a few should have taken that option! There was men selling cold drinks from eskies they were carrying, ice creams (which uncle pete took advantage of, yummy) and there was even one man selling rugs for the floor???!!! he had on attached to a long bamboo pole that he was waving around as he walked along the beach and several others slung over his shoulder. Very strange.
That night back at the hostel we played Boggle. I wasn´t so good to start with but after a few goes I was getting some good scores.
On my last day in Punta del Este I decided to head to another beach on the east side of the peninsula to see a very famous sculpture. It is five giant fingers coming out of the sand like there is a giant buried under the beach. I managed to take a few photo´s but was having difficulty getting one with me in it. Then some nice ladies wanted me to take a photo of the three of them, so I took their photo and in exchange they took my photo. Another three older ladies also approached me to take their picture, they were all in there bathers and posed leaning against the fingers. It was very funny, and as they walked back down from the fingers I took another picture because they looked like they were in a beauty pageant. When they had a look at the second picture they all started laughing and thought it was very good! I passed them in the street after lunch and they recognised me and said hello and started laughing again.
Punte del Este is a small place so I only stayed for three days and then it was off to Punta del Diablo, the Devil´s point.....
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