After Quequen Amy and I still had the itch for good beach time, so we decided to make the trek to Uruguay with all the other Argentines and see what the hype was all about. My uncle Randy and Maria had made a short stop in Buenos Aires on their way back to California from Chile, but quickly made the escape for the beaches of Uruguay. So, after I recovered from a battle with Strep Throat we decided to meet up with them in Punta Del Este . . .
Once I could tell that the anti-biotics were doing their job a bit, Amy and I quickly threw some clothes into our backpacks and jammed off to the port of Buenos Aires, trying to catch the first boat we could to Uruguay so we could actually have some time with the fam there before they had to come back to BA. We loaded onto this huge boat packed with sun seekers heading off for their summer vacations and backpacking travelers just searching for some relaxing beach time.
After the boat journey and then bus ride, we finally arrived into the much talked about Punta Del Este, Uruguay . . . apparently “the spot” for the rich and famous of South America. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this summer destination, but right away Punta was nothing like I had thought it would be. The actual town of Punta Del Este is pretty cheesy and not an incredibly beautiful place. The beaches are lined with high-rise apartments, some attractive in architecture, but most just ruining the aesthetics of the beaches. There are some incredible houses dotted along the beach that are fun to admire, bordering on the most extravagant houses I have ever seen! There is also a nice Rambla running along the beach that is pleasant to stroll, ending at the Yacht Club where there are a few nice bars and pretty views, but you are surrounded by snobby Argentines who want to sip their champagne and spotlight the expensive labels they are wearing. Although it wasn't really our scene, we had fun in our beach front hostel and cruising around with the fam . . . just think that I won't be back anytime soon to succumb to their high prices and snooty attitudes.
After 2 nights in Punta we decided to move closer to where the fam was staying, a little beach town called La Barra, just 15 minutes north of Punta Del Este. This was much more of our scene! It was still quite chic, but a funky little town with a lot more of a chill vibe. There was only one main road in La Barra, lined with little stores and restaurants, kind of reminded me of Stinson beach . . . just more stylish and South American :) We had a few really good nights there, one in particular when we stumbled on a huge costume party for Carnival at one of the bars, filled with locals and then us . . . SO much fun!!!! From La Barra we did a lot of exploring with the fam in their rental car, which was a lot of fun!
One of our best days there was when we explored out to Casa Pueblo, this amazing house/ museum/ hotel that was built by an Argentine Artist-Activist. It is a HUGE, Adobe style structure without one 90-degree angle. AMAZING!!!! Cruising around there made me feel like I was in the Mediterranean. We stood on one of the terraces of the Casa Pueblo, looking down onto beautiful, green grass lining the cliffs down to the beach, huge, white umbrellas surrounding the different sparkling pools and then swimming in the crystal blue ocean was a couple stoking their way up the coast line. We all looked at each other, sweating from the intense heat and decided that we needed to be swimming in that water! So, we scaled the mountain down to the water, since we couldn’t enter the hotel, and all jumped into the refreshingly cold ocean . . . although the stint was cut short because of all the jellyfish that were surrounding us.
After 2 days in La Barra we packed our backpacks full, loaded up the car and set out for Punta Del Diablo. Amy and I had been meeting so many people in Argentina and Uruguay that told us we absolutely had to go to Diablo. We talked it up so much that Uncle Randy offered to make the 3 hour drive there to drop us off so that he could see it as well. Diablo is on the coast in the very north of Uruguay, close to the Brazilian border, so the drive was pretty extensive but we had fun with it. Uncle Randy fully enjoyed being able to drive however he wanted, passing 5 cars on a 2-lane road ☺
The second we got to Diablo I knew I loved it there! Arriving into the town is pretty trippy! It is a small fishing village on the beach, boasting only tiny dirt roads, lined with little shacks that are adorned with hand-made signs advertising themselves as restaurants, Artesian stores, or supermarkets. Everyone rents little “cabanas”, or shacks, on the beach for accommodation, each equipped with a BBQ and most with ocean views. Little to our knowledge, we arrived on their Carnival weekend, so everything was jammed packed and we had many laughs coming our way when we asked if they knew where we could rent one of these cabanas. Our options came down to a cement room in the back yard of the Internet Café owner’s house with no electricity or door, a spot on the dirt floor of a 1 bedroom cabana with 5 Argentine guys we met who offered that we could stay with them . . . needless to say, we kept searching. After talking to almost every local who lives in Diablo, and then being redirected to their aunt, uncle, mom, cousin, whoever we finally found a truly disgusting cabana in the center of town and we couldn’t have been happier!
Amy and I just kept thinking, if only our moms knew where we were . . . but we had such a blast! Diablo is the summer destination spot for chill Uruguayans between the ages of 25 and 30, not so much posh Argentines. Since it was Carnival weekend and it is a national holiday in Uruguay, go figure, the place was just filled with people ready for a good time. We spent everyday just beaching it up and then partying at night with all the Uruguayans. SO FUN! There are a few clubs in Diablo in the middle of the woods, quite a trek to get to, but def worth it!!!!!!
Our original plan was to stay in Diablo for a couple days . . . we stayed 1 week and it was still hard to leave at the end of that week! We did a few days trips from Diablo, one in particular was incredible! We went to the little village of Cabo Polonia. It is a tiny beach pueblo about 1 hour south of Diablo that has no running water or electricity, and the only way to get there is to hop a ride with these humungous trucks that take you in on the ½ hour trek over sand dunes to get to the village. It is incredible! Once you get there it is like a little oasis filled with hippies perched along the dirt paths just playing music and enjoying life, sun seekers enjoying the beach, and little shacks dotted all over the sand dunes and grassy hills with gas lanterns propped outside the door for when it get dark. It was unbelievable to see people living such a simple life and loving it so much! Being there made me think a lot and how little is actually needed to live a fulfilled life! We didn’t stay the night because we already had our shack in Diablo, but I heard it was amazing at night because everyone walks around and lights their houses with gas lanterns, illuminating the little village with flickering candlelight and the moon. I can only imagine that it is gorgeous!
From Diablo we headed south down the coast slowly making our way back to BA, very slowly! We stopped in Piriapolis for a week. Not quite sure how we stayed there for a week, there really wasn’t much going on, but we were getting good beach time in and before we knew it we had been there for 1 week.
After Piriapolis we headed to Montevideo, the capital. Unfortunately we hit awful weather there and weren’t able to do much outside the hostel, but the hostel we were in was awesome and we met some really cool people! The hostel had an amazing roof top terrace and living room with a piano and guitar for the enjoyment of the travelers, we def enjoyed many hours of sitting in that living room and singing along to international jam sessions. In terms of a capital city, Montevideo is really small and quite. The most exciting thing going on there was the protests against Bush. The entire country and especially Montevideo were covered with huge signs reading “FUERA BUSH” (BUSH OUT) because of his recent visit to Uruguay. I wish that we would have had a couple days in the city with good weather to be able to really explore and see more. But, from what I did see, the city is littered with really gorgeous architecture that is now pretty decrepit and run-down, they have horses that carry the trash on big wagons, the people are incredibly nice and open, like every where in Uruguay, and there is an amazing open market at the port where you can go and have an amazing parilla (BBQ) cooked right in front of you, surrounded by Uruguayans drinking, singing very loudly and laughing a lot!
By this time we were pushing 3 weeks away from Buenos Aires and were getting the itch to get back to our cozy flat and the big city nightlife. So, after a few days in Montevideo we headed off to spend an afternoon in historical Colonia and then catch the boat back to our “hometown” of Buenos Aires. Colonia was a really cute and quaint old town. The historical area was gorgeous; curvy, cobblestone streets holding up beautiful old buildings all settled right along the beach. It was nice to pass an afternoon there but I don’t think that I could have spent more than a couple hours there. After walking around and admiring the beauty of Colonia and then enjoying a coffee in one of the cute plazas, Amy and I put our backpacks on for the last time in Uruguay and made our way back to the port to board the boat back to Buenos Aires.
We had only been planning on spending 2 weeks max in Uruguay, but after exploring the natural country for 3 weeks I have such an affection for Uruguay! It is filled with amazingly nice and open hearted people, awesome little beach villages dotted all along the coast that are still so natural with their dirt roads and little shacks, and some great beaches where you can hike a bit and be completely left alone to relax and play in the water. I would recommend that they do something about their mass influx of jellyfish and their lack of avocados imported ☺ Not sure if I’ll ever be back to Uruguay, but it is an amazing country to be explored and really enjoyed! I LOVED IT!!!!!!
And we were invited to an Argentine birthday party . . . something I never thought would be considered a feat, but in a city where you know nobody, it is pretty clutch!
An asado usually calls for a big gathering and LOTS of meat on the grill. Seeing as steak is one of Argentina’s main economic sources, to say it is abundant is an understatement! Everywhere you go there are parillas, big open grills with all types of meat lined up. It is no different at a family asado! We passed the day poolside at the maestro Joaquin, our landlord and Laura’s brother’s house, eating amazing cuts of meat and just enjoying his purely Latin family. They were so warm and fun, when we got on the bus to leave we felt like we were saying good-bye to family. 
