From Montevideo I headed to Punta del Diablo, a fishing city with a very small, low key beachside center area (not pictured.) I stayed in Hostel de la Viuda, a couple of blocks (read: dirt roads) from the center, with the plan of taking it easy for a few days. A very nice place to stay, although I don't think the staff smiled once; they brought the good vibe down a little. I did relax a little, but what ended up happening was far more fun. The place was filled with vacationing Argentinians, Chileans, Brazilians, and Spanish-speaking Germans. We talked, cooked, partied, and just had a great time. When cooking, it was interesting to see the different regionalisms and cooking styles they had. One time we made an anchovy sauce pasta which was quite good, and different from food I am used to. I played chess against a guy who five years ago was ranked #14 in all of Chile, of course I was easily defeated. There was one night in particular when everyone was in a good mood and went down to the beach together, there was little bit of phosphorescence, these little microscopic creatures in the sand that glow neon green when you touch them. We had with us candles in 2-liter soda bottle lanterns, and carried on for hours. They all wanted to play a drinking game, and had a hard time coming up with one, so I suggested one which was a big hit. The rest of the stay there people kept on talking about the game and how much fun it was. I had a poignant moment of diplomacy when I was told by Argentinians that when their friends are saying bad things about Americans they would use me as an example of one they met who was genuinely a good person and that Americans can be good people too (I'm kind of used to hearing this kind of talk, but this time they were especially enthusiastic about it.) This next picture is me in front of the hostel with a Chile-Argentino group who I would visit Piriapolis with:
These are some pictures of the hostel and area:
That structure to the left there houses a pool table:
This happy fellow joined me for a walk to the beach. Instead of being an annoyance like most stray dogs, I was actually glad to have this one around.
Unfortunately, there was very little bus service to and from Punta del Diablo. Buses would pass through at 5am, 4:30pm, or 6pm, not very convenient times for me to make a trip. I prefer to travel around the noon time. I kept on making plans to leave, and then kept on getting sidetracked for various reasons and ended up staying. One more night.. One more night.. I was glad to have been there though. Next I would make a quick stop in Punta del Este and stay in Piriapolis for a night.
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