As Uruguay is the smallest of all South American countries that I was visiting I was delighted that I would have relatively short commutes between our stops. That said, the only places I planned on visiting were along the coast.

As is the norm now I did a little bit of research before heading to the next town of Punta del Este. As with much of the coast of Uruguay, Pumta del Este is a popular place for Argentinians to holiday. As a result the population swells during high season - fair enough, I was expecting something like Kinsale. What I did not expect was hundreds of sky rise apartment complexes spreading out in every direction.

While the sun was shining there was the most bizarre wind swirling around. When I was walking to the shop the wind did nearly knock me over on more than one occasion. As it was out of season at the time there was not a whole much going on. However since we are Irish we had to venture down to the beach for a look all the same. Suffice to say we got sand blasted out of it and decided to leave. It was nice just to chill out to a few days all the same.

To save a few pennies we are now cooking our dinner some nights. In fairness to us we have had some great dishes. Then again we are a group of twenty something boys so generally any food is good with us.

A friend we met travelling in Ecuador recommended Punta del Diablo as a definite stop whilst in Uruguay. Thankfully this town was more low key and consisted of lovely holiday homes rather than towering apartment blocks. Much to my dismay the wind was still swirling and howling around us.

We stayed at a great hostel called El Diablo just a block or two back from the ocean. Each night before the BBQ we sat by the open fire having a beer and telling travelling stories. A bed in the hostel cost about $8 when we were there but come high season they charge up to $60 a night for a bed! In hindsight it's a good thing that we decided to hit Uruguay out of season rather than the end of our trip as originally planned.

Alas time at beach was over and it was back inland to explore northeast Argentina. Well that was the plan until we got to Montevideo and realised that there was no bus going to Rosario for another three days. Hmmm. The only option was to return to Buenos Aires. It was a Friday night so to be honest I was not complaining one bit. It happened to turn out to be of our luckiest days too! We managed to get the ferry for half price and since we are such a nice charming group of guys we managed to get a free nights accommodation in a booked out hostel in central BA. Not bad for a bunch I back packers eh? Let's just hope this luck keeps up!