I arrived in Colonia Del Sacramento with my great new friends from My Kumuka trip -  Leigh & James.

Colonia is a pretty, but small town that we grew tired of quickly after walking around in the heat.

We caught the afternoon bus to Montevideo which was approximately 2 hours away ...

Leigh went to the hotel she'd booked for 3 nights and James and I went to our hostel - not all that cheap at $30 a night.

Leigh piked and I arranged to meet her in the morning instead.

James and I chatted to some (i think Swedish?!) guys at the hostel, then went out for dinner and drinkies at Shannons - yep yet another Irish pub!

Oh so popular in South America!!! 

It was a great bar, with street side seats that cars had to squeeze past to drive by. 

James & I had a good night & with just the 2 of us & lots to drink, ended up having many 'deep & meaningfuls' then staggered back to hostel late and chatted to more travellers (including the one from near Porto Allegre who told us that the most beautiful girls in Brazil are from there :-) )

Next day I met Leigh and we toured the city on foot.

I thought Montevideo was a really cool and would have loved to try the Parillas in the old town so perhaps should have stayed another night, but alas i had already booked my afternoon bus to Punta Del Este that morning.

The Uruguayan men were also quite hot ... Still the Italian look but seemed quite tall and broader than the Argentinians.   And it finally dawned on me that quite often Im drawn to men who look like these guys ... No wonder I was so keen for South America!!! 

Perhaps it will be Italy, Spain & Portugal next :-D

That afternoon I bid a delayed & sad farewell to my Kumuka friends after continuing our travels together for almost another 2 weeks longer then our organised tour.

Bus ride to Punta Del Este was uneventful.

My hostel was at La Barra beach, a $25 cab ride from town. All were friendly there but not a great deal of English was spoken and my Spanish is not enough for conversation, especially with the thicker accent of the Uruguayan girls in my room.

I enjoyed a free BBQ the first night and had a couple of english speakers to chat with for a short while - one who worked at the hostel & originally from Perth. She had fluent Spanish & works 6 months in Punta & 6 months in Spain. 

The other was from Washington & recently moved to Montevideo on a whim, and was now learning Spanish & trying to find her feet (also using couch surfing to make contacts :-))

Stayed in that night & woke up to a rainy next day. With not much else to do, I still headed out for a quick walk around La Barra then bused it into town.

I took some pics of the famous fingers, had a nice paella lunch at the wharf and by then the weather had cleared enough to spend time on the beach. 

I'd had a tip from Kelly to check out Casa Pueblo so organised a ride there at the bus terminal - they didn't mention anything about a return ticket so thought it would be easy to find my way back ... Bad move!

The bus took us a long way from town and dropped me on the highway no where near anything! It was then a long walk from there to Point Ballena, so I was starting to get nervous about how I was going to get back!!!

Casa Pueblo is an artists home which is now used as a hotel, gallery and coffee shop.

The artist has spent 30 years building it and it really is a magical place, with very exotic looking architecture, all in white & overlooking the sea.

I enjoyed looking at his art in the gallery aswell as the video on his career .... It also (in English subtitles) spoke of how his son was one of the survivors from famous plane crash in the Andes (you may have seen the movie 'Alive' which was based on this).

I bought a bag of alfahoras as a gift for Kelly in Porto Alegre, as she said they were her favorite! Got one to try myself, and they're sort of like a small cake with the 'dulche de leche' (caramel) centre and the ones I got her were also covered in chocolate!

I also grabbed myself a nice glass of Chandon champagne (made in France & not Victoria like ours!) to sip whilst I joined the crowds to watch the sunset.

They play a voice over of the artist reciting a poem about the setting of the sun ... It was very beautiful & romantic (hmm just me holding my booze!) and of course I only understood a few words as all was spoken in Spanish.

The sunset was gorgeous and really love my pics from that evening.

So during all this I'm still freaking about how I'm going to get back! I only spotted 2 guys that passed for English speakers that I could talk to about getting back to Punta Del Este, so targeted them once the crowds had cleared out & after I confirmed that an expensive cab ride (at least $50) may be the only way back!

So with champagne fuelled confidence I asked the 2 guys if they spoke English? First bit all good! And secondly how they were getting back?

Turns out they had a car - so begged them (I'm not exaggerating!) to take me with them!!! In hind sight I probably could have made some small talk first but was feeling nervous & desperate for a cheap lift!!!

They said I didn't look too dangerous so said they would take me with them - yay :0)

Their names were Mark & Dan and they were Americans from San Francisco. One had been to Sydney for new year a couple of years ago, the other commented be was in Rio for that New Years.

I decided that was enough information to confirm these 2 good looking well groomed lads travelling alone together were definitely gay and I would be in safe (and probably well manicured) hands!

I would have been happy to buy them a drink to thank them, but driving into town they spotted the Casino and thought that would br the best place to drop me.

It turned out to be a 'Conrad' casino so saw that as a sign I needed to go in & kill some bored & alone time!

I needed my Nat & Kara there though!!! It's usually those 2 that are dragging me to the casino and never walk into one on my own accord!!!

I played the pokies for a bit ... Another sure fire sign I was bored as hate them at home! And had a nice Fernet & coke. (my current local drink of choice!)

I walked around town in the evening then cab home and another $25 thank you very much!

I hired a dodgy bike from the hostel the next morning & rode to bikini beach. My first real taste of seeing girls in bikinis that don't cover quite as much as at home, and others in just a g-string. A bikini top is always worn though & not sure if this is culturally correct or fines inflicted if caught without one?

I made the most of my experience by heading the shack on the beach that serves cocktails, and having a couple of mojitos, whilst lying on their deck in a comfy white padded arm chair - Lifes tough hey!

Changed to a hostel closer to Punta that arvo, as mine was too far away from the action and wanted to be closer to get overnight bus to Porto Alegre the next day.

Moved to 1949 hostel which was recommended by Lonely Planet but they only had a 10 bed dorm room available, and walked in to find a room that was overcrowded with bunk beds, one combined toilet & shower and worst of all the whole room stunk! 

No one awake in room to chat to (2 sleepers), so showered and headed to Moby d*** , Lonely Planet reccomeded pub, determined to meet some English speakers !!!

My waitress was lovely. Her name was Rosario, and she was moving to the Gold Coast later this year to do her masters. 

Knowinf I was bored & alone, she introduced me to 45 year old Norwegian, Gunnar.

Gunnar has his own Internet based business which allows him to work 6 months in Southern Hemisphere summer, then head to the northern hemisphere & spend 6 months in destinations like Majorca Spain for their summer ... What a great life!!!

We hit it off & stayed chatting to almost 5 in the morning.

I ended up staying at his apartment that night... in the spare room people!!! 

He offered after taking pity on me after listening to all my whinging!!! 

I'd hoped to catch up with him again the next day before I left but he had work to do, so exchanged email and I am to give him a review of Florionopolis after I visit, as he will be moving their for 3 months in late March.

I went back to the hostel in the morning for a shower, then bummed around the beach & their common room for the remainder of the day. 

Caught the late bus to Porto Alegre which was incredibly comfy & professionally run.