Another short bus ride took us to Punta del Esta, a small, upmarket beach town popular with locals. We stayed near the town for the first night and spent a day exploring the area. On the beach a giant concrete hand rises out of the sand. Its kinda arty but we don't know why its there. The beach was average and there were a few people about. We followed the beach round and watched the surfers for a while. The town consists of one main street of shops. Nothing overly exciting going on. Pass the shops were some Greek looking holiday homes and a lighthouse. Heading back to the hostel we passed the yacht club and the members boats outside. It was low season so the party wasn't in full swing either. We decided to head to another beach further along the coast and chill. We stayed near Bikini beach in a nice hostel. Our days were spent lazily by the pool or on the beach reading books and catching some rays. Simon has developed a lovely t-shirt tan! He braved the sea one day but said it was freezing! I'd already seen surfers in thermal wetsuits so decided against a dip! Along the beach locals and tourists were relaxing. Many were sat on their deckchairs consuming mate, (a hot Argentinian drink made from hot water and dried yerba leaves which is consumed through a metal straw from a shared hollow fruit shell). It was too hot for warm drinks so Si and I drank cold beer! We had a good few cheap days by the sea before leaving Uruguay.