uruguay
My trip into Uruguay was in general pretty good, although there were a couple of mishaps:
-I booked the Buquebus ferry to Montevideo(to transfer to another bus for Piriapolis) on Thursday the 19th, which was to depart from Buenos Aires at 8.45 am. The night before, having caught the Porteño nightlife bug, I went out to party at a salsa club with some people I met earlier that day. I partied my ass off, drank alot (I ordered a beer and they gave me a stein) then came back to the hostel about 5 am. I slept for maybe 1.5 hours, woke up, had a super-quick breakfast then had reception call for a cab. I didn't know what problems they had but the cab didn't arrive until 20 mins later which means I got to the ferry terminal late and missed my ferry (I arrived at 8.40 am.) Turns out I needed to be there about 1.5 hours before the ferry leaves - something I completely did not take into account.
As a result I had to take the next ferry out almost 3 hours later at 11.30, and was forced to upgrade to first class for about $15 CAD more. In addition I had to miss some valuable beach time in Piriapolis, arriving there about 6 pm when the sun setted at 8.30. That kinda sucked. At least the first class seats were wonderful to sleep in which helped with my lack of sleep and mild hangover. They also give you complimentary wine and crackers which was a nice touch.
-On my second day in Punta del Este, I took a daytrip out to see the Casa Pueblo. After a luxurious 30 min ride, the COPSA bus dropped me off at a bus stop pretty much in the middle of nowhere and I was to hike maybe 2 km to the actual site.
So I did it. The walk wasn't too bad as there were some posh houses to see along the way. I took in the spectacular views at the Casa Pueblo, and even had lunch right by the sea. That was very nice. I was there for about 2 hours, then I left.
Coming back was a huge hassle. So there was a bus stop to drop me off with a bus stop sign, but going back there wasn't a bus stop sign anywhere in sight. I was told that a bus would stop in this rest-area like place on the side of the road where cars can stop to take pictures of the breathtaking scenery by the sea. I went there but the busses going back to Punta del Este would not stop to pick me up. I studied my Spanish phrasebook, and in my best broken Spanish attempted to ask some of the people there if buses stopped there, and when a bus would stop. Once I start asking they would reply with some fast Spanish that I couldn't understand, including a "no se" in there somewhere which means "don't know". That's how I know I'm screwed.
So I was waiting for maybe 2 hours and eventually I got desperate and attempted to ask someone in a van if he can give me a lift into Punta del Este. He refused but pointed in a general direction and again kept talking in Spanish. Not knowing what to do I just started walking into that direction until I ran into another guy walking against my direction which I asked him if there was a bus stop around there somewhere. He said yes and motioned for me to follow him. He stood on the side of the road where there is no bus stop sign but he insisted that a bus stops there. After waiting for another 15 mins a bus finally stopped there to pick us up. I asked the bus driver if he is going to Punta del Este, he said no he's going to Maldonado. It's sort of on the way to Punta del Este so I accepted the ride.
I was so relieved to finally be able to make my way back to Punta del Este (through Maldonado first). I took a seat and gave a sigh of relief when all of a sudden the bus driver makes a left turn onto a dirt road. I thought "shit! where is he really going?" turns out it was a local bus serving all these local rural communities before eventually making its way to Maldonado. To get a piece of mind once again I mustered up my atrocious Spanish and asked the bus driver:
"La autobus llegar a la Terminal Maldonado?"
"Si!"
Thank God. It was going to the bus terminal (as opposed to some other Timbuktu place in the city) where I can catch another bus back to Punta.
So after 45 minutes it eventually snaked its way to the Maldonado bus station, where the bus driver and some of the locals motioned me to go to another bus stop beside the terminal to catch another bus for Punta del Este. After waiting another 10 minutes the bus finally came and it was another 15-20 mins back to Punta del Este bus terminal.
In total it took around 3.5 hours to get back to Punta del Este city when I was hoping for 20 mins.
Moral of the story: Visit Casa Pueblo with a tour, or a friend with a car, or rent a crappy car/motorbike to get there.
-I booked the Buquebus ferry to Montevideo(to transfer to another bus for Piriapolis) on Thursday the 19th, which was to depart from Buenos Aires at 8.45 am. The night before, having caught the Porteño nightlife bug, I went out to party at a salsa club with some people I met earlier that day. I partied my ass off, drank alot (I ordered a beer and they gave me a stein) then came back to the hostel about 5 am. I slept for maybe 1.5 hours, woke up, had a super-quick breakfast then had reception call for a cab. I didn't know what problems they had but the cab didn't arrive until 20 mins later which means I got to the ferry terminal late and missed my ferry (I arrived at 8.40 am.) Turns out I needed to be there about 1.5 hours before the ferry leaves - something I completely did not take into account.
As a result I had to take the next ferry out almost 3 hours later at 11.30, and was forced to upgrade to first class for about $15 CAD more. In addition I had to miss some valuable beach time in Piriapolis, arriving there about 6 pm when the sun setted at 8.30. That kinda sucked. At least the first class seats were wonderful to sleep in which helped with my lack of sleep and mild hangover. They also give you complimentary wine and crackers which was a nice touch.
-On my second day in Punta del Este, I took a daytrip out to see the Casa Pueblo. After a luxurious 30 min ride, the COPSA bus dropped me off at a bus stop pretty much in the middle of nowhere and I was to hike maybe 2 km to the actual site.
So I did it. The walk wasn't too bad as there were some posh houses to see along the way. I took in the spectacular views at the Casa Pueblo, and even had lunch right by the sea. That was very nice. I was there for about 2 hours, then I left.
Coming back was a huge hassle. So there was a bus stop to drop me off with a bus stop sign, but going back there wasn't a bus stop sign anywhere in sight. I was told that a bus would stop in this rest-area like place on the side of the road where cars can stop to take pictures of the breathtaking scenery by the sea. I went there but the busses going back to Punta del Este would not stop to pick me up. I studied my Spanish phrasebook, and in my best broken Spanish attempted to ask some of the people there if buses stopped there, and when a bus would stop. Once I start asking they would reply with some fast Spanish that I couldn't understand, including a "no se" in there somewhere which means "don't know". That's how I know I'm screwed.
So I was waiting for maybe 2 hours and eventually I got desperate and attempted to ask someone in a van if he can give me a lift into Punta del Este. He refused but pointed in a general direction and again kept talking in Spanish. Not knowing what to do I just started walking into that direction until I ran into another guy walking against my direction which I asked him if there was a bus stop around there somewhere. He said yes and motioned for me to follow him. He stood on the side of the road where there is no bus stop sign but he insisted that a bus stops there. After waiting for another 15 mins a bus finally stopped there to pick us up. I asked the bus driver if he is going to Punta del Este, he said no he's going to Maldonado. It's sort of on the way to Punta del Este so I accepted the ride.
I was so relieved to finally be able to make my way back to Punta del Este (through Maldonado first). I took a seat and gave a sigh of relief when all of a sudden the bus driver makes a left turn onto a dirt road. I thought "shit! where is he really going?" turns out it was a local bus serving all these local rural communities before eventually making its way to Maldonado. To get a piece of mind once again I mustered up my atrocious Spanish and asked the bus driver:
"La autobus llegar a la Terminal Maldonado?"
"Si!"
Thank God. It was going to the bus terminal (as opposed to some other Timbuktu place in the city) where I can catch another bus back to Punta.
So after 45 minutes it eventually snaked its way to the Maldonado bus station, where the bus driver and some of the locals motioned me to go to another bus stop beside the terminal to catch another bus for Punta del Este. After waiting another 10 minutes the bus finally came and it was another 15-20 mins back to Punta del Este bus terminal.
In total it took around 3.5 hours to get back to Punta del Este city when I was hoping for 20 mins.
Moral of the story: Visit Casa Pueblo with a tour, or a friend with a car, or rent a crappy car/motorbike to get there.