Our plan had been to go from Mercedes to Gualayguachu for the last weekend of the caranaval, but being typical us, we left it to the last minute and there was no accommodation left. We decided to cut our losses and head to Punta del Este instead for a couple of relaxing days on the beach.
When we arrived at the bus station in Punta del Este, we decided to get a taxi to our hostel. Big mistake. Firstly, we had a grumpy, slightly scary driver who, when we questioned where we were going, got all fired up and started screaming at us in Spanish. He also proceeded to drive like a maniac. We finally got to our hostel, a little bit traumatised, and almost doubled over in shock when he charged us 20 US dollars for the ride. We begrudgingly paid, just happy to be at our hostel.
Fortunately, the rest of our time in Punta del Este was much better. The area we were in was called 'La Barra' which is to the north of Punta del Este proper and consequently less touristy and not filled with high rise apartment blocks. The beach was about a 20 minute walk from our hostel but the walk was well worth it as not only was the walk itself lovely but the beach was white sand and not too busy (although that may have been because we happened to go on the first overcast day in weeks!).
Despite having one night of limited sleep due to four prolific snorers in our dorm room, the hostel itself was brilliant. The staff were fantastic and the setting was great - tucked in amongst a stand of Eucalyptus trees. Even better though was the fact that the hostel had a swimming pool - this was particularly good as upon our return from the overcast beach, the sun decided to come out after all, so we made up for the lack of a beach swim by lazing about in the pool instead.
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