Costs pp: Omnibus Ruta del Sol - La Paloma to Barra de Valizas 59p, BdV to Punta del Diablo 59p, PdD to Chuy (or Chui, Portuguese spelling) 49p, Matrimonial room at the International Hotel (out the back in the cheap part) 300p 2ppl, free internet in reception.
We had been told by many people that we must see the villages and beaches up the coast as that is the best part of Uruguay so we got a bus to Barra de Valizas and spent a couple of hours there. It is a small village that only really comes to life over summer by the looks of things. The feeling there is very relaxed and casual. It has not long had power to the village and now that itś there things will change a lot we think. The beach had huge golden durnes down the southern end.
From there we caught a bus to Punta del Diablo where we planned to stay the night but when we got there the cheapest place we could find was 500p and Kent didn want to stop. We had a couple of hours there which was long enough for a look around the small village which is already starting to experience the summer influx of tourism. It has a pretty beach with fishing boats pulled up on shore, the point itself is made of huge rounded rocks and has a monument out on it of Artigas with his hand raised in a fist.
The next bus was to Chuy on the border of Brazil. It is a strange town as it has 2 main streets running next to one another, one in Uruguay and the other in Brazil, both are two way streets. We went to and fro across the border looking first for a place to stay and second for food. The place we found accomodation on the Uruguayan side and the food on the Brazilian side. We talked to some nice people in the supermarket and found out a few things about the Brazilian way of life. The food in the supermarket was quite different and after checking the buses we found they are much more expensive. The town has a typical border town feel, a little rougher than normal and a little unkempt.
Next stop Treinta y Tres, inland.
