When the summer ends and all the millions of tourists go away, everything that is possible is taken away (even ATMs because in the winter nobody needs money) and the rest is closed, the coast of Uruguay seems abandoned and forgotten. But in its peace we find our joy. Endless kilometers of sandy beaches, blue water, seals and pinguins all of that is for us.
Here we found Punta Rubia, a small village that didn't sound like anything special but we didn't find a place in nearby La Pedrera so we decided to stay there. To our suprise it was our favourite place up till now. Surrounded by forest, dunes and beaches with no roads just dirt ones, it was a perfect place to stop and relax. And we did that at La Casa De la Luna, a really extraordinary hostel run and owned by extraordinary woman- Paula. Not everyday you meet people that love what they do and are full of joy and energy. She took her time to show us around, gather mushrooms with us, take us for a ride through the whole coast and talk endlessly by the fireplace. For us to get to know people like her, makes this trip totally worth it because the people are the most amazing part of the world not places.
Afterwards we hit the road to famous Cabo Polonio. And it was a bumpy ride. There is no road going there so you can either walk (good luck with 7 km walk through dunes) or take a truck that will survive it all: beach, dunes, grass you name it. Back in the days Cabo Polonio was a fishing village, nowadays it is an alternative piece of the National Park where (as we thought) mostly artists and fishers live with no electricity. Unfortunately we felt a bit like in a coffee shop in Amsterdam as the aroma of weed was filling our hostel, central part to the beach and many other places. Obviously just like in Amsterdam everyone was proposing us marihuana. But forgetting about that it was a truely beautiful place with it's interesting, colourful architecture, huge colony of seals and sea lions and the charming lighthouse. And there was plenty of space for everyone to feel in the end if the world as only 50-60 people live there. Strolling through the beach we were wondering how is it possible that this peaceful place with no electricity*(1) swells up to 10 000 people in the summer....
We end our journey through the Uruguayan coast in yet another charming town that is Punta del Diablo. Remarkable how gorgeous this coast is...
*(1) Not totally true as they do have it but only for the lighthouse, but with LED lamps, solar panels and wind energy you don't feel the lack of it to much
