The Biggest Let Down in South America

We decided to put Brazil behind us and take the Han and Fon Show on the road. After a few days travelling together we had such good banter that we decided to give it a name. Hence the Han and Fon Show, which is soon to be a public access TV show.

Seven months in Brazil were now at an end. To be honest I was ready to move on. I loved my time in Brazil. Everyone and everything is so relaxed. The beaches are all that you could hope for and the caiperinhas are like mother´s milk, but all good things must come to an end.

Wouldn´t you know it, but we had just missed the high season and found ourselves shivering in this beach town.

To be honest, I was overstaying my visa by a month to experience Carneval and see a bit of the South. This was actually making me a bit nervous. I´d had a bit of trouble with Brazilian border officials in the past. I was hoping at most to pay a hundred dollars for my tardiness. At best the bus ticket agent thought I could get by Scot free. I highly doubted this. I did however have one card in my favor. My little trip to Buenos Aires for Christmas had earned me a new entrance card. I theoretically still had four or five days by its reconing.

After handing our passports to the bus conductor we climbed aboard. We settled upstairs in our nice plush reclinable seats and went to sleep. We were awaken in the middle of the night by the conductor. We´d successfully passed into Ureguay. I had escaped paying the fine and was effectively 200 Reals richer. Alright! After dissembarking, we immediately jumped on another bus for Punta del Este.

Punta del Este is one of the more famous beachy/resorty towns in Ureguay. It is far enough away from the Plata river so as to have clean beaches and attracts hordes of wealthy Argentinians and Brazilians during the high.

Wouldn´t you know it, but we had just missed the high season and found ourselves shivering in this beach town.  I hadn´t needed any warm clothes in Brazil and consequently sent them to Ale´s house in Buenos Aires. It was fine in the sunshine but upon venturing in the shade or strolling after dark left me chilled.

We´d origianally considered spending as many as three days here but sumarlily decided to whitle our stay down to two days. For a resort town we found the place pretty empty. Some restaurants had already closed up for the season. The result was fairly empty streets and almost deserted beaches. The later would not have been so bad if it had been warmer. Still the scene was kinda ironic considereing that the streets were lined with apartments. Were they only for tourists or were people hiding from the wind inside. Who can say? We decided it was best not to judge the city since it was not the season for it. But having heard so many good things about it, it was hard not to be dissappointed.

As happens so many times, the people you meet make or break the experiene you have. We ended up meeting two groups of lovely people studying in Montevideo. There were a few girls from Brazil so Han and I got a chance to use our deliciously ridiculous Portuguese. For some reason they refused to believe that I´m from Rio and Han, San Paulo. Go figure! We also met some America ladies who were also studying Spanish in the Ureguayan capital.

But Eamonn took the cake. Here was real Irish American for ya. He cracked us up when we got ready to go out. Han took it upon himself to introduce Eamonn to the expecting crowd as Puff Daddy. It was true he was wearing all white, but he lacked the necessary bling and dark shades.

The lot of us took to the street and headed out for a night in Punta del Este. Again we were headed for disappointment. Tough the town thrives in summer, the fall and winter leave you with but one option, Moby Dick. This establishment was packed to the gills with Argentinians and our humble group. To be honest it wasn´t so bad. Since girls far outnumbered guys it was not a problem to find a dance partner.

The funny thing is that one automatically assumes that all Brazilians know how to dance. As mentioned before, this myth was debunked with our visit to Porto Alegre. One of our new friends put all the rest to shame. She was a nice girl, but...where she learned to dance is anyone´s guess. Haha!!

Having seen Punta´s nightlife, or lack there of, and staying far too long, we went to bed as the sun rose. The next morning Han, Eamonn, and I hired bikes and cruised around to the Punta. Unfortunately the Punta (point) didn´t turn out to be much except a quick photo op. By now Eamonn was the Han and Fon Show´s biggest fan and we garunteed him a least a couple guest appearances. From time to time however he had a bit too much of my one liners and said he had to give me a time out. Can´t say that has ever happened to me before.

With a bit warmer weather, we took to the beach with our friends, but not before another obligatory photo stop infront of the fingers. The Fingers are just some finger tips poking out of the sand. Completely random and photo worthy. Though it had warmed up a bit, sun bathing was nearly impracticle, but we endured for it would be our last chance for a long while.

Fortunatley Eamonn had rented a car so after saying goodbye to our new friends, he provided us with a free ride to Montevideo. While Han slept in the back, and I broadcast music from my ipod, Eamonn confided in me his real estate ideas for Montevideo. He was so impressed with the cheapness of the big beautiful buildings that he was sure an investment would pay off. The guy was so adament that there was no dissuading him. I guess you just have to do some things and see what happens.

Arriving in Montevideo, Eamonn insisted on driving us to a couple of properties he was interested in before taking us to the hostel. After checking in and having a super pancho (hotdog) for dinner, we decided to hit the hay and see the windy city in the morning.