New currency meant that we needed some of it too, so we headed to the ATM where a bunch of Germans were hopelessly lost. In the queue behind them stood some pretty annoyed Australians, who'd lost their nerves with the Germans, but they were at least - if not even more - confused with the impossible seeming task of withdrawing money. After watching this show for some time, highly amused, we asked if they might need some help. Chris guided the Germans, in their own language step-by-step through this process, and finally they got some money out of the machine. The funny part was that the Germans were so amazed, they kept asking Chris where he is from and wondered loudly that this miracle now happened and oh-my-how-fantastic!! And even after telling them that he is Swiss, they would say: "Ooh wow, and you speak such good German!!" Yep, wow indeed. The Australians were beyond help though, they stormed out before even listening to us or the lady from the bank. Strange mates.
Uruguay was even more expensive than Chile or Argentina. We thought we'd save some money and cook some tortillas at home but in the end I think it didn't really save us anything. But I have to say that even if expensive, the fruits are just always worth it! Hell, we've eaten so many pears, mangoes, bananas, pine apples and ooh the avocadoes! Every day, at least one avocado and a million fruits, no lie! Also, they make some wicked fruit juices here. The fruits are just perfect!
Next day we bussed some hours to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. Colonia and Montevideo are both on the coast but the river delta in the bay makes the water muddy brown. The port plays a big role in the city in Montevideo and the coastline has a long walkway all around. The old city and the center are quite compact and near the coast. We walked about 5 km from the terminal to our Willy Fogg hostel which was quite near the center. The hostel was big, with many rooms, huge living room area, roof top terrace and all but unfortunately the rooms were quite dirty.
Buenos Aires from the boat
Tortilla dinner at El Viajero
TERO the most annoying bird of all times
ColoniaWe took a stroll in the old town and the main streets. The city was dead. Everything was closed and the streets were empty except for some trash and street dogs. We had heard such nice things about Montevideo but now it didn't really impress us much. It was the end of the holidays, the last weekend, and everyone was away or partying at the carneval in the evening. So all the shops were closed and also most of the restaurants and bars. We called it an early night.
I was eaten alive by the mosquitoes during the night.
Sunday it was, and we had some plans! We would meet Daniel, a cousin of a friend from Finland, one quarter Finn who also spoke Swedish but lived now in Montevideo. And after meeting Daniel, we'd have a date with another Swiss called Chris (aren't they just all called Chris?). Let's call him by his last name, Thomann, to avoid the confusion. Thomann was a friend of Chris, from Switzerland. He'd also been to Helsinki once and now we happened to be in Uruguay at the same time!
But before all these happenings, we headed to the Sunday market. This market sold everything from fruits to handicrafts to aquariums and puppies. We walked through the crowds, bought not one but two pine apples, mango, a new straw for our mate set and all kinds of stuff. Suddenly I heard Chris shouting behind me and gesturing to a very much junkie looking guy. This lowlife had just put his hand in Chris' pocket and picked his phone. The guy was still there, right in front of us, and so was his friend but the third guy already vanished in the crowd. A shouting match started but there were no winners. We lost the phone and there was nothing we could do about it: the pickpocket stayed there listening to us shout but he had passed the phone on and it was already far away in the pocket of the third guy. So a police station visit it was. Gladly this turned out to be quite a bit easier than we had expected (Mongolian or Guatemalan police station visits were so catastrophic: they took hours and in the end the reports got some completely wrong names and Finlandia was interpreted as Philadelphia etc.) The policeman here was very friendly and we even managed to handle all in Spanish.
After something like this, it's hard to get your mind off of what happened. It's easy just to play the thing again and again in your head and question your actions: maybe I could've done something differently or I should've done this or I should've done that. It's pointless though, nothing one can do anymore.
Gladly we had plans to distract us. First we met Daniel with whom we walked around a bit and then sat down for a chat and some drinks. We got some nice recommendations for restaurants and bars and surf spots. He was sad to hear about the phone but not surprised when he heard where it got stolen: "Aah, Tristan Navarro market, that's no place to go, that's where they SELL the stolen phones...you'd probably find it there next Sunday!" Well well, should have known. Anyway, enough about the phone. It was nice to meet Daniel and hear about the life in Uruguay from a local! Our evening dinner was also fantastic, we ended up in a fancy but great restaurant and stayed up so late that even the mozzies didn't bother me anymore :) It was great to see Thomann and his friend, exchange travel stories and all.
Tristan Navarro market
Poor puppy
More poor animals
DanielNext day we finally got out of the city, after an unlucky search for a climbing hall in Montevideo. Or actually, we did find the hall but there was no chance for us to climb even with the most helpful girl working at the sports center: no keys for the hall nor anyone nearby with the key. At least we gave it a try.
Our next stop was Punta del Diablo, Devil's point, where we arrived in the evening. We were staying in a hostel called El Diablo Tranquilo, in a big red house on a hill with multiple balconies and hammocks and a cool view to the sea. Our 10 bed dorm on the other hand wasn't too cool since it was packed with some messy, but very nice young British boys. Never mind though, the atmosphere was quite alright. We had an early dinner and night since the next day we'd celebrate Christoph's 34th birthday! I had some organizing to do.
I woke up at 2.40 am to the loadest snoring of all times. Even the earplugs brought no aid, it was merciless.
I got up early and sneaked to do some shopping but I was a bit too eager and all the shops were still closed. The wait wasn't too long and soon I found myself carrying bags full of fruits, croissants, little piece of cakeish kind of thing and brie for breakfast and some wine and chocolates for later consumption.
Chris was of course already up but chilling happily in a hammock with a book so I had time to prepare the breakfast. Our fellow hostel guests were confused with my massive preparations (someone even accidentally started eating the bananas I was cutting, it was an awkward moment I can tell you) but everyone was in on the whole thing when I told them about the celebration. Chris was welcomed with a multi-languaged birthday song and congratulations.
Chris' wish was to chill, in a hammock or the beach so that's what we did. I made lunch which we enjoyed on our own balcony: I had booked us a fancy double room with our own hammock and bathroom and all as a surprise! The sun was hot and the water was cold so swimming and playing in the waves was quite an excellent way of spending time. We also admired the surfers and talked about going surfing the next day.
First time for everything, and today it was yoga for Chris! We took a private yoga lesson on the beach, in the sunset while listening to the waves and the sea. Sound cheesy much!? Hahah, yeah, I know, but I have to say it was superb! I was even happily surprised to find out that the birthday boy enjoyed it too. Afterwards we had a great dinner in a romantic restaurant and the best night's sleep in our own room, with clean sheets, and without mosquitoes or snoring room mates. Life is good.
Punta del Diablo and the bar with the coolest tapestry
Birthday breakfast. Inka <3 Chris 
34 years of being awesome
Beach
More beach
Birthday boy enjoying the beach
Lunch on our balcony
And excellent birthday dinner after yogaWe were leaving to Brazil next evening but we still had the whole day to enjoy in Punta del Diablo so we rented a surfboard (EXPENSIVE) for a couple of hours. It's been years for the both of us since the last time surfing, so the long board did just fine. Also, for the size of the waves, it was perfect. The beach was excellent for beginners (aka us) with an easy paddle out, not too scary waves and of course a beach break but not just white water, but proper waves to catch. I went first and even got the first wave! It was good fun but I gave up quite quickly, the sun was already giving me a headache and after being ill I was easily exhausted. Chris continued for a bit but didn't last much longer in the crazy sun and the cold water. He did well though, and we were both excited, have to go again soon, we thought!
6 am sunshine
Surf´s up!
Chris taking a wave
Fruit juices <3 
El Diablo TranquiloTo get a bus to Porto Alegre, we first needed to get to Chuy, to the border. So we took a bus there and hopped out in the last stop as the girl at the hostel had told us. The bus driver was a bit confused when we said we want to go all the way to the center instead of hopping out at the aduana (the customs) as he suggested. Of course he would have been right, so we ended up in the wrong place and completely lost. Luckily we had hours until the bus to Porto Alegre would leave and we finally figured out the right way after asking for directions, interpreting them from Portuguese, asking again, calling the hostel etc. We walked some 3 kilometers from the center to the customs and actually it was a good way of spending time after all, since we still had plenty of it. For killing time at the border we came up with all kinds of activities like playing hackysack, listening to the weirdest but maybe the most beautiful choir of frogs, watching fireflies, playing with a dog, spotting an owl, reading and drinking wine. And then finally at 1.00 the bus showed up, only an hour later than we had been told.
Dog friend on the border
Crossing the border is a lot nicer with some wine and friends
Cool tail :D 
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