Gooood night readers! Giving continuation. Two crazy guys, two bikes, 400+ km riding, 12 days. Check this travel story.

This is the PART 5 of a story a friend and I experienced this past february. We made our way to Montevideo in Uruguay, bought some bicycles and rode them back to Brazil. An amazing experience full of overcoming situations that I'd like to present through this texts.

If you are landing here now consider checking PART 1, and moving from there. Link presented below:

[PART 1] Travel Story: Coast of Uruguay by Bicycle | Planning

In PART 1 I talked about the motivation behind the idea and how simple it was to plan everything. It gives you and introdution to the main idea, preparations and the basic road map for our trip. If you like my work please consider checking that out, it'll be much appreciated.

In PART 2 the initial steps of our trip were presented, how we failed to hitchhike and the solutions we found. I also try to give you an idea on how you can find positivity, always, everywhere!

In PART 3 we wandered around Montevideo and drank beer to pass time. It was carnival holidays and we were not able to buy our bikes.

In PART 4 we actually bought the bikes and started our way back to Brazil. In this part you'll discover how the first 50km were.

Hope you enjoy reading this continuation and the ones to come, feel free to leave your feedback down below!

Ouch My Butt

Feb. 16th, 2018. First day we actually woke up early, it was a bit cold and the sun slowly showing up through the camping trees. The night before, I slept pretty well after taking a pain killer, my body was definitely feeling better after resting, that was a good sign.

Our breakfast was delicious: Bread with dulce de leche, tapioca+eggs, protein powder shake and a lot of water. Ready to go! A few minutes later we had our packs firmly loaded on the bikes. Everybody at the camp was sleeping and so we couldn’t say goodbye.

The moment we hit the road I felt it.

- Ah my freaking butt!!! – I screamed.

- What?? – André asked laughing.

My legs were pretty good. I’ve discovered that my seat had been a little low all the time, once I corrected it, my knees stopped hurting. However I’ve forgotten about my butt.

I’m a skinny guy, so I don’t have much to soften down there. It felt like I had been spanked. But what could I do at that moment besides complaining in a funny way? At some point I wanted to use baby diapers to at least have something extra. At every crazy idea we would laugh a lot, like that time was passing by.

On that ride nothing actually happened, just asphalt and the ups and downs of the road. At some parts André would be way ahead waiting for me to catch up and slowly we gained terrain. My legs were getting stronger and my butt sensible.

At some point we turned right on the road, aiming to Piriapolis, in a few kilometers we would be riding along the blue ocean again, at least something to enlighten the view. And how beautiful it was! Blue water mixing with the sky, wind was against us but refreshing. Those fifty something kilometers were better than the fifty-five of the first day, I was feeling energized.

André however was tired of sleeping in his tent – How many times do I need to tell you to buy a good sleeping mat? – so he decided to sleep is a Hostel. To not leave my mate alone I agreed. The place of choice was called “Hostel de los Colores”, near the beach. It was a little off for my budget, but it was a cozy place to rest.

Piriapolis is one of the Uruguayan beaches that I really like. It’s not expensive like Punta del Este, not so popular as Punta del Diablo. It’s the perfect measure. There’s a sidewalk all along the coast, the ocean has a beautiful blue color. It’s pleasurable to walk along the coast to visit the marina and enjoy the sun. We spent the day doing exactly that.

We visited Cerro Santo Antonio that day; it’s a peak where you can have a panoramic view from above, featuring the coast. André for the first time in his life rode one of those seat cable cars, how funny it was seeing a thirty more year old guy scared.

- Look! Do you see that nut up there holding the bolt? – I said.

- Shut up! – He said.

- Dude! No seriously! I saw it move. – I said almost laughing.

At every bump, when the seat passes by those wheels that hold the cable, André would shake a bit.

I have to admit that it was not the best cable car, it had one single cable and many parts were rusty. But no adventure is done without a pinch of fear. Right?

View from Cerro Santo Antonio

That day was finished with a greatly deserved shower and a hot meal. Next day we would be going to Punta del Este.

Feb. 17th, 2018. Classic routine. Many people think that travelling is the solution for their life, a way to scape routine. However, many don’t know that travelling implies a lot of routine as well, the difference is that the routine is done every day at a different location, surrouded by different people.

Wake up early, prepare breakfast, do the dishes. Even setting a camp becomes a routine; you take everything out of the backpack just to put everything back when leaving. If you don’t enjoy meeting people along the way and exploring unknown spots I guarantee that after some time you are going to beg for the comfort of your house, I’ve seen it happen all over the world. You need to have better reasons to become a traveller, because routine will be there.

I added this thought because that day started like the others, prepare everything and leave. As I said routine was there, but how pleasurable it was.

We started the ride following the coast, morning was beautiful; blue sky and a fantastic breeze coming from the ocean, my body was feeling better each day and my butt getting used to the seat. Goal for the day: Ride fifty something kilometers to Punta del Este and find a place to sleep after the city.

At some point we got back to the Interbalnearia (the main road connecting the beaches), all my attention went back to the road. The ups on the road were getting longer, at some points I had to downshift and slowly make my way up. Everything that goes up must go down, that was my motivation to keep on going.

There is a “must go” place on the route, it’s called Casapueblo. Casapueblo is a building constructed by the Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. It is located in Punta Ballena, 13 kilometres from Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was originally a summer house and workshop of the artist. It now houses a museum, an art gallery, a cafeteria and a hotel. It was the permanent residence of its creator, where he worked and spent his last days.

It’s sad remembering this place, the last time André, myself and another friend have visited Uruguay, we were not allowed to visit Casapueblo. At that exact day Carlos Vilaró had passed away.

Some years after and we were there again. The house was still intact, the great personality no longer amongst us.

Stop to enjoy the view before Casapueblo

Casapueblo

Crazy me and André

The next kilometers were great, I was right about my motivation that “what goes up must go down” and there it was, the most enjoyable roller coaster ever. We rode down for some good kilometers with a fantastic overview of the ocean; Punta del Este could be seen on the background. We no longer had the pressure to ride without stopping; we were there to enjoy the ride.

Heading to Punta del Este

With the counter wind forcing our legs we made our way into Punta del Este. There were super cars, imposing resorts and limousines. That was not a place for us. That day we continued riding along the coast until we found a nice car festival, being an old car nut I took some pictures of the cars on the way. André liked it too.

Night was coming so we decided to finish that day at the San Rafael camping, the most expensive of the trip. What could we expect from Punta del Este? It made me wonder, all those luxurious apartments, most of them are used only during the summer. How come some people have so much and others so little. If only I knew a way to solve poverty on this world.

We ended that day with a hot meal, in my case rice and peas. Once I laid down on my bed I slept. We agreed to sleep a little more that night, next day would be the shortest of the trip, easy. That’s what I thought, not how it would be.

Goal for next day: Wild camp at Laguna Garzon