Esteban and I arrived at Paula’s house. Paula had known I was heading to Cabo Polonia and had given me a business card for her friend’s hostel, but there was no website. Or phone number. Or address, aside from ‘Cabo Polonia, Uruguay.’

Paula simply told me to ask around when I got to town. Unsure of what to expect, I took the business card and hoped for the best. I forgot to take a photo of Paula’s house but here’s a picture of the postcard she gave me as a souvenier.

I started to wonder what I was getting into. Online, there weren’t many places with reviews, or addresses even. And less information when I Googled Cabo Polonio, and I wasn’t really sure where I would be sleeping that night.

Clearly, I wouldn’t be able to figure it out until I arrived so I grabbed my bags, said my goodbyes and Paula and I headed out in the Scooby Doo van – there were no seatbelts and I’m not sure I would classify what I sat in as a seat. It was sort of a hollowed out van with a gas pedal and brakes.

I felt like we were in a parade. Paula knew the whole town and spent the whole drive to the bus stop waving to everyone and stopping to say hola! I couldn’t help but smile. This is not your mom’s trip to Uruguay!

Paula dropped me off at the bus stop – the hut on the side of a dirt road – where I would wait for the bus to Cabo Polonia.

Figuring the bus would be continuing on the side of the road where I had been dropped off, I headed over to a couple with backpacks. Wanting to check that I was, in fact, in the right spot, waiting for the right bus to Cabo Polonia, I asked in Spanish if they were heading to the east.

To my surprise, they replied, that they were, in English.

I got off at the bus ‘station’ late afternoon on a Saturday in La Pedrera, Uruguay.

I wouldn’t so much call it a station as a shack touting information on the side of a dirt road. But this, this dirt road with an information booth acting as the bus stop, was the exact opposite of Punta del Este and more along the lines of what I was looking for! Here’s a photo of the map I was given at the info booth.

Before leaving Punta del Este, I had made a reservation with Paula, the owner of a hostel in La Pedrera.

She had given me her number and told me to have the info booth call. She’d come by and pick me up in her van. She made a point to tell me it was purple and green.

I gleaned that it wouldn’t be too hard to find the Scooby Doo van.

I went to the info booth to see about making a call.  When I explained in Spanish to the girl behind the desk what I needed, she handed me a map.

When I realized this was going to be a challenge, a girl, about my age, spoke to me, in perfect English. She asked if I was going to sleep at Paula’s house. She was too.

She explained that she had arrived in La Pedrera the night before. She was waiting for her friend who was arriving from Montevideo. If I didn’t mind waiting for her friend’s bus to come in, we could take a taxi to Paula’s together. I agreed.

We introduced ourselves. Her name was Romina. She lived in Montevideo and was in La Pedrera for the weekend, after spending some time in Brazil for holiday. On her own.

I found the South American me!

I learned that she was an English teacher, so even though she understood my Spanish, she could always chat in English. We chatted a bit more and her friend, Mariela, arrived soon after.

The three of us loaded into a taxi, a guy with a car really, and were off to check in at Paula’s.

Chatting in the taxi about the night ahead, my newfound friends included me in their plans instantly, and without hesitation.