Left Iguazu late morning after finding a little cafe that served a real breakfast and headed for the northern route around Misiones. It's paved for the first 30 km and then turns into dirt, dense red clay occasionally strewn with rocks to be correct. About 10 minutes in it starts to rain and my jungle ride turns into a jungle adventure - the red clay becomes red snot and the slightest incline a slippery slide. If you look closely at the fallen moto foto you'll see where just the slight grade change in the lane caused the wheels to start sliding sideways and me to get a facefull of mud before I even knew what was happening. Helmets are good things. Fortunately I had slowed way down so it was really only a little insulin rush and then putting things right. The shear bolt for the right bag did its shear thing but I carry extra - getting the bike picked up while standing in slime proved to be the most challenge - I had to stomp some branches into the mud to get traction. Five meters away was a running stream that I used to get cleaned up and I was off.
At the end of the mud road I ran into Brazil so I turned right and promptly hit a police check-point. They saw me and assumed that I was a crazy border-hopping brasilero. So after presenting every document I carry while standing in the rain they remained unconvinced - he made me show him my entry stamp in my passport and couldn't believe I had ridden up to gods country for no good reason - he then got on the radio and checked every border crossing and with every local who would talk to him. When I got pissy (and I did) he told my to calm my jets. When he couldn't get me for whatever I was off and headed south.
The country is jungle gone to agriculture and beautiful. On a sunday afternoon seemingly everybody was out doing something - primarily kids playing soccer and people out for strolls along the road - there are no cities and even the towns are small but with parks full of people just sitting and visiting.
Intermittently throughout the day I rode through patches of rain and twice got pelted with hail - fortunately I was never cold and infrequent rain is nothing. I pushed through San Pedro (sore ass syndrome after 4 days riding) and made it to San Vincente where I expected a pocket of civilization. Nyet! Still too close to Bolivia I guess - my hotel choices were bad and worse - it was a coin toss having picked the one with what appeared to be a working heater - nyet again, it just makes noise like a heater should, a light bulb makes more heat. The hotel keeper helped me clean the worst of the mud from my outer garments and built a fire to help them dry out. Dinner was a bust because the resto down the road was colder inside than out so I left. We scared up a burger, salad and beer locally and chatted for awhile. Turns out its forecast to freeze again tomorrow so I might just hop over the fence to the Uruguay River where I hear there is a real pseudo-resort - if I find it, and if they have heat, I might just honker down and do nothin' (kinda like now - this place rolled up the sidewalks hours ago.)
This section of the country is really friendly - I think I got more waves today than any day ever. Every stop the bike got lots of attention - I don't think they get many international travelers on this side of the state and certainly not many like me.
It also appears to be somewhat poorer and with a significant Brazilian influence on the language and peoples appearance.
Tomorrow I will likely play tourist.
Whatever bug was trying to invade me failed - I feel good but for normal wind burnt motorcycle face.
I'm going to take a sleeping pill and hope my heater shuts up and starts to act like a heater - then all would be right.
Nick
via BlackBerry