Doug's Bike Journey: To, In, and Past Iguazu

After posting my last blog, I went directly to dinner. After consecutive long rides, a small mountain of meat, and some cheap Argentine beer, I was ready to pass out. However, I still wanted to see what this small town was about. I went to the hotel to change clothes only to wake up at 6am in the morning when my AC quit working. Some Devil Lady was banging on the door at 10:15 because check out was at 10am. I had no idea it was so early, but the raps got me back on the road sooner.

As I was leaving town, I stopped at this place with a rotissere chicken spit. I went in to order a chicken but they were not for sale. Frustrated, I ended up getting some cold chicken thing they had next to the raw chicken. As I was standing in front of their establishment spilling chicken and bread on the ground, a girl comes up and gives me a free Sprite. Then the boy who took my order early came to give me 5, 2 Peso bills. I took the drink but refused the money.

The ride was hilly, and I was pretty tired, which combined to slow me down. I made it to San Ignacio and found a hostel. This hostel had a pool, but it was green. Since I felt like the pool was already dirty, I had no qualms about jumping right in. San Ignacio has some semi-famous ruins, but I have never heard of them, nor was I interested in paying 50 pesos to go see them. I have waterfalls to go see!

Leaving San Ignacio

The next day, my stomach is turning during my ride. I feared I was about to get another case of food poisoning. I was struggling to have much power in my legs, but I just kept eating and drinking. As the sun was setting, I realized that I was in the middle of nowhere, actually between Puerto Rico and Montecarlo.

This guy gave me 2 free oranges because I looked pitifully tired. When he was giving me the oranges, he went into his private stash. I was reminded of the scene in Pulp Fiction where Travolta gets upgraded to the Madman. He also pointed me to a campground that also had a dirty pool.

After waking up from the campground, I had 140km to Iguazu, and I was determined to make it. My stomach was still a mess, but I had not thrown up.

I stop at a YPF gas station to fix my stomach, and I see this thing. It was like being in Taiwan again. Using them is like playing skee ball but without the prize at the end.

I made my commitment and was nearing Iguazu. All of the following photos are in chronological order.

Map of the Argentine Side Park

Inside the park. 100 peso entrance fee.

I don´t know what you call this animal. Leemur?

Double Rainbow - are you for real?

The ironic thing is, that I actually had to take a bus then a tram to get to the falls.

The mist was blowing my hair like mad. I was soaked for much of the remained of the day after standing here for about 15 seconds to take this photo.

My new buddy

There were a ton of these guys eating something from the tree then throwing the remains on the gawking people below.

Devil´s Mouth

I had to switch rooms at the hostel, but I knew I would be in Brasil soon and could leave Argentina in the dust. Thanks for everything, but I am ready to move on.

My much anticipated Visa!!!

Crossing the border was funny. The lady took 15 minutes and consulted with other people because I look so much different than in my Passport photo. I guess 6 years, long hair, and a psuedo asian beard will do that to a person.