Ride from Iquazu Falls
We decided to have an easy day and left Iguazu Falls after lunch. Along the way, we stopped at the Wanda Mine where they mine amethyst, rose quartz, and citroen. The semi-precious gemstones are found in old magma tubes. Their colour (and type of gem stone) is dependent on the mineral content. We skipped the jewelry (expensive) to stick with buying a few rocks.
From there, we rode in the heat back to Posadas. What can I say? The people are friendly but its a border town on the Uruguay river.
Marathon to Ville Maria
Our 800 km treck for the day began very windy and stayed that way until well after noon. We crossed a high bridge over rough water but the wind causing the motorcycle to move radically. I simply could not look down and was thankful when we returned to firm ground.
The land became very fertile with farms, ranches, and small towns strung along the railway. Overall, the area seems prosperous and I loved watching the gauchos at work.
Ville Maria
We did the final 300 km in the rain. I felt that we were in Italy. People not only sang their Spanish but also spoke with wild hand gestures. We arrived soaking arrives at V’s dad Antonio and his girlfriend, Nene, house at around noon. They fed us a good lunch, kindly did our laundry for us, and allowed us to rest.
The afternoon V took me around his old haunts. Its a lovely town, reminding me a bit of Victoria with its city park lake(s). Its quite bigger and more cosmopolitan than I expected. We stopped to visit V’s grandmother and Aunt Kika. I really fell in love with those two women.
During the evening Antonio made a grill for 10 people they had invited for dinner. Clever man - he used an air compressor to get the charcoal going. Its quite a lot of manual labour to do an Argeninian grill. However, the end result phenomenal.
V and I caught the 1:30 a.m. bus to Buenos The long distance coaches are double decker with tv and non-alcoholic drink service. It was quite a comfortable sleep as the deep seats lean all the way back and come with leg rests.
