7. On The Road Again
DAY 242. Back on the Road
0630 wake up call came way too early. I have nobody else to blame but myself when I was watching Formula One race till 3 o'clock in the morning. But you have to do what you have to do.
I am looking at predawn morning skies from my balcony, and I see no clouds. It's going to be a beautiful day. I don't have anything packed because I do everything at the last minute. The procrastinator extraordinaire. But I know what I have to do to always make the deadline. I was still editing my pictures at midnight, even though I had two weeks to do it. Ops normal. That's how I roll. It doesn't take too much effort to pack as I have it down to a science. I drag all my bags downstairs and strap everything on my bike. I was leaving the garage at 8 o’clock, exactly when I was hoping I would.
I quickly joined the main boulevard which goes right through downtown Buenos Aires. The traffic was surprisingly busy considering it is Saturday morning. There are 10 lanes in each direction here so they can move lot of traffic very quickly. In 10 minutes I was heading out of downtown on the freeway heading north. Argentinian drivers are very disciplined for the most part. The slow drivers on the right and left lane is for the fastest traffic. None of this slow vehicles in the left lane blocking all the traffic, which is quite common in North America. it reminds me driving on autobahn in Germany. They have different speed limits for different lanes here. The fastest one has a speed limit of 130 km an hour. I was doing just that, and even then I had to check my mirrors because sometimes there was some speedy Gonzalez behind me. BA is a big city and it took me 45 minutes to get out of there.
I haven't been on my bike at all in the past two weeks, so I am ecstatic to be back on the road. The road is good, the weather is good and the bike is running nicely. My mood instantly improved by 1000%. I'm smiling from ear to ear.
Today is a big day, 620 km but it is all on the freeway. It should be fast and easy. I am heading towards town Rosario, which is a birthplace of Leo Messi. I have been warned not to go there as there is a lot of drug violence. That was pretty much confirmed when I saw TV news with report of recent violent crimes there. I'm going to take a different route, so I'm not going anywhere near that place.
With BA behind me I'm heading north. Traffic is pretty light right now. Landscape is flat as a pancake but everything is green. There's always something to look at, so I don't mind. There is lots of flooding in this area, and I can see many side roads are underwater. Also many houses and farms are surrounded by water. That's the aftermath of two weeks of torrential rains. Oh, the rivers here are overflowing. The road is very good and the cruise control on my bike is working as advertised. I was little bit worried that today is going to be long and boring day. It is anything but. I'm just excited to be riding again. Seriously, I think I have an addiction problem. It could be worse, I guess. The time flies by and kilometres adding up very quickly as well. It is time to refuel again. Most of gas stations in Argentina have bistro where you can take a break and have a coffee or a quick bite to eat. Even though I didn't sleep much last night, I actually feel really good. But this is a good excuse for me to have a large coffee and a Red Bull. It's supposed to give me wings, so why not? At this gas station I met a Brazilian couple on their BMW. I take any chance I have to talk to any Brazilian for any tips where to go in Brazil. I got some good pointers, and again, as every single Brazilian before them, they told me as well not to go to São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro with my bike. It is way too dangerous, they say. Message received, loud and clear.
Landscape along the route today is flat but it changes constantly. Farms and pastures with finest Argentinian beef grazing there was replaced by a forest. But it is a cultivated, planted forest, not like what we have back in Canada. All the trees here are nice and uniform, spaced out in exact distance and in straight lines. It looks cool. The temperature is perfect today, I started with 18° and ended with 28°. All this riding almost at the sea level and near Farm fields has a big drawback. The bugs. And butterflies. Big and juicy ones. My helmet looks disgusting. My jacket is not looking much better. Oh well, a small price to pay.
I'm doing really well on my time, I am way too fast. My GPS tells me that I will be at destination one and a half hour before I told him I will be there. I guess it is time for another coffee to kill some time. It's only about 50 km to my hotel after that.
Even though today was entirely on the freeways, it was actually very pleasant ride. Everything just clicked. I like days like this.
DAY 243
It is going to be another transition day today. I don't see anything interesting between the start of today and my destination. Just riding. Is a beautiful day, no clouds in the skies. The temperature today starts where it ends up yesterday. It is 20° at 10 o'clock in the morning. I have a light breakfast and I am on my way.
I joined the freeway again, but that ends after about half an hour. Only 2 Lane Rd. after this. There is a very heavy traffic on the road. Many large., heavy trucks. One after another. The landscape is still flat with Pampas stretching way beyond the horizon and also I can see more and more trees. They are still signs of very heavy rain in the past few days with large puddles and many flooded places.
I forgot to mention yesterday… Argentina supposed to be in severe economic crisis, but you cannot see it anywhere. there are many new dealerships with new cars trucks or farm equipment. There are new buildings going up, new factories and new houses. If this is crisis, I would love to see Argentina when it prospers.
Argentina cannot hide its heritage and close ties with Europe. Look at the cars, for example. 80% of cars on the road in Argentina are from Europe. It is Volkswagen, Fiat, Renault, Citroen, Peugeot. A few Toyotas and Kias. Very few cars from North America. The same goes for trucks. Volvo, Mercedes, Iveco, Renault and Scania are the bands you can see most over here. Also, Argentina is very neat country. Their yards are nice and clean with beautiful lawns. Cars or trucks are discarded appliances lying around. Everything is nice and tidy. It is all very nice.
The further north, I go the thicker the vegetation is getting. Planted forest, give away to more green bushy and jungly vegetation. Is that a word? It is now. And the road has a few turns as well. but still nothing to write home about so still no pictures today.
I got to my destination mid afternoon. I'm in town Oberá. My hotel is right in the centre of town. Went for a walk, and it was really strange. There was nobody on the streets. I mean nobody. All the stores close and not as soul insight. It looks like in the middle of pandemic. But I know better, it is siesta time. When I came out after the sunset, it was a different story. Everybody was outside. The temperature is just perfect.
It was a good and easy day.
DAY 244
No rush to get going today, it will be a short day. Four hours of riding at the most. 280 km to Iguazu Falls. There was really nothing special about today. Nice road with turns, and only a few towns. And I'm going through pretty serious jungle at times. The transition from pampas and farm fields to jungle was actually very quick. It is sunny again in the morning with few clouds after noon. And the temperature is getting warmer as well, around 32°. It ss still OK, anything more is not too comfortable wearing all my riding gear. I am down to wearing only a light short sleeve T-shirt underneath my riding jacket. That's pretty much it. I cannot take off anything else. It is getting very hot inside my helmet, so I am riding with my visor open and wearing my sunglasses. Otherwise, my brain will get fried.
It was a short day today, and nothing really happened. Didn't take any pictures again today. I have arrived to my last Argentinian city. I am in Puerto Iguazu. The world famous Iguazu Falls are only 15 km away. I have a whole day reserved for that tomorrow. I'm hoping to get some nice pictures.
I went for a dinner tonight to a restaurant which was recommended to me. The problem I'm here is that most restaurants don't open until seven or even 8 o'clock in the evening. That is way too late for me, but I am willing to take one for the team. And I wasn't disappointed today. A perfect Argentinian steak with a local Malbec wine made for perfect evening. It was another great day.