It is about dinner time in NZ but I am sitting in a lobby looking out at the skateboarders and staggering happy drunks, it is around 3am. Gareth sat in the lobby and did his computer work earlier as it is the only place the WiFi works here and then I woke when he came to the room about midnight. I haven’t slept since and decided to watch the world go by here.
We went to the Jesuit Missions ruins (1660’s) in San Ignacio, Argentina today and saw the remains of the huge compound where they housed more than 2000 of the local jungle tribes and tried to “civilize them”, protecting them from the slave traders was quite an inducement.
It was a fairly grotty place outside the security fence, with lots of street kids, so we went and parked our bikes behind the local police station, and later gave the police a big bottle of coke for the parking security.
So getting here to Posadas meant a trip on a barge across the big Uruguay river that divides Brazil from Arg. at the thumb shape at the top end. Then a performance to get through the border as they wanted to close for siesta time. Funny thing having shops and services close from 12 noon to around 3.30 then open again until 8.30pm, then the restaurants open.
A group of bikers from Florianopolis Island off Brazil was on the barge across the river and gave me a nice white T-shirt with their logo on it, so I look clean tonight in my whites.
It is very humid and warm and the trees are lush and have huge leaves, the soil is blood red and the bike is caked in the red dust, parts where they have planted Eucalyptus trees are very like out-back Australia.
We will get to the Iguasu water falls today, meant to be a spectacular sight, but first we will cross over into Paraguay for the first time. Our photos of the Jesuit Missions at San Ignacio Mini (Argentina) and at Trinidad (Paraguay) are here
Jo
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