Day 239 – Valizas, Uruguay to Sao Sepe, Brazil

Day 239 – Valizas, Uruguay to Sao Sepe, Brazil      04/17/11      Mileage: 396

The wind howled all night as my campsite was only 100 yards from the ocean. The clouds looked ominous as I was packing up and it started to rain just as I was finishing.

Packed and ready to hit the road…

The sleepy bohemian town of Valizas, Uruguay

I rode for maybe 5 miles before the skies opened up with torrent of rain, wind and lightning. I was soaked in minutes but I pressed on towards the Brazil border. I stopped for gas after 40 or so miles and waited a while to see if it would let up, but it only got worse and the skies look dark and angry in every direction. So, I pressed on as waiting there any longer was only delaying the inevitable it seemed. I haven’t seen rain this steady and hard since northern Guatemala, and I know this for a fact because like then the bike started sputtering from all the water soaking the electrics. Luckily I rolled right into the Uruguay border post a short time later with the hope of drying both me and the bike out while I processed out of the country. For once I was in no rush at all and wouldn’t you know I was processed out in under 2 minutes…go figgure. I hung around for a while anyway, but begrudgingly put on my helmet and set off for the Brazil side of the border. In between in no mans land is the town of Chuy (Chui in Portuguese), which is one big duty free zone. There was also a hotel with a garage and I was mighty tempted at the prospect of getting warm and dry, but decided to keep going. The Brazil side of the border was easy, straightforward and didn’t cost anything for the bike(the Brazil visa I got back in Buenos Aires cost $145). So that done I was off and riding north along the coast of Brazil…country number 18!

The road was boring and straight and not close enough to see the ocean to provide a view. The rain did finally let up and after getting gas in Quinta, my route turned inland across some rolling hills with nice twists and turns which made for some good riding. What’s not so good was the price of gas in Brazil so far…$7.60 per gallon! Might I add that this is also a BIG country and it will take A LOT of gas to cross it…so much for the budget. Towards the end of the day the sun finally came out and I was able to dry out a bit.

At dusk I was looking for a place to bush camp, but the only place I could find was a grassy spot on the side of a truck stop. Oh well…good enough for truckers…good enough for a smelly biker…