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Published: January 23rd 2006
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Argentine side, IgazuFalls
Argentine side, IgazuFalls I took a sleeping bus from Buenos Aires to the Argentine side of the falls. Apart from the fact that the bus did not stop, it was a very comfortable 20 hour ride as the seats reclined nearly 180 degrees and the air conditioning was working very well.
When I arrived and got off the bus it must have been at least 38 degrees, which wasn't really a surprise, it's just I couldn't remember what it felt like, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
Staff at the bus station were very helpful, I didn't have to ask, they came up to me to inquire if I needed any information. The bus to the Brazilian side was about to leave, so I managed to get to the border very quickly. Entry into Brazil wasn't a problem. My bags were not even looked at, and it took the official less than half a minute to check my passport and put the stamp in.
At the bus stop I talked to a couple from Sweden who were at the end of their trip. They gave me a few tips about visiting Colombia. I gathered that as long as I fly everywhere, and keep
Argentine side, IgazuFalls 2
Argentine side, IgazuFalls 2 up to date about what's going on in the country I should be OK. I also met a cool guy from Slovenia who looked like a hippie. Apparently he was robbed whilst at a hostel on the Argentine side of the falls. This was a bit hard to believe as he was a giant of a man, wearing what looked more like rugs. Unlikely to be picket on by anyone, even if they thought he had something worth taking. But then he explained that he momentarily put his money belt down in the dorm and went to the bathroom, only to find his passport, minus 900 Euros when he returned. Ironically I thought not taking his passport was a nice gesture under the circumstances. As I was chatting away with him for a while, I found out that Salta is not such a bad place for partying after all.
After accidentally getting off at the local bus terminal, I took a cab with the Swedish couple to the international coach terminal so that they can continue their trip to Rio, and I get my bus ticket to Florianopolis. I managed to have a conversation with the cab driver on my
Argentine side, IgazuFalls 3
Argentine side, IgazuFalls 3 way to the hostel, which I'm sure is a clear sign that my Spanish is improving, even though he was speaking in Portuguese.
Hostel Paudimar is the first 'Eco Friendly' hostel I staid at, with separate bins for each kind of rubbish everywhere. They even opted not to treat the water in the swimming pool with chlorine, which would probably have been a good idea if it was kept clean. Like at the other hostels the staff were very friendly. I was invited to play football with them, and to my surprise I was playing reasonably well. I managed to confuse some of the attackers by chasing them around, making use of all my skills, which were quite minimal even at school. The only thing which I didn't like about the hostel was the breakfast. The novelty of eating cakes (with a bit of fruit) in the morning quickly wore off after the first day, but mistakenly thinking this was the 'Brazilian' breakfast I didn't think about it too much until someone else mentioned that at another hostel there was decent food.
The trip to the Argentine side of the falls was really good fun. The driver of the minibus
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was Argentinian, and a big fan of Boca Juniors. Since Boca recently won one of the South American cups, he was in very good spirits, showing his team's flag and beeping at everyone going past. Either the people at the border shared his passion for Boca, or he must have had an arrangement with the officials, as we drove past everyone queing up, and entered Argentina after a quick passport check. A small souvenir from this trip are two strange looking entry stamps for Argentina and Paraguay in all our passports, which although probably illegal made everyone laugh.
Seeing the waterfalls up close was a fantastic experience. According to one of the guys I met at the hostel there rumored to be a lot of positive energy near the water, which could well be true as everyone was happy and cheerful. I accidentally mentioned to one of the Kiwi guys(called Willy) that it as my birthday on Christmas eve, after he told me it was his father´s. This was a big mistake as on the 24th (the next day) everyone started singing happy birthday, which was quite embarrassing. After a few drinks we all went to a night club, as
Christmas Eve 2
Christmas Eve 2 Hector, one of the Mexicans managed to persuade the crazy Argentinian driver to drop us off in town. I still don´t know how we managed to fit twelve people into a 6 seater minibus for the second batch, but it didn´t seem to matter as everyone was very drunk and in good spirits.
Getting into the club was a bit of a nightmare as they were checking for IDs. Strangely age had nothing to do with it as they turned everyone away without one. Fortunately there was a second queue at the other end of the club, where we did not encounter such difficulties. There were two floors at the club, and upstairs the area near the pool was used as a dance floor. Here they were playing some kind of funky hard reggae, and it was good fun watching the Brazilian girls dance (what I though was Samba). Some of the guys from the hostel tried to join in but the girls were not too impressed.
I also made two trips to 'Ciudad Del Este', a city in Paraguay just over the border. I heard a lot about this place, like it´s a city without law, and it´s a
Bird Park
Bird Park great place for buying electronics. Crossing into the city by bus may involve a long delay because of the many trucks and 'motor bike taxis' waiting to get through. Also, here the border guards don´t bother checking for passports, assuming everyone who goes over the border will return after a quick day of shopping. The main shopping street looks like a massive market full of people. Taking a leisurely stroll down it is quite impossible, as you get stopped by someone trying to sell you something every few seconds. There was one girl in particular who kept on bothering me for a long time, she tried very hard to persuade me to buy socks and underwear, only when I asked her to pose for a picture with me she decided to leg it (almost immediately). Most things at the market stalls are very cheap, but not very good quality. The only thing which I considered buying there was some MP3 music.
Two South African guys I met at the hostel earlier gave me Spanish lessons on MP3´s and I managed to buy an MP3 player in one of the shops, together with rechargeable batteries and a charger. The prices at
Bird that attacked the American tourist
Bird that attacked the American tourist most stores are not too bad, although some electronics are cheaper in the UK on the Internet. As I was shopping I met some teenage shop assistants, who were very friendly and started flirting with me. After a while I was beginning to feel fairly safe in the city, and seeing security people standing near every big store with guns in their hands felt a bit strange.
The Brazilian side of the Igazu falls is about a third of it´s size across the border in Argentina. However you can get some amazing views over large areas. It´s probably worth visiting both sides, just to see it all. There´s also a bird zoo near by, which is also quite impressive. It was funny watching an innocent looking bird attacking an American tourist, who although was a big guy, started screaming and jumping around.
I really enjoyed my stay in Igazu, I came across some cool people here. I hang out a bit with a Spaniard called Danny, who teaches Spanish near Sao Paulo. He told me a bit about Brazil and helped me practice my Spanish. Hopefully I see him when I go to Sao Paulo. The two South Africans used
Bird Park 3
Bird Park 3 to work in London, but then decided to design web pages (amongst their other business ideas) over the Internet, and travel around the world. What a great idea! I also bumped into some Mexicans, who were all very friendly and relaxed. The funniest people I met were no doubt two Irish guys, fooling around all the time.
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