An Idiot's Guide to Travelling

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To travel from the Iguazu Falls (Argentina) to Paraty (Brazil) in the quickest time, at the lowest cost and in the highest comfort. In Paraty we aim not to be robbed, to find a good place to stay and to meet other travellers.

Hypothesis
All will run smoothly and we´ll have a great time

Method (none of this was booked!)
Take a bus from Argentina to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls
Catch a taxi to the bus station.
Get a bus to Sao Paulo
Catch a connecting bus to Paraty
Wander the streets at night for accommodation

Materials (or lack of)
Probably the most useful item is a phrasebook and we left home without one!

Result
The taxi to the bus station went smoothly enough, but once we got out we were on our own and without a phrasebook. With our amazing grasp of sign language we managed to buy what we think was a ´tourist priced´ ticket.

The bus ride went well, although we were definitely the token tourists of the bus. Even though we can´t speak Portuguese it´s pretty obvious you´re the butt of jokes when the whole bus laughs after the driver (talking in Portuguese) turns to you and says the word English!

After we got off the bus a Brazilian from the bus who´d watched us struggle the whole trip came up to us and asked, in perfect English, if we needed help. He looked trustworthy and to be honest we really needed some help. As it turns out we landed on our feet and 5 mins later he´d bought our next bus tickets for us and surprise surprise they were substantially cheaper!

All we had left to do was find accommodation. Since we hadn´t booked anything we started talking to travellers on the bus (I´ve always found the best method is to copy someone elses´ itinerary). Well it worked. We met four girls on the bus and walked with them to their hostel. It looked fantastic and in the end we spent 3 great nights in Paraty.

Conclusion
In sum, by not planning, relying on helpful locals and following better organised travellers everything works itself out!

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Photos

Head torches on the bus!
Brazil´s buses aren´t a scratch on Argentina´s and annoyingly cost more!

We did this to our room in 10 mins!
Good job no one else moved in!

Flying saucer!
A good traveller never leaves without a deck of cards!