72 horus in Paraguay

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On Sunday evening I began the infamous trans-Chaco route from Santa Cruz, which was reported as "30+" hours in my Lonely Planet -- and listed as an activity in the highlight section -- but I was encouraged by reports that the road had been improved since then. Furthermore, I was promised an 18-hour trip, with AC, full cama (bed) and TV/movies. Of course, all of that was a lie. At 2am we awoke to the passengers of another bus -- which had left on Saturday but gotten stuck because of the rain -- flooding onto the bus. While I felt fortunate enough to have a working bus, it still did not make for a comfortable trip, as I ended up standing for about 6 hours. Furthermore, the excess passengers caused several hour-long delays at the numerous border patrol checkpoints; we arrived in Asuncion about 9 hours later than promised (although more like what I expected).
I met an older Australian couple in S. America on business (apparently the global park ranger conference is held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia). Which was good because there are literally no other tourists in Bolivia. On Tuesday morning I went on a quest to withdrawl money, but was unable to at every ATM I tried. I walked to the American Consulate, which was... closed to American citizens. Wondering how I would make it out of Paraguay, I finally was able to find someone to help me with my financial dilemna. My faith renewed, I planned to take the beautiful but shady boat ride up the Rio Paraguay to Concepcion. However, I awoke this morning to a massive thunderstorm and decided otherwise. I took the bus to Ciudad del Este and planned to visit the Ipiatu Dam and Eco-Reserve tomorrow. However, in addition to rain, all of the reasonably-priced hotels were booked and I wasn´t keen to spend $40 on a room just because I felt obligated to make my Paraguay experience (and Visa) worthwhile. So I walked across Puente de Amistad to Foz do Iguazu (where the Brazilian citizens didn´t understand my situation despite being explicitely directed by Paraguayan officials and my guidebook, followed by me pretending to speak Portugese for an hour until the Puerto Iguazu bus arrived). Of course, when we finally reached Argentina I was left at the border and forced to take an overpriced taxi. I hope that the falls at Iguazu (citing Lonely Planet, negative ions caused by waterfalls induce happiness) can turn my fortunes. Feeling a bit better already.
Don´t mean to complain. Paraguay really was a beautiful country, or at least what I could see from the bus. Just thought you should know what you´re getting yourself into if you plan on visiting...

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