The next morning we say goodbye to Evelina and Foz and take a taxi to the Paraguay border (R$40). The driver sees us through border control and helps us exchange our money from Realis to Paraguayan Guaranis. Suddenly we are confronted with 100,000 notes and calculations become very confused. Ciudad del Este is a haven for cheap electrical goods but we have no time to stop as we must get a coach to the capital Asuncion. Despite a barrage of ticket sellers when we arrive at the station we head to the recommended company (RYSA) and buy our tickets for the [View Full Entry]

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Cuidad del Este was a pretty god damn horrible place. Supposedly Lonely Planet describes it as the worst town in South America (we learnt of this after we went there), and we can completely see why. Under the former dictator, President Stroessener, the city (then Cuidad del Stroessener) became a centre for piracy and contraband, being perfectly situated for both since it is on the border between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. It felt like the most unsafe place that we've been to so far! Imagine an Oxfam shop, but over several square miles and with a really rough edge to it [View Full Entry]

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How often do you end up in the wrong country?? This is the question that we were asking ourselves as we sat on the foopath in some kind of industrial estate in Cuidad del Este in Paraguay.... We weren´t meant to be here, we didn´t want to be here, we were supposed to be in Brasil...... Now before you all started painiking we actually weren´t that far away from Brasil, probably no more than a kilometre or two... but this was certainly something we hadn´t expected!! The bus trip from Bonito to Foz do Iguacu had been long, delayed but pretty [View Full Entry]

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I don't like to travel in a hurry. I like to enjoy the place I'm visiting, feel the atmosphere, do some sightseeing, eat the local food, have a chat with the locals... But this time I coudn't do it. It was a short trip to a place with lots to see, so I knew I'd not sleep much and would have to watch the clock in order to see as much as possible. When I told my friends I was heading to Ciudad del Este to take a quick look, they all tried to convince me not to go. "It's dodgy, [View Full Entry]

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La patate ce matin, je dois me faire les chutes côté argentin et visiter la ville frontalière de Puerto Iguaçu, je suis ravi. Problème... il fait super gris. Je prends mon ti-déj seul dans la salle, il n'y a pas d'autres pensionnaires en ce moment. Merde, il flotte et franchement en plus ! Je suis déçu, il va falloir que je modifie mes plans, j'irai aujourd'hui à Ciudad del Este et a Itaipu. La nana de la pousada m'explique où prendre mon bus et me file les dernières recommandations : rien dans les poches (pas mal de pickpockets dans ce bus, [View Full Entry]

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i know this blog is really out of date but i{ll do my best to catch up! so, we actually walked into paraguay across the friendship bridge from brazil into paraguay, you{d imagine it was a little rope bridge across a jungle or something (or maybe thats just me being silly¿¿), anyway it wasn{t and the border town, ciudad del este didnt look all that enticing. so we trekked across the bridge with our excessively large backpack in about 40degrees of midday heat and arrived on the other side at the customs office v.v.v.sweaty! i handed over my passport first and [View Full Entry]

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day 9...my credit card has still not arrived... i am begining to feel like i am stuck in an episode of survivor living off dodgey hostel food. anyways...the most corrupt city in South America... i have not seen too much corruption in south america although i would have to agree that this place must have it´s fair share. i decided to get out and do a bit more travel and not let the hinderance of having no accessable funds get me down. As with all australians, canadians and USA-íans we need a visa to enter paraguay...this visa cost 40 dollars US [View Full Entry]

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Foz de Iguazu sijaitsee Brasilian, Paraguayn ja Argentiinan rajalla. Tänne saavuttiin aamusella, joten hotellin löytymisen jälkeen hypättiin bussiin ja matkustettiin Ciudad del Esteen Paraguayn puolelle. Kaupunki on tunnettu Etelä-Amerikan suurimpana shoppailupaikkana ja brasilialaiset ja argentiinalaiset tuppaavat itsekin käydä siellä ostoksilla. Paikka taitaa myös olla tunnettu rahanpesusta ja salakuljetuksista. Brasilian ja Paraguayn rajalla ei tarvinnut (tai me ei ainakaan) pysähtyä näyttämään passia vaan sen kuin vain meni bussilla vain yli. Shoppailukojut ja ns. tavaratalot löytyivät [View Full Entry]

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After our adventure in Brazil, we hit a parrilla to fill our stomachs and headed to bed fairly early, a consequence of not sleeping much on the coche cama, and the fact that Puerto Iguazu isn´t a place to spend resources on nightlife. The next morning, we awoke, and found the bus to Parque Nacional Iguazu . Considered by many the premier waterfalls in the world, they straddle the Brazil / Argentina border on the Rio Iguazu. While the Brazil side affords a more complete panorama, the Argentina side gives you greater access to and closer views of th [View Full Entry]

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Paraguay To be honest, although i did go over to Paraguay (on my own) I only spent two hours there visiting a couple of shops, and so was little more than another stamp in the old passport (which I am annoyed to say i didnt actually get. Paraguay is the second poorest country in South America (after Bolivia), but does have very low taxes on consumer products which makes it very popular with Brazilians and others a Duty free shopping destination. I would like to say that my reasons for visiting the country carried a little more depth but alas they [View Full Entry]

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