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Published: September 11th 2011
Rob Writes: We weren’t quite at Argentina yet, we still had to visit the Brazilian side of the Iguaçu Falls. After the 21 hours on a bus the plan was to head to the hostel where we would leave our bags and head to the falls. Only problem was, we didn’t actually know where the hostel was. Fortunately there was a McDonalds nearby where we could fire up the net-book and take advantage of the free wifi. It also turned out we took advantage of the new boy serving us who gave us two free burgers. I was due to pay R$9 for my burgers, gave the boy R$100 note and he gave me R$101 change! Obviously I never noticed his mistake until it was way too late to go back do the honest thing. Shame. Anyway, we found the hostel eventually, left the bags and headed out. By the time we got to the bus stop it was getting on three in the afternoon and we were very, very tired, so rather than rush to the falls we went back to the hostel, did a laundry and then hit the hey for a good, well deserved sleep. The hostel
we stayed in was called Your Place Hostel and cost us £28 for the night.
The next day we were up early. First thing was to cram as much ham cheese and bread down us as per usual at breakfast and head out to the bus stop again, albeit feeling a bit sick this time rather than tired. We took the bus to the falls (90p) and were soon queuing up to get in (£15.50). The falls were great and it’s quite amazing to watch due to the sheer amount of water tumbling over them. They seemed quite violent compared to what I had seen in pictures. I don’t know if it was due to the time of year or the fact that it had been raining heavy for the last few days where we were. We got soaked getting so close... all the way to the pants. It was very exciting at the time. It wasn’t nice 30 minutes later however when we had left the falls and had to spend the rest of the day soaking until we got to our hostel in Argentina. It was a chilly day too. Unfortunately our camera had broken. This was
due to the spray coming off the falls. That camera was only one day away from retirement.
We squelched along back to the hostel in Foz do Iguaçu, collected our bags and then headed to Argentina on the bus. The border was a bit frightening. We’ve never crossed a border before and didn’t know what to do. It’s quite easy though it turned out. You get off the bus, get your passport stamped by the Brazilian border patrol, head through no-man’s land, then off the bus again to get another stamp this time by the Argentines.
This time our hostel was called La Esquina del Bambu (£19 a night) and we were to stay for two nights. When we arrived we got changed (finally) and went for a look around, got something to eat and then went to bed as we were shattered. This travelling takes it out of you more than you would imagine!
We woke the next day with the plan to go back to see the falls, but this time from the Argentinean side (£15). We had heard this side was better for viewing the falls, which we can confirm it was! The views
were incredible, there was less wetness and the weather was good. The only disappointment was that the water level in some of the viewing areas was too high so they had been closed. Included in this was the viewing area to see Garganta del Diablo, also known as the devils throat, which was one of the bigger falls which you can stand above and look down into. Despite this we still had a fantastic day.
Good news everyone! We woke this morning to find the camera was now fixed!! We took the battery and memory card out and left it out to dry with our soggy pants. Who would have thought that was going to work. Couldn’t be happier. There was me thinking we were going to have to live on bread and water for the next few months.
We have another long journey ahead of us tomorrow. We will be getting a bus to Buenos Aires (£70) which is going to take 18 hours according to my ticket. At least we get fed and are treated to champagne though :D
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clair
non-member comment
water hazard
haahahahah- wan day fae retirement, hey they falls look just like the campsies!!! I WISH.