Blogs from Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, South America - page 5

For everyone who thinks of government as a nightmare and for those who pray to the bible of Laisser-faire, Ciudade del Este, Paraguay is your paradisio. With a population estimated at near 140,000 this small town on the Paraguayan border with Brazil, a bridge away from the Brazilian tourism town of Foz do Iguaçu, Ciudade del Este boasts a tax-free market that draws attention from buyers in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. Cross over the Puente de la Amistad (“Friendship Bridge”) from the relatively wealthy Brazilian Foz do Iguaçu and even on a rainy day you will be stuck (whether walking or driving) in a traffic jam that spans the length of the bridge and into the crowded, merchandise filled streets. Border control is a laughable matter here where in plastic garbage bags people cross carrying goods ... read more

As the title suggests we just popped into Paragury to collect a border stamp and add to our list of countries visited. We jumped on the bus in Brazil, Foz D'Iguassu and got off in Paraguay. We had to ask the border official for a stamp who seemed quite surprised! We then spent no more than half an hour walking up the street from the border and back. No impression can be made of a country where we spent minutes but there were certainly enough market stalls selling anything and everything to have kept us busy all day. Nevertheless we headed straight back to Brazil in order to move on to Argentina. Three countries in one day - not bad! ... read more

Ciudad del Este in Paraguay is within a half an hour bus ride from Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, where we spent the night. From what I've read, the city supposed to be a chaotic little town, lively with many markets and duty free goods, which are big here in South America. On top of that, Ciudad del Este is famous to be the most corrupt city in the continent. Many Brazilians and Argentines go to Ciudad del Este to find some goodies, which considered very cheap compared to its counterparts in Foz or Puerto Iguazú. That is very nice and generous description of the city. The downfall of the situation is that many criminals are walking freely here, assuming that you have a lot of duty free goodies and eventually would mug you (which mostly happening ... read more

From Foz Do Iguazu (the Brazilian city near the falls) we took a day trip into Paraguay. We crossed the ´Friendship Bridge´by local bus and entered ´Ciudad del Este´without passing border control or any checkpoint. It certainly felt like a different country when we stepped off the bus though. Every shop had armed guards standing outside. At one point we wandered through what we assume was a cash pick up, just like a scene from a big budget Hollywood action film, numerous very heavily armed men were spread at strategic points from the van to bank. We have grown used to people carrying guns during our travels in South America, but Ciudad del Este was something else. On the bus back many Brazilians were carrying televisions and other electrical goods, seemingly making the most of the ... read more