5-23
People had told me that Ciudad de Este in Paraguay was this crazy city, and I kind of wanted to check it out. THe problem is that Paraguay requires a visa for US citizens. At a travelogue presentation in Antarctica, the hilarious Ling had told us how she snuck across the border passed the border patrol to visit it. I remember laughing thinking she was so crazy (not to mention when she talked about llama feathers). I figured since brazil let you go for the day, that maybe paraguay would as well. HOwever, I had heard from Randy that he had gotten a fine for not having a visa in a different part of paraguay (though he had spent the night). So I was kind of thinking I wanted to sneak across the border like Ling. However, I am not quite as crazy as Ling, nor do I want to risk being deported or going to a Paraguayan jail, so I went to the consulate to ask them about visiting for the day. And they told me it was fine. No Problema. As long as I didnt go past Ciudad de este. I figured they knew what they were talking about and headed out.
The bus first goes through brazil (which if course again technically you need a visa but the bus doesnt even stop at border patrol, so its no problem for the day. After going through brazil, you sit in a massive traffic jam going over this bridge into Paraguay, which again the bus doesnt even stop for the border patrol. I explored around ciudad de este for a bit. It reminded me a lot of a crazy Asian border town. It was nothing like any of the cities I had previously been to on this trip. There were big fancy stores selling electronics and perfumes and other such things and then lots of street vendors selling fake electronics, shoes, ripped of CDs, DVDs, and pornos. It was crazy and hectic. Bc every single hostel has wireless, but not always a computer, I was kind of sort of shopping to see how cheap I could get a little tablet thing that would make it easy to skype back home and deal with internet stuff. Turns out it wasnt too cheap, to me. But the people I talked with were all super nice. I really liked the paraguayans. And unlike in Asia, they tell you whether the product is the real thing, a fake version of say the iphone, or just a rip off chinese brand. The truth is, America is still the cheapest place to get electronics. You could get an ipod touch (which has wifi) for 250 bucks or a fake chinese thing for 110. For me not quite worth it. But for SA this is super cheap and there were tons of brazilleros there buying electronics. The city is pretty crazy in that they speak portuguese and spanish and most prices are advertised in US dollars and Brazillian Reals, though you can pay in Paraguayan pesos or argentine pesos. In the end, all I bought was some very cheap and tasty street food.
Bc the bus wasnt there yet, I decided to walk across the bridge from paraguay into brazil where again there was not even any border patrol, just a customs agent checking to see what electronics you bought. So in the end, i was basically free to roam around brazil or paraguay without a visa. Most countries dont need a visa for these countries anyways, but canadians and americans do. I picked up the bus back to puerto Iguazu at Foz Iguaçu (the town on the brazillian side of the falls). It started raining when I got back to Iguazu, but I took my umbrella and walked to Tres Fronteras. This is this area where from the argentine side you stand looking at the confluence of the Rio Parana and Rio Iguazu and across the rivers to Paraguay and Brazil. That evening as it continued to just pour (it would pour all night and the next morning, so I wonder what the falls must have looked like) we had a fun wine night at the hostel with 3 norwegian guys, 2 danish girls, and a welsh gal.
5-25
I had a 25 straight hours bus ride from Iguazu to Salta via Posadas and Resistencia. In Resistencia, I was happy to see Laura from Indiana get on the bus to head to salta.
People had told me that Ciudad de Este in Paraguay was this crazy city, and I kind of wanted to check it out. THe problem is that Paraguay requires a visa for US citizens. At a travelogue presentation in Antarctica, the hilarious Ling had told us how she snuck across the border passed the border patrol to visit it. I remember laughing thinking she was so crazy (not to mention when she talked about llama feathers). I figured since brazil let you go for the day, that maybe paraguay would as well. HOwever, I had heard from Randy that he had gotten a fine for not having a visa in a different part of paraguay (though he had spent the night). So I was kind of thinking I wanted to sneak across the border like Ling. However, I am not quite as crazy as Ling, nor do I want to risk being deported or going to a Paraguayan jail, so I went to the consulate to ask them about visiting for the day. And they told me it was fine. No Problema. As long as I didnt go past Ciudad de este. I figured they knew what they were talking about and headed out.
The bus first goes through brazil (which if course again technically you need a visa but the bus doesnt even stop at border patrol, so its no problem for the day. After going through brazil, you sit in a massive traffic jam going over this bridge into Paraguay, which again the bus doesnt even stop for the border patrol. I explored around ciudad de este for a bit. It reminded me a lot of a crazy Asian border town. It was nothing like any of the cities I had previously been to on this trip. There were big fancy stores selling electronics and perfumes and other such things and then lots of street vendors selling fake electronics, shoes, ripped of CDs, DVDs, and pornos. It was crazy and hectic. Bc every single hostel has wireless, but not always a computer, I was kind of sort of shopping to see how cheap I could get a little tablet thing that would make it easy to skype back home and deal with internet stuff. Turns out it wasnt too cheap, to me. But the people I talked with were all super nice. I really liked the paraguayans. And unlike in Asia, they tell you whether the product is the real thing, a fake version of say the iphone, or just a rip off chinese brand. The truth is, America is still the cheapest place to get electronics. You could get an ipod touch (which has wifi) for 250 bucks or a fake chinese thing for 110. For me not quite worth it. But for SA this is super cheap and there were tons of brazilleros there buying electronics. The city is pretty crazy in that they speak portuguese and spanish and most prices are advertised in US dollars and Brazillian Reals, though you can pay in Paraguayan pesos or argentine pesos. In the end, all I bought was some very cheap and tasty street food.
Bc the bus wasnt there yet, I decided to walk across the bridge from paraguay into brazil where again there was not even any border patrol, just a customs agent checking to see what electronics you bought. So in the end, i was basically free to roam around brazil or paraguay without a visa. Most countries dont need a visa for these countries anyways, but canadians and americans do. I picked up the bus back to puerto Iguazu at Foz Iguaçu (the town on the brazillian side of the falls). It started raining when I got back to Iguazu, but I took my umbrella and walked to Tres Fronteras. This is this area where from the argentine side you stand looking at the confluence of the Rio Parana and Rio Iguazu and across the rivers to Paraguay and Brazil. That evening as it continued to just pour (it would pour all night and the next morning, so I wonder what the falls must have looked like) we had a fun wine night at the hostel with 3 norwegian guys, 2 danish girls, and a welsh gal.
5-25
I had a 25 straight hours bus ride from Iguazu to Salta via Posadas and Resistencia. In Resistencia, I was happy to see Laura from Indiana get on the bus to head to salta.
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