Three Countries, One Day

Being at Iguassu Falls gives you the opportunity to visit all three countries that meet here at 'Tres Fronteras' - Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. 

Yesterday Milena and I went to the Brazilian side of the Falls, and they are breathtaking. Such an amazing sight. As we rounded the corner of the forest trail and caught our first sight I couldn't help but stop and point. I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open. What a loser. But it was a view I'd wanted to see since I was a child, and it was worth the wait. And the 15 hours on the bus to get here. 

We did the whole trail, crescendoing with the awe-inspiring, and soaking, Devil's Throat. There are platforms that go right to the lip and look down over the pouring water. And the best part was the rainbow stretching across the canyon at the foot of the falling water. Absolutely beautiful. 

We are going to the Argentinian side of the Falls tomorrow to do a boat trip and do the other activities on that side. But today we decided to stay dry and go to Paraguay for the afternoon. Casual. 

We took the bus from Puerto Iguazú, Argentina to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay this afternoon, and found that the bus went back through Brazil to get there. Although we didn't have to stop at the Brazilian border, so we just got our Argentinian exit stamps and Paraguayan ones. 

Ciudad del Este seems to be an electronics and shopping mecca for people from all the surrounding countries. As soon as you're through the border you're confronted with markets, department stores and street-sellers peddling everything from handbags to iPhones. It reminded me of Akihabara in Tokyo. And I actually found an iPhone 5S for the equivalent of £108. I was so tempted. But no, if something was wrong with it, I'd never get that money back. So I refrained. 

The interesting thing was that, being on the triple border, most places took a variety of currency. The place we had lunch asked if we wanted to pay for it in Uruguayan Guarani, Brazilian Real, Argentinian Pesos or US dollars. Spoilt for choice! 

The ATMs also give you the option to withdraw US dollars, which is very handy, as you can exchange dollars on the black market in Argentina for a much more favourable rate than the official rate. The current official rate is 7 pesos to the dollar, whereas you can get 13 pesos by talking to the "right" people. 

Leaving Paraguay, we had to wait over an hour at the border for the bus back to Argentina (via Brazil of course) so that was a bit of a grind, but we got back eventually, our passports even more overflowing with exit and entry stamps. 

It was interesting that Ciudad del Este was the first place I've been to in the last three weeks that I've actually felt was a developing country. Everywhere else in Brazil and Argentina could have easily been Spain or Italy. I need to get used to it though, I imagine Peru to be quite similar. But I'll find that out in just over a week! 

15 Hours on a Bus

And I survived! It's the longest I've ever been on a mode of transport, including flying, so it was a bit of a trial. We had to go for the Convencional bus, which is the cheapest, so it got us from Sao Paulo to Foz do Iguacu for 30 pounds, which is really good. But it also meant limited legroom, a slightly reclining seat and not a lot of other comforts. But it was actually fine. We had regular stops for toilets (there was a toilet on the bus though) and we even went to a couple of roadhouses where they gave us all an electronic card and we took food from a hot buffet and then paid our tab on the way out. Not too shabby!

For me, as someone who is prone to travel sickness just driving down my road in Birmingham, I was worried that it would be a hellish journey. I took a couple of travel sickness pills before we left, and if they did anything then they worked, because I was fine, and even got a few hours sleep.

We have another long bus journey coming up soon, from Puerto Iguazú (on the Argentinian side of Iguassu Falls) to Buenos Aires, but we're going to splash out the extra 10 pounds and go for a semi-cama one, which should recline to almost bed gradient, and apparently they serve you food too!

Overall, as quite an uptight traveller, I was impressed with the journey and am no longer worried about going long distances by bus. Which is handy really, as I have a hell of a lot of them coming up! But not Buenos Aires to Peru. That mother of a distance is getting flown.

Tomorrow Milena and I are finally going to visit Iguassu Falls themselves (on the Brazilian side) so I can fulfil that dream. Along my trip I have several glowing hotspots that I'm really looking forward to seeing, and this is one of them. Hopefully it won't disappoint!