tres fronteras
my already overflowing passport took a battering yesterday; exit stamp from argentina, two entries and an exit from brazil and entry and exit from paraguay. we crossed from puerto iguazu into its sister falls watching base in brazil, foz de iguazu, in the mid morning but, within an hour or so of arrival, were on another bus heading to another border, the chaotic blurred space between brazil and paraguay. we were, in all honesty, only really heading into ciudad del este to say that we had at least set foot in paraguay but it was not a wasted couple of hours. the place is a giant tacky electronics supermarket, but it was like stepping back into the haphazard craziness that parts of me wished our entire south american trip had been lived out in. motorbikes laden with impossibly large parcels, grabby shopkeepers ready to berate plead and haggle, men selling portable sewing machines out of bags, women selling socks, this is what travelling should be about! a fun, if slightly ridiculous, place, it is a shame that paraguay could not offer more attractions to entice us in more effectively.the brazilian side of the iguazu falls was as expected, a better view of the overall sweep of the falls: worth going, but after the excitement of the first look on the argentinian side it was always going to struggle to match the initial euphoria. although the falls were basically the same on either side of the border however, other things have changed in a way not suggested by the brevity of our one hour bus ride. people are thinner, darker and better looking, but most noticeably brazil is eye wateringly expensive. painfully so. even mcdonalds, so often a respite from expensive locales, let me down by being more expensive then back in london. off to rio tonight: we are both wary by the absurd prices of hostel rooms, but hopefully an absence of any more expensive bus trips or tours coupled with beaches and sunshine should see us through.
posted by bicrom @ 7:52 pm
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