Hotel Cassino Foz de Iguacu

... a sizzling hotplate of various meats which gets topped up with more meat on request. More blood sausage and chorizo please.<br><br>Time for a quick 'isn't the world weird' moment from A: I know this is stating the obvious, but the way the world is divided into countries is just weird. In the UK it's different- yes there are boders within the UK but the differences aren't THAT stark and when you do go to a completely different country you have to make a BIG TRIP on a plane ...

... don't think any pictures could do that place justice. It's something I think everybody should see in their lifetime. <br>Argentina is much cheaper than Brazil which is a relief! We've been eating 10oz steak, salad and a side for a fiver and they drink beer by the litre, sharing it like wine, for about a pound. Met some more really nice people who we plan to hook up with in Buenos Aires. Don't know where to next!

Im Gegensatz zur Argentinischen Seite zeigt die Brasilianische Seite die ganze Pracht der Faelle in der Uebersicht. Es war zwar bewoelkt und zwischendurch recht nass, trotzdem sieht man die faszinierende Schoenheit und ungeheure Kraft dieser einmaligen Wasserfaelle deutlich. <br>

... to take photos of big power lines, here there were substations, transformers and a view from inside the plant of a spinning rotor. There was even a control room to keep me entertained.<br>As the Parana river is the border between Brazil and Paraguay, the plant is half owned by each country (complete with border lines marked on the floor, so you can stand in both countries at once). The dam itself is almost frightening in its size ...

... The view out the window past the main desk while checking in is of the falls, which is a little distracting from the business at hand, but is a good start to what is in store. We were upgraded to a view room (the other side faces the 'jungle'), which I highly recommend. Walking into our room, the view outside was a magnificent panorama of the falls.<br><br>By this time it was early afternoon, a few thunderstorms had started up, and the hotel was experiencing frequent power outages ...

Sunday 1 August, 2009 - Foz de Iguacu<br><br>Another overnight bus journey later and we're deposited at the hotel early in the morning in Foz de Iguacu onthe Brazilian side of crossroads of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil that is the waterfalls of the Iguacu river.<br><br>The overnight bus journey was entirely tolerable. The bus was huge and the seats were like beds - so I am happy to say that for the first time in my life I slept well on ...

... systems are interconnected. Who designed these things must have only lived in the tropics, because the sub-tropics can indeed go below freezing as I painfully realized. My plan of layering to deal with the cold I'll later experience in Peru quickly dissolved as with 6 layers -- 2 shirts, 2 thermal layer shirts, my vest and my wind breaker did little to stop my shivering ...

I´ve seen it in pictures. I´ve seen it in movies. But until you´ve seen Iguazu Falls, up close and personal, you have no idea how spectacular it is. Spelled Iguazu, Iguaçu or Iguassu (depending on who you ask or who´s side you are on), It is so vast and so powerful. We were given two wonderful days, first on the Brazilian side and the on the Argentinian side. We were given sunshine and rainbows. We saw coatis, alligators and gorgeous birds and butterflies of every color ...

... they had Spanish prices. Ciudad del Este, the paraguayan city I am speaking about is a chaos of people trying to sell you stuff, at least in the area close to the border. The funny thing is that you get into one of this ...

... we were right at the back of this photo)... <br><br> <br><br>...to which we can get a bit closer thanks to Mr Zoom Lens... <br><br> <br><br>...and then we pulled very close to one of the waterfalls before turning sharply around, getting ...