Hotel San Rafael Ciudad Del Este

... br><br>It turned out to be surprisingly easy to get there and, although I was a little late, I joined in a tour that involved a video and then a quick look around the bowels of the dam itself. It's a pretty impresssive feat of engineering and absolutely gigantic project. Unfortunately, it seems as though there was a lot of corruption involved in the deal to build the thing and Paraguay seems to be stuck with a massive debt, whereas Brazil ...

... in the distance. Despite being about 8.30am, the place was laready very busy, with people and tour groups milling around everywhere and generally getting in my way. <br><br>My plan was first to board the train that takes you to "La Garganta del Diablo" or "The Devil's Throat" - a enormous cavern of water that forms the largest waterfall in the park. However, when I saw the gigantic queue of people waiting for the train who obviously had the ...

... shops and it's busy and tacky and generally quite unpleasant.<br><br>So there I was waiting at the border for the next bus, which I was assured would arrive within an hour. Not too bad, I thought. Two and a half hours later I was still waiting. By this time it was dark and I couldn't get a definite answer as to whether this bus would ever arrive... I was stressed, fed up and very tired.<br><br>I ended up making the decision to stay the night in CDE. Unfortunately, as it was ...

After breakfast I wander across to the bus station to get a local bus to the falls. <br>I am conned, not that it takes much, into purchasing a jungle and boat ride. It has to be done, you have at times to become the complete tourist.<br>It is a local bus so we take in one or two local stops before heading out of town to the Parque Nacional Iguazu.<br>Here for a few dollars more $15, I get access to the Argentine side of the falls and my jungle ...

... together at a cafe down the street. After this we came back to the hostel, for a bit, and I booked my Iguazu Falls trip for the next day.<br><br>At 7pm we caught a bus to the hostel`s sister hostel - Hostel Inn Iguazu - ten minutes down the road for a big BBQ that they were having. When we arrived we were blown away by how amazingly nice the place was. It costs only five pesos more for a dorm room (a total of forty-five), yet it`s like some kind of holiday resort. The pool is ...

... wait in line and then baffle the assistant who just cannot believe that he is being asked to send post cards and put stamps on them - it seems to take an eternity to complete the transaction. <br><br>Now - another overnight bus to Uruguay. This time less comfy and less sleeping. We did manage to play some cards avoiding the attendant who was busy trying to give us and others food etc.<br><br>On my iPod<br><br>

... side and allowed you to see so much more. After coming to the end of the tour, Rolfe mocked a sign saying ´watch the slippery steps´...he fell. Hurt himself. We laughed.<br><br>We were then dropped off at the sister hostel in foz on the argentinian side, cooked some pizza, threw a rugby ball around, relaxed in a hammock and performed some first aid on some loony Argentinian bloke who sliced a massive gash in ...

... the trees. In the afternoon we went on a tractor drawn coach around one of the ten trails that they have here. In this we were able to see some of the different flora and fauna and as well we saw an animal that we do not know the name but it is like a very large squirrel, about twice the normal size in fact. It is a very nice place to stay for a few days, we could stay for a week but are trying to catch up a bit of time and so shall leave in the morning.

... funny as we drove by the Argentina border crossing on our way to the falls on June 1! Given the proximity, we decided to leave our bags at the guesthouse in Foz do Iguacu and would return and make our border crossing to Argentina after visiting the Brasilian side of the Falls. It all sounds much more confusing than it is. <br><br>We paid the R$40 to enter on the Brasilian side of the Falls. The first reaction was how huge and massive they are. I had ...

... border, so, i had nothing better to do but walking from the bus station to the border, i like to get a map and just walk. I took 30 minutes, but i really anted to leave that city, i had the feeling somebody was going to pick-pocket me, and i am from Bogota, I am use to that, but this city seem to be untrusting. The border is in parana river, I walked all across the bridge and at the end I passed throug imigration. I realized now I was in Brazil ...