The bus got into Iguazu late in the afternoon and being on the bus for that long basically even though I was sleeping very well it was tiring. In addition to that the weather when I got to Iguazu was pouring with rain. So I decided to go to sleep for the remainder of the day and enjoy the air-conditioning which was making a puddle on the floor next to my bed. I had a walk around the town in between the sleeping and dreaming which didn't end up being much really.. The town itself was like 2 streets that was about it. The city or town on the Argentine side called Puerto Iguazu isn't that big or that populated. But it had it's special charm I think being that small it had a small town feel even though it was actually on the border of the biggest country in South America.
Then next day upon hearing about the great shopping opportunity in Paraguay I went there to have a look for myself.. It was in my mind similar to that of China.. All the street vendors you can imagine selling all the electrical gadgets you can imagine heaps of cameras and cellphones.. But I was struggling to want to buy anything there, for the fear that it would break on me within 5 minutes of buying it.
Alas... There was a small shop with a nice well strange old lady selling steak spaghetti for a reasonable price which i decided to have lunch at. It was quite amazing lunch I have to admit for the price that it was somewhere in the realm of NZ$3 there was a huge plate of spaghetti and a hefty serving of steak with it.
Oh I almost forgot about the issues at the Paraguayan border. My god it was amazing how horrible that was. I went on the bus from Argentina to Paraguay right, which went through brazil without stopping at immigration which I found was quite strange but anyway... I got to Paraguay and thought i'd be a respectable individual and go to the border control to sort out the stamp and visa issue.. I had heard from everyone else that there would be no charge for the visa if you were staying for less than 1 day in the territory but the guy at immigration told me I had to pay him US$30 for a stamp to enter..
After a couple of the guys who were on the bus with me at the time, who could speak spanish talked to the guy and asked to speak to the supervisor and I refused to pay the amount. The supervisor told him to stamp my passport anyway with the visa and told me that I would not be allowed to go 100 km into the country but would be able to stay in the shopping area for 1 day.. This made me very weary of the Paraguayan immigration and their way of making money for themselves by tricking tourists into paying for a visa when they don't necessary need one.
Just another thing to keep in mind at border crossing around the world no matter where you are.
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Iguazu, Argentina
ok so Iguazu falls from the Argentinean side.. I didn't actually realized this but some of the girls that was in the hostel in BA was in Iguazu as well the 2 australian girls specifically Julia and Hannah they were really fun so we decided to go to the falls together.
We did the jungle trail which was chosen by all of us as the most exciting as there was a rubber boat that we boarded and we saw alot of the wild life around the falls. It was also the one we chose because Julia had another adventure booked for that afternoon.. To get to the start of the tour we were supposed to take a train but we being adventurous thought that we'd walk along side the train tracks which was recommended by Julia as we would have to wait around 15 minutes for the train otherwise.. There was mud everywhere and water and pot holes basically it wasn't the best way to get there and mid way though the train went past as we were dodging everything.. We got to the start it was pretty cool.. I worked out an ingenious way of keeping our cameras dry but still being able to take photos on the water.. We actually got to see a crocodile and all sorts of spiders and stuff.. It was quite amazing I can't remember everything about what the tour guide said but it was pretty interesting..
After the eco tour Julia left us and went to her adventure and left me and Hannah to do the rest of the park it was pretty cool.. We went for a giant walk around and ended up at the part where we do the jet boat under the falls it was amazing but very very very wet.. There is a video of us under the falls. We for another walk on the other side of island which was cool as well as there was a vulture at the top of the mountain ish thing.. We then went back to catch the bus back to the hostel as it was getting late.
When Julia got back and we had all had a shower and stuff we went out for dinner. I had a giant steak and they both had salad I think but we polished off a bottle of wine which was pretty nice. It was a very nice meal I have to say. The girls were going back to BA the next day as they were going to Uruguay then to Paris.
But for me the falls at Iguazu were still not finished as I have still not been to the devils throat it was amazing when I got there you could never imagine how fierce water can be there was back spray as high as a 3 story building. I was amazed I didn't know that water was able to defy the laws of gravity. In this place it was able to water was actually traveling upward instead of down. It was worth the ticket price just to see this. Anyways after this I ended my stay in Iguazu and went onto a place in the north western part of Argentina called Salta.
We did the jungle trail which was chosen by all of us as the most exciting as there was a rubber boat that we boarded and we saw alot of the wild life around the falls. It was also the one we chose because Julia had another adventure booked for that afternoon.. To get to the start of the tour we were supposed to take a train but we being adventurous thought that we'd walk along side the train tracks which was recommended by Julia as we would have to wait around 15 minutes for the train otherwise.. There was mud everywhere and water and pot holes basically it wasn't the best way to get there and mid way though the train went past as we were dodging everything.. We got to the start it was pretty cool.. I worked out an ingenious way of keeping our cameras dry but still being able to take photos on the water.. We actually got to see a crocodile and all sorts of spiders and stuff.. It was quite amazing I can't remember everything about what the tour guide said but it was pretty interesting..
After the eco tour Julia left us and went to her adventure and left me and Hannah to do the rest of the park it was pretty cool.. We went for a giant walk around and ended up at the part where we do the jet boat under the falls it was amazing but very very very wet.. There is a video of us under the falls. We for another walk on the other side of island which was cool as well as there was a vulture at the top of the mountain ish thing.. We then went back to catch the bus back to the hostel as it was getting late.
When Julia got back and we had all had a shower and stuff we went out for dinner. I had a giant steak and they both had salad I think but we polished off a bottle of wine which was pretty nice. It was a very nice meal I have to say. The girls were going back to BA the next day as they were going to Uruguay then to Paris.
But for me the falls at Iguazu were still not finished as I have still not been to the devils throat it was amazing when I got there you could never imagine how fierce water can be there was back spray as high as a 3 story building. I was amazed I didn't know that water was able to defy the laws of gravity. In this place it was able to water was actually traveling upward instead of down. It was worth the ticket price just to see this. Anyways after this I ended my stay in Iguazu and went onto a place in the north western part of Argentina called Salta.
Colonia, Uguraray
ok I think I'm supposed to write about Colonia .. A fascinating place but not quite as fascinating as the place I'm writing this blog post at.. I'm on a train from Nice to Milan and there is power plugs and a table for me to write this blog post it's actually quite cool.. I have to say.. Alright back to my blog post which is supposed to be about Colonia.
Colonia is a small town in Ururgray across the bay from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I went with a couple of guys I met from the hostel. We had heard from other people that have been to Colonia before that we were able to rent a golf cart and drive around the entire city for around US$40.. So we decided to rent one and have abit of fun with it.. Actually I think the exact words we were told about the experience was the terrify the residents of colonia by hooning around.. The only problem with what we were told was that what they ment by hoon was actually only 40km/h which isn't fast at all... but ya know..
We went along the beach part of town cause I thought that there'd be somewhere cool to get something to eat.. but since we'd already eaten in the town of colonia. It was alright.. We actually managed to find the place where they had bull fights.. It was falling apart and probably neglected for a very long time but it was still pretty cool to see... It was fenced off but we broke in anyway and I went to the top of the crumbling stairs and got a photo before I was too scared to go any further and were told by the guys that I was traveling with that I was insane.. Actually looking back on it.. I don't quite know how I managed to get the courage to do that, when I'm usually the last one to do anything at home.
Well after that debacle we went back toward the ocean and got to the end where previously we saw a man with his horses at the side of the road.. One of the group whom knew spanish went and asked the man how much it was for a horse ride. The answer was ARP$3 for an hour.. So we all said yes for the ride on the horses to which the guy took us around to where the sheraton hotel started and went on the beach then when back to where we parked our golf cart... It was one memorable part of the trip to which I named my horse "George"... We went to a bar near the ferry terminal for a beer then went back to Buenos Aires that night... The next day was to be my last day in buenos aires.
On the last day I went to La Bolca the place where the soccer team of buenos aires plays home games. It was amazing and full of color and life.. Although you could definitely tell that it was a tourist town with all the people dressed in tango gear and wanting to take a photo of you in hopes of charging you around ARP$10 for it. I guess that wasn't too bad to get your photo taken with a really hot tango dancer but the problem was the need to have to pay for the privilege it's almost like paying for a hooker. For that reason alone I didn't like the concept.
But after that I went and caught a train out to the suburbs to have a look at how actual argentine people live and its a very strange mix of life I have to say. There was people selling every kind of thing you can imagine ranging from toothpaste to light bulbs.. Yelling and screaming on the train and the one that amazed me the most was the man who was blasting his radio with argentine songs and then asking people for money for the privilege of hearing music on the train.. I didn't understand this one.. But you know.. Normal life in Argentina I think maybe quite grueling, from what I saw there was noticeable poverty in the suburbs but then again I didn't really go into the suburbs to really see the difference..
This adventure will be left until next time I think. I went back to the city, got my bags and went to catch my overnight bus to Iguazu.
Colonia is a small town in Ururgray across the bay from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I went with a couple of guys I met from the hostel. We had heard from other people that have been to Colonia before that we were able to rent a golf cart and drive around the entire city for around US$40.. So we decided to rent one and have abit of fun with it.. Actually I think the exact words we were told about the experience was the terrify the residents of colonia by hooning around.. The only problem with what we were told was that what they ment by hoon was actually only 40km/h which isn't fast at all... but ya know..
We went along the beach part of town cause I thought that there'd be somewhere cool to get something to eat.. but since we'd already eaten in the town of colonia. It was alright.. We actually managed to find the place where they had bull fights.. It was falling apart and probably neglected for a very long time but it was still pretty cool to see... It was fenced off but we broke in anyway and I went to the top of the crumbling stairs and got a photo before I was too scared to go any further and were told by the guys that I was traveling with that I was insane.. Actually looking back on it.. I don't quite know how I managed to get the courage to do that, when I'm usually the last one to do anything at home.
Well after that debacle we went back toward the ocean and got to the end where previously we saw a man with his horses at the side of the road.. One of the group whom knew spanish went and asked the man how much it was for a horse ride. The answer was ARP$3 for an hour.. So we all said yes for the ride on the horses to which the guy took us around to where the sheraton hotel started and went on the beach then when back to where we parked our golf cart... It was one memorable part of the trip to which I named my horse "George"... We went to a bar near the ferry terminal for a beer then went back to Buenos Aires that night... The next day was to be my last day in buenos aires.
On the last day I went to La Bolca the place where the soccer team of buenos aires plays home games. It was amazing and full of color and life.. Although you could definitely tell that it was a tourist town with all the people dressed in tango gear and wanting to take a photo of you in hopes of charging you around ARP$10 for it. I guess that wasn't too bad to get your photo taken with a really hot tango dancer but the problem was the need to have to pay for the privilege it's almost like paying for a hooker. For that reason alone I didn't like the concept.
But after that I went and caught a train out to the suburbs to have a look at how actual argentine people live and its a very strange mix of life I have to say. There was people selling every kind of thing you can imagine ranging from toothpaste to light bulbs.. Yelling and screaming on the train and the one that amazed me the most was the man who was blasting his radio with argentine songs and then asking people for money for the privilege of hearing music on the train.. I didn't understand this one.. But you know.. Normal life in Argentina I think maybe quite grueling, from what I saw there was noticeable poverty in the suburbs but then again I didn't really go into the suburbs to really see the difference..
This adventure will be left until next time I think. I went back to the city, got my bags and went to catch my overnight bus to Iguazu.
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