The Last Few Days,

Been kinda slack with this!

The rest of the 17th was spent eating BBQ and having a few drinks wih Eliseu and who ever else was about. Just as we were finishing dinner a huge storm hit, and Eliseu and I decided it was the perfect oportunity to go swimming! When were we ever going to get to swim during a tropical storm again?? After a few mins a whole bunch of people joined us and we ended up being in the pool for a fair old while until we all realised that it was actually getting pretty cold!! Got out, dried off and chilled out on the steps of the hostel sheltered from the rain watching the storm- Made friends with a Swiss couple, and the guy happened to be a chef, he promptly offered to cook for 8 of us the next day, great!

18/08/09

Got up early and went to town to head over to the Brazilian side of the falls - its only about 30mins away by bus. On the way there I got chatting to a Brit, Robert, and we somehow between us got through the bus system and the language barrier (Portugese) and made it to the falls. The park itself was a very ´day trippy´kind of place, lots of older people taking the gentle walk around the trail. Also, to do anything else in the park, any of the other trails or activities you had to pay extra! On the upside the veiw of the falls themselves were spectacular. The actual falls are on the Argentinian side of the river, so the Brazilian side gives you an incredible overview - a veiw that after visiting the Argentinian side the next day I decided I prefered- It didn´t take too long, only 2hours, so I was back in Iquazu pretty quick.

Relaxed with some wine and chatted to some of the people from the night before, then just before dinner was ready (Roger the Swiss was preparing food for nearly 3 hours, and he did it all using his penknife...) Eliseu and I set up a table complete with copious bottles of red wine - that was pretty much how the evening went after that: eating amazing food (possibly the best meal of the trip so far), drinking wine, and playing pool very badly!!

19/08/09

Woke up feeling a little ropey, all that wine didn´t do me much good! Got up, showered and went for breakfast. Just as I was sitting down Eliseu comes in with a load of eggs and offers me a cooked breakfast! Fantastic! After that and numerous cups of tea I was feeling fortified and ready to tackle the Argentine side of the falls.

The park on the Argentine side is much bigger, with much better and longer trails, it´s also much busier, and if it wasn´t for annoyingly loud groups of 30´s-40´s tourists I would have got some amazing photos of kingfishers and even a humming bird! The falls themselves though didn´t really do it for me. Yep, they´re big, and noisy, but after the first few I found myself just thinking, ´oh look, a waterfall´, ´I wonder whats round this next corner, could it be a waterfall?´ Maybe I´m being a little harsh on them, and undoubtly I didnt see them in their best light, it was a grey and rainy day, but there we go.

In the evening relaxed, stayed off a big booze session and played dominos - Rock´n´Roll... I had an early start to get Asuncion, Paraguay though, so I think I can be forgiven.

20/08/09

Got up early, had breakfast and said my goodbyes to all the people that I had met. Most of us were leaving at some point on that day so is was quite a nice way to end my time in Iguazu really.

Got to the bus station and was told that they didn´t do direct busses to Asuncion, Paraguay, from Iguazu. But they could sell me a ticket to go there from Foz de Iguacu, the town by the Brazilian falls, and also where the bus to Asuncion began its route, so I was guaranteed a seat. Great I thought, Foz de Iguacu is only 30mins away, and it easy to get to, this will be a walk in the park.

Wrong. Got to Foz de Iguacu ok, and completed all the Brazilian border formalities. The bus dropped me at the bus terminal with about 2 hours to go. Perfect. Except there are 2 bus terminals, and I wasn´t at the right one... Luckly, a very helpful tourist guide showed me the right bus to get, and I could even pay in Argentine Pesos. Got to the right bus station and was told by the company the the bus wasn´t actually running from there, but it was starting in Cuidad del Este, Paraguay (somewhere you can get a quick direct bus to from Iguazu, Argentina!!) so they would pay for a taxi for me and the middle aged couple also meant to be taking the bus to go to Cuidad del Este and straight to the companies bus terminal to get on the bus. 40mins or so later I was in Paraguay and waiting at a small terminal in the middle of nowhere. The bus did show up though, and I did eventually get to Asuncion at about 22:00!

By this time I just wanted to get my head down, so I headed to one of the hotels by the terminal. Big mistake, I should have got cash and forked out for a taxi to town... The hotel cost GBP6 and was a huge room, or was one huge room now that a crude archway about 5ft tall had been made in one wall connecting two rooms. Technically I had two bathrooms at my disposal, although one was simply a room of broken tiles and capped pipes. The other (the working one!) had a piece of glass missing from the window, and a strange smell that I quite glad I didn´t work out the origin of. I slept in my sleeping bag rather than brave the bed.

21/08/09

Got up really early and went to the bus station. On the way into Asuncion on the night before I had seen something that really shocked me, and I decided that unless I could give a good 4 or 5 days to the city getting to know it properly, I didn´t want to stick around too long - and 4 or 5 days is just too long at the mo, I don´t have all that long left really. On the way in spotted people living at the sides of the road, and on open patches of grass, in small makeshift tents made out of any waterproof material they could find. A whole family in a space no bigger than 8ft by 4ft and only about 4ft high.

I got a ticket for 13:00 that day, that way I could get a quick look around the city so it wouldn´t be a totally wasted trip. I left my big bag at the secure storage in the station and struck out to get a bus to the centre. After about 20mins and still not getting a straight answer from anyone I gave up on the bus system and got a taxi to the centre.

The first thing I saw when I got out of the taxi at the biggest square in the city centre was a sea of these makeshift tents. Permantent homes for people in the middle of a huge city. It was horrific, I couldn´t stop myself from crying. It was made worse by the handfull of opulent hotels and office blocks surrounding the square - such contrasts. As I walked through the city the contrast became a common theme. Grand buildings nestled amoungst run down residential properties, and neighbouring out-and-out wood and corrogated iron slums.

After a few hours walking I found a bus back to the terminal (it was considerably easier than getting away from the terminal!!) and got my bus to Resistencia, Argentina. I would love to go back to Asuncion someday and get to grips with it properly. Why are people living like that? Why is there such a divide and inequality? How did these people end up there?

The bus journey to Resistencia was easy enough, although the border crossing took 2hours!! Both the Paraguayan and Argentinian border offices only had 1 window, and there was a nearly constant stream of busses and cars arriving. Alongside the passport checks they also scanned all the lugage too, adding even more time! Got to Resistencia, brought a hideous watch for 15pesos (GBP2ish, my phone battery had died, and I had been saying I needed a watch since before I went!) and 50mins later I was on an overnight coach bound for Salta, further north in Argentina.

22/08/09 - Today!

Got to Salta, found a hostel and had a quick wander around the city. Its stunning, such a change to Asuncion too. Wide clean streets, big green squares and grand public buildings all against the backdrop of mountains. You can take a cable car up the mountain, or there is a trail to walk it, so I think a walk might be on the cards for tomorrow.

Take it easy.