March 26, 2008

• Chapter 3:  Iguazu Falls
  cast members:  Me, Dan, Nam, Frances, Duy, Hieu
  
  The Iguacu Falls are an amazing sight to see.  They stretch out forever and ever and border Brazil and Argentina.  We visited both sides, but each side took us a full day to explore and we still weren't able to do that.  Out of all the cities we went to, Foz do Iguacu had the nicest weather.  It reminded us of home and we did not get attacked by bugs.  Another plus was that our hostel (Bamboo Hostel) was very nice and close to the bus station.   The staff at this hostel has got to be one of the best I've experienced.  They have so much knowledge and were so willing to help us with whatever we needed.  They also had laundry service which we took advantage of!

  The Brazilian side was pretty impressive.  We walked all the way to Devil's Throat in the heat, but once we got there, the spray of the falls cooled us down.  Pictures of the falls do not do them justice at all!

  

  

  We took a raft ride that took us right up to one of the smaller falls (the main one would have killed us!)  We got DRENCHED!  While under it, there was nothing we could do but scream and laugh... LOL.  Cuzzie and I tried to wear rain coats, but the force of the water still soaked through.
  

   

   

  The Argentinian side was a lot tougher to get to.  We had to take a bus to the border and then officially exit Brazil.  Then we took another bus to the Argentinian side to get our entry stamp.  From there, we took another bus to Puerto Iguacu.  From THERE, we finally took another bus to get to the park and when arriving at the park, we had to take 2 trains to get to the area where you can get to the Devil's Gorge where you have to walk for a long time to actually get to the site.  Sigh.  It took a loooong time.

  On the way back we followed all of the same instructions, EXCEPT ONE!  We forgot to officially ENTER Brazil again.  We just stayed on the bus and passed the office and when we got back to the hostel, I asked the owner if there would be any trouble if we didn't get our entry papers and he told us that we were not in Brazil then and therefore could not EXIT Brazil if we didn't have our entry papers.  AAHHHH!  You don't understand.  It took us HOURS to get to the Argentinian side and then hours to get back... and not to mention it's hot and to realize we had to go back and finish one final step... GRRR!  So the owner of the hostel called us a taxi and gave the driver instructions to take us to the office and make sure we get our papers and stamps and wait for us and take us back.  Now that's a good hostel owner. 

  

  

  • 4:42 am
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