Iguazu day 2

 I had a plan for today, but I changed it.

The original plan was to visit the falls again, but on the Argentine side. Yesterday I visited the Brazilian side. I decided instead to explore a little more of the city where I am, Porto Iguazu.

The first thing I had to do was locate the Western Union to collect a transfer I arranged yesterday. ATM's often offer the best exchange rates for collecting money when traveling. not so in Argentina. Western Union provides a better rate.

Thanks to Google Maps, I see and head to the closest Western Union office. It was only a 15 minute walk from my place. They told me I had to provide them a copy of my passport. Luckily there was a store on the corner, the esquina, that made copies. I returned to the Western Union office and collected my money.

From there the next stop was to backtrack alittle to the bus station to buy a ticket to Sao Paulo for tomorrow. I was planning to charge it to my credit card... Nope cash only. Luckily I got enough from Western Union, but it chowed most of it.

I got a ticket on a long distance bus, but it departs from Foz de Iquaçu, Brazil. The city just on the other side of the border/river. I need to be at the bus station tomorrow about 12:30 to get a local bus to border, clear immigration there, then get another local bus to bus terminal in Foz de Iquaçu. The long distance bus departs at about 5pm arriving in Sao Paulo Monday morning around 10 am.

The options on the bus were cama (bed) or semi cama (semi bed). The cama seat lays flat and the semi cama less. I booked the cheaper semi cama seat.

With my travel tasks complete, I headed to Hito Tres Fronteras the northern most point of Argentina overlooking the rivers separating it from both Paraguay and Brazil. I wanted to take a bus, but my request got lost in translation, so I walked. 

The walk was longer than I wanted, but it did give me a chance to walk through the neighborhoods on the way. It becomes very apparent that the town is carved through the rain forest and it wouldn't take that many years for the forest to reclaim it.

At one point I came across a groups of student artists with sketch pads, sketching this house and setting for the days project.

After a couple stops to sit to take in the sights (that's a little stretch of reality, the stops were to give my knees a rest), I arrived at Hito Tres Fronteras (translating to Boundry Post 3 Borders). 

What you see in the picture on the left side of the river is Paraguay (which I will not be going to), on the right side is Brazil and the picture was taken from the park on the Argentine side of the river.

 Basically a lookout point to view the intersection of the three countries, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. There is a big fountain, not working.  A working walk over water feature. The kind that turns on and off intermitatantly, so if you walk at the wrong time, you get a shot of water up the butt. I stayed dry. There were the obligatory stands selling soft drinks and souveniers. 

On a lower level was a restaurant with a patio overlooking the rivers. I decided to stop for a burger, fries and beer. The burger was excellent, even with the fried egg inside. The fries were also great. The Stella was a much needed thirst quincher.

The bridge in the picture connecting Parguay and Brazil is called the Puente de la Integración (The Integration Bridge). The bridge is still under construction and should open later this year.

Lucky for me, I was able to catch the local bus back into town.

And then, you guessed it, after walking, being in the sun, eating a big burger and fries, that were washed down with a Stella Artois, it was time to head back to the hostel for a daily siesta.

This evening I am enjoying sitting in the sideway cafe fronting the hostel enjoying a draft beer, (unusual for me to have 2 beers in a day) listening to local recorded music, surrounded by the rain forest. 

Thinking back to my younger years, I realize that a few of movies that seem to had an impact on my life and inspired my lust for travel were: Casa Blanca, The African Queen and later, The Mosquito Coast.

After a couple weeks in Brazil, I will be heading back to Lima, Peru. From there a short flight into the amazon forest to Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is only accessible by plane or boat.  I'll be spending a few days in Iquitos before boarding a slow Amazon River boat to Leticia, Colombia. This will be only 3 days on the river. Must less than the 10 days I was on the Amazon 2 years ago.