Another Travel Blog

My arrival in Ciudad del Este was after sunset and perceived that this is not the place to be after dark. Argentina and Brazil aren’t far away from Ciudad del Este but the journey would have involved a few border crossings and I decided to opt for a hotel close to the bus terminal, which was it’s only value. Ciudad del Este is interesting for shopping, but not much more as the tourist attractions (waterfalls) are just across the border. In fact, almost every traveller before and after Paraguay has been asking me if there is really anything to see there, and I would agree that there probably isn’t. But this made my stay in Asuncion even nicer in terms of having a nice rest and a few evenings with entertainment which made Asuncion a laid back stopover destination without seeing any particular tourist attractions.

I stayed one more night at the Argentinian side (the same place I stayed a few weeks ago) and had another delicious steak, and a short sleep before my worst travel itinerary (from Puerto Iguacu, AR  to Rio de Janeiro) ever started. The bus was announced to leave at 0300am, the travel agent told me to show up at 0500am and the bus left at 0900am. I was waiting in the freezing cold (-1 degree celsius) for 4 hours and had a stroll through Porto Iguacu in the predawn. The bus arrived in Sao Paulo at 0230am in the morning (definitely a safe place to be on that time of the day…) and the buses leaving for Rio started only at 0630am. Another 4 hours during the night to kill in the gigantic bus terminal of Sao Paulo (nevertheless safer than in the city) By then, the journey has already been taking 24 hours, with very little sleep in between. The bus from Sao Paulo to Rio took 6 hours and i finally reached Rio at 0100pm.

Highlights from this trip:

• The Bolivian Altiplano and the culture of the highlanders. The scenic landscapes, which make you think being on Mars rather than on earth along with the andean culture so different from the western world, albeit the indigenous people seem to be more or less aware of the western civilisation, yet maintaining their own traditions. In this context, it is worth to mention that the highlanders are very quiet, almost cautious towards westerners, it is noticeable, especially if entering from a westernised country like Argentina or (parts of) Brazil. The cautiousness towards westerners is most likely even increasing in Peru. Definitely going back to the Altiplano to see Peru’s and Colombia’s share of it, too.

• For the adventure seeker: the dusty bus ride through the Gran Chaco (including the very special border crossings), but passing the high Chaco during the daytime. At the time of my visit, no other departure times were available except 0800pm from Santa Cruz, but it could be probably done the other way around.

• The Argentinian beefsteaks and their luxourious buses.