19-21.07 - Day 30-32 - Foz du Iguacu to Sao Paulo to Paraty, BRA
Foz du Iguaçu, Brazil including Cuidad del Este, Paraguay
Monday 19th July 2010
More rain. Tropical rain. Unabashed we catch a local bus over the river and into Paraguay
Argentines and Brazilians flock over the border for cheap goods – almost all based around electronics – though as we’re not in the market for a 50inch plasma screen TV we settle on a couple of memory sticks and head back.
Unnervingly at Immigration this time of course an officer gets on the bus to check everyone and their purchases. Those with large bags (most people) are taken off for closer examination.
Somewhat keen to avoid a run in with the local authorities as illegal immigrants in a country where we don’t speak the language we simply don’t say a word – just holding out our bag and receipt. She nods and Relief! as she gets off. The man sat next to us proudly produces a package – camera or cocaine, who knows and smiles sneakily.
Back in Foz du Iguaçu – we take a buffet lunch, paid by the gram and back to our new favourite haunt Oficina De Sorvete. The ice-cream no match though for Buenos Aires
Dinner is home cooked in the hostel and taken with the English girls in our dorm – Mia (real name Erin ) and Effy (Jayde): Krish producing a sundried tomato with chicken and fettuccine number. Best moment is when, to Krish’s horror, Effy states that I look like Justin Timberlake – no wonder they wanted us in that Tequila advert in Buenos Aires
Foz du Iguacu to Sao Paulo, Brazil
Tuesday 20th July 2010
#Morning has broken, Like the first morning#.
Blue skies, warmest day yet. Foz du
Iguacu may be a one trick pony but all seems brighter with the sun out.
Following on from an All You Can Eat lunch, including a new luxury; fish, we
wile away the afternoon at our regular Oficina de Sorvete with ice-cream and
coffee.
After
saying Adios to the English pair we catch a suburban bus out to the main
terminal and board our overnight bus to Sao
Paulo Sao Paulo
The bus is upsettingly not Cama Class, nor even Semi-Cama. Nor
is it a double-decker, nor are there blankets, a stewardess, dinner or Tia
Maria. Luckily it’s less than half full so we spread out.
To counter that one
piece of good fortune we have to endure a violent French film dubbed into
Portuguese with Portuguese subtitles. Bring back Argentinean buses.
Foz du Iguacu to Sao Paulo, Brazil
Wednesday 21st July 2010
Wake up at 6am and again at 9am so nine hours is more than expected. At the terminal we pick up an Irish couple (Lee and Marmaloid) whose linguistic skills are worse than ours. Metro to a different bus terminal where we discover the 12:15pm bus is full so it’s a four and a half hour wait for the next one.
Nothing to report on Sao Paulo Sao Paulo
After a six and a half hour journey to and along the coast we arrive in a small bus station in Paraty. The apparently simple directions of “50m from bus stop, behind a big tree” confounds us for a short while but Pablo our host has waited up for us and after sourcing a beer drunk on the veranda we wrap our mosquito nets over us and fall asleep.