The area of Iguazu falls is
bordered by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay which provides for some interesting
multiple country visits in a single day. I will try to start this section with
our attempt to get to Argentina.
The International Bus Terminal in Ciudad Del Este, Paraguay is not something to put on your list of places to visit especially at 4:30 AM because that is when we arrived from Asuncion, Paraguay. The guide books were of little help because we knew we needed to catch a bus to the Argentina side of the falls and you would assume that you would do this from the International Bus Terminal. But after a few hours of frustration we got it narrowed down to the fairly simple task of catching a local city bus up on the corner. We had no idea what corner or what time the bus came so our only option was to stand on the corner and wait.
After some time and standing on multiple corners we moved to our final corner destination and saw a bus labeled with Argentina, Puerto Iguazu. But it turns out the bus driver is early for his route and we would have to wait for the next bus. We then realize that we do not have the correct currency for the bus ride and scramble to change $20 US into Paraguay money. A street vendor changes $20 US at a really crummy exchange rate but we had no plans on walking back to the bus station in the rain to save a couple of dollars. As we board the bus we contemplate customs. The travel book warns you about getting your passport stamped and getting off the bus but we don't know if that means in Paraguay or Argentina. We do not know if the bus is even going to stop.
Traffic on the road at 7:00 AM is at a standstill and we approach a bridge and
a major river which usually means a border. The bus builds up a head of steam
and we are over the bridge heading into Brazil. We of course do not have a Visa
for Brazil and hope this does not create a problem. The city bus takes a
fifteen minute route through Brazil on the way to Argentina. We grabbed our
bags and got off the bus and presented ourselves at customs. After a brief
inspection of the city bus by customs it continued on its route and that meant
we would have to catch the next one in 30 minutes.
The city bus arrived at the bus terminal in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina and left us with a short walk to numerous hotel options. It was 9:00 AM, raining and we had been traveling since 5:00 AM the pervious day. We were both ready for a nap and a hot shower. We picked the Los Helodos Hotel for $30 US a night and at this point we would have paid anything just to wash away the memories of bus travel. After getting settled into our hotel, the need for food forces us into a five minute walk into town. The city of Puerto Iguazu appears to function only as a tourist town and currently it appears there have not been a lot of tourists. Many of the businesses are closed down or in the process of being remodeled. We are here during the slow period so it is hard to judge how busy the town actually gets. Our restaurant options are rather limited and we end up at the newest looking tourist trap called Las Vegas. It is a cute place and it appears the owner is trying everything he has ever heard of to increase business (Internet Cafe, Sports, Disco, Video Poker, etc.). This is all situated in a very small restaurant. The menu is very limited and they have the traditional South American menu item of Jamon Y Quesa (Ham and Cheese). It must be part of the restaurant application form in South America to have a very basic menu and proudly display Jamon Y Quesa as the first item on the list. I guess it is difficult to mess up a grilled ham and cheese sandwich because so far they have all been good.
At this point in the day we begin to see the wisdom of the South American siesta from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM and decided to give it a try. The sky decided to open up and dump buckets of water into the streets so we jumped in a cab for a $2 US ride and an afternoon of well-deserved rest and relaxation. Dinner came early and we again ventured out for food only to find that the concept of a good restaurant is non-existent, so we settled on pizza and learned about Yerba Mate. The city of Puerto Iguazu is a very cute little tourist town and we do not understand why we can not find any nice restaurants. As we learned about Yerba Mate the reason became clear.
Upon arrival into Paraguay and our current travel into Argentina we noticed that everyone, and I mean everyone, was carrying around a thermos and a small silver cup. You can look around at every cafe or cashier sitting behind a counter and they are all pouring the contents of the thermos into the silver cup. Yerba Mate is also called Green Gold and is mainly grown in Paraguay and Argentina but is exported all over the world. Apparently others have tried to grow it elsewhere but only Argentina has the special soil required to grow truly excellent Yerba Matte.
Green Gold or Yerba Matte is also
referred to as Indian Tea and has been a national drink since the early 1800's.
The literature we had read talked about it's history, the proper way to prepare
a Yerba Matte and the amount of vitamins in each cup. It was also mentioned as
an excellent aphrodisiac. Based on my observations it got everyone happy and
stoned and they really had no desire to eat so therefore the local economy
could not support any nice restaurants. We were eager to try it but could not
find and restaurants or cafes that had it on its menu. We would have to buy all
the stuff and try it later.
