A Day Trip to Paraguay

Paraguay...
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We were staying in Foz do Iguacu on the Brazilian border and had the chance to tick another country off the list. A short bus ride away was Paraguay, specifically the border town of Ciudad del Este.

We had spoken to a few travellers and they were sure it was a haven for cheap electrical goods promising half price ipods and other goodies. I was excited.

Posted by Adam

We jumped in a minibus and crossed the border, through the traffic and street sellers offering us Pringles, oddly.

Locals dropping goods off the bridge to avoid customs on the otherside
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We crossed the Friendship Bridge joining the two towns. The bridge is extremely important to the economies of both Foz do Iguaçu and all of Paraguay. Most of Paraguay's imports and exports pass through here, generating constant traffic problems throughout the area. Brazilian smugglers usually come and go through this bridge, smuggling mostly electronic devices. We watched as guys lowered huge packages from the bridge to the ground below, skipping out the customs area. It was so obvious it was happening as everyone was stuck in traffic watching, but they all seem to turn a blind eye.

In front of the Itaipu Dam
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After a hugely dissapointing shopping trip (turns out it wasn`t that cheap at all!) we jumped back in the bus and headed to the Itaipu dam; the largest operational hydroelectric power plant in the world which supplies 93% of the energy consumed by Paraguay and 20% of that consumed by Brazil. At 196 metres tall, it was an impressive sight.

A further minibus ride and we were back at camp in Foz, with another country added to the list, and one which i´ll probably never go back to again!