i had to throw another country on here

even though i'm not in brazil as i'm typing this, i did go there today for a few hours. and in fact, i was right across the river from paraguay, but ran out of time to go over there. that is the only time (other than north korea) that i've been that tantalizingly close to another country and didn't get to go there.

anyway, today i saw the lower circuit trail here on the argentine side of the falls, first thing this morning. i was in fact so early that the boats to san martin island in the middle of the falls hadn't started running yet, so i'll do that tomorrow morning. being below the falls was a very different perspective from yesterday. morning is a good time to go as the sun is shining right on the falls as the walkway heads toward them. it was very foggy right over the river when i got up this morning, but a few minutes after sunrise, it was all gone. it was another beautiful warm day here.

then i caught a bus right on time into puerto iguazu, the town near here. that was the only bus that i did not have to wait for today. i spent most of the day waiting for buses. that bus did not go where i thought it was going, though, so i had to walk about 20 minutes. i had a nice view of the corners of brazil and paraguay, though, where rio iguazu and rio parana come together. i went to the bus station (see, i thought that the bus i was on would go to the bus station...why else do they call it a bus station? but i was wrong), and asked about a bus to ciudad del este, paraguay. my plan was to go there, then get a bus into brazil, as the book says sometimes going straight into brazil from argentina is a problem for americans and british people with no brazil visa. i was told a bus left every 45 minutes for paraguay. an hour later, i asked someone else...just my luck, i get the guy who knows what he's talking about second, not first. he spoke only spanish, but i got the gist of what he was saying, something about diplomatic problems between argentina and paraguay right now, so there are no buses running at all to paraguay. so i waited another 20 minutes for the next bus to brazil, and tried my luck. it worked out fine. the immigration guy in brazil didn't even ask me anything, he just stamped me out of argentina (but not into brazil...since i don't have a visa, they can't do that...i could only stay the day), and that was that.

i jumped off that bus at a big intersection to avoid going all the way into town, as the buses to the national park stop near there. i waited about 20 minutes for that bus. that got me to the visitor's center of the brazilian side of the falls by 12:15. not bad, except the park doesn't open until 1pm on monday's. so i waited to get in. then waited for the bus to the trail along the falls. their trail isn't as new or nearly as extensive as the argentine side, but it's a very different perspective. you actually get a better overall view of the falls from brazil. plus, they have a viewing platform that actually sticks out over the falls at one point. so it was definitely worth seeing that side. if you can only see one side, i'd recommend the argentine side, though. then i waited almost 40 minutes for a bus back to the visitor's center. the buses run every 10 minutes, they said, so how it took me 40 minutes to catch a bus, i don't know. then i waited about 30 minutes for a bus into the city. at that point i was tempted to catch a bus over to paraguay just so i could have another country on the list, but i figured with my luck in catching buses today, i'd miss the last one. it's too bad, because i wanted to take yet another bus north out of ciudad del este in paraguay to the itaipa hydroelectric project (itaipa dam is easier), the largest hydroelectric complex in the world (until the three gorges dam in china is done...see my earlier entry for that). the itaipa dam is owned by both paraguay and brazil, as it dams the rio parana that is the border between those countries. it makes 18 times as much electricity as paraguay can use in a year, so they get to sell their excess to brazil. so they make money on the thing, and brazil loses millions each year. anyway, i would have liked to have seen it. but instead, i got a hot dog and some peanut butter fudge and waited about 30 minutes for the bus back here to argentina. immigration was again a snap, and i thought i'd be easily on time for a bus back here from downtown...but the driver, sensing that i wasn't going to have to wait for my next bus, decided to stop at a gas station and fill the bus with diesel. so i had to wait about 42 minutes for the bus that runs every 45 minutes back here from town. but it was a pleasant day, clear and sunny and warm and beautiful. the rain forest around here is great to look at, so there are definitely worse places and situations to be stuck waiting around for buses. tomorrow it's back to buenos aires...i still can't believe my trip is almost over.