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December 15, 2005
Foz do Iguazu
Before heading into Brazil we took a few hours to see the tri border area where only the Rio Paranà separates Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. After a hot 40 minute walk in the direct sun we made it to the site, took some photos, shared some ice-cream and soda with some young boys from the neighborhood, and then jumped in a bus to prepare for our trip across the border.
We crossed into Brazil a little after 2:00pm. Leaving Argentina, neither the immigration official nor I could find my entry stamp into the country. I was getting worried as the bus was waiting but luckily we were able to locate the almost invisible stamp (I guess the guy was running out of ink at the Chilean border). We crossed a bridge and entered what technically was the 16th country of our travels.
Luckily there was a tourist from Peru on the bus who made sure the driver dropped us off to get our entry stamps in Brazil. We didn’t realize that they normally do not stop at the Brazilian side of the border, as most of the passengers riding the bus are Brazilean nationals. This also brought to mind an article I read in the WSJ after September 11th talking about how this border crossing was one where the U.S. government thought that there might be al-Qaeda cells in the area. I’ll try to find the article online.
We found a hostel in the center of town and soon realized it is hard to know what language to speak. We started off in English but once the Brazilian reception person realized we spoke Spanish we immediately switched because it was much easier for him. But another worker at the hostel preferred a mix of English and Portuguese. Either way we seem to be getting by and the Brazilians helped us figure out the bus schedule to get to the city of Cuiabà tomorrow. The tickets will even be delivered to the hostel. That is a first.
After getting settled, we made our way to a bank to pull some reales out of an ATM a few blocks away. Em, in an act of sheer bravery, decided to get her hair cut our first day in Brazil. It looks great but it was a challenge trying to find the word for “layers” in Portuguese. Even with our Spanish there were a lot of charades going on to communicate.
Next up we grabbed some dinner, checked email, and the headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before another day of traveling.
Posted by Peter Mork at December 15, 2005 5:20 PM
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