Adventures

I have a little bit of catching up to do...

On Tuesday, I went to see the falls. Monday was suuuuuuper hot and sunny - a beautiful day, but hot! So I expected the same for Tuesday. Not so much. It rained. The entire day. Well, until - literally - the minute we were turning around to leave the falls and head back to the van to return to the hostel. But that doesn't mean it was a bad day! It was still great!

First stop was the Three Borders Landmark - the spot where Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil all come together. There are two rivers that separate the three countries. I saw the borders from water level in Paraguay on Monday and from up on the hill in Argentina on Tuesday. Then we headed to the falls. Part of our group (including me) did a boat ride. We got to get right up by the falls, to where the water was spraying on us! It was crazy because we were already wet (and cold) from the rain, but the water from the falls was warm. We took a break for lunch and then headed on to "The Devil's Throat" - which is the biiiiiiiiig waterfall. Got back to the hostel around 6. I caught about 20 minutes of sun out be the pool and then enjoyed the evening reading before I went out for a Lebanese dinner.

Wednesday I stayed at the hostel and got some work done before heading to my bus. The bus left on time - 6:30, but we had some stops along the way... definitely a more eventful ride than the one going to Iguassu! First, about 15 minutes out, we stopped for almost an hour as we waited for another bus to join ours. Both buses were pretty empty, so they combined the two. Finally, we hit the road. An hour or two later, we came to a road block at the Federal Police. They stopped us and came on board to do a search. The found some cocaine and marijuana inside the bus and made everyone get out while they searched more thoroughly. They must have gotten a tip from someone, because they also found a suitcase full of digital cameras and video cameras. The girl who owned it had to stay behind. The whole thing probably only took 30-45 minutes, and we were on our way again. The bus was entirely uncomfortable - perhaps the most uncomfortable I've ever been on. I never have a problem with leg room - not even in airplanes - but I was finding I didn't have quite enough room. Not to mention the bus smelled a bit. Around 3 or 4 in the morning, there was a scheduled stop - at which we found out something had broken on the bus. So we were there about an hour while they were fixing the bus. I took advantage of the situation and got out of that bus! Then we hit the road again. About two hours out of Campinas, for whatever reason, we switched buses... For the last two hours of our 18-hour ride, we got to enjoy the nicest, cleanest bus. The seats were huge - they were basically small recliners, very soft, very comfortable. If only it had been the other way around. Oh well, I survived!