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Ok so carrying on from where I left off!!
Friday 8th (in the afternoon )
Left rio in the afternoon. I went to the international bus station and bought a ticket to Parity which is a beautiful coastal town. The bus ride took fouyr hours and was really nice just to kick back listen to some music and a little time to myself. The buses in Brazil and Argentina are out of this world, they put national express well and truely to shame!!! I arrived in Parity at 8 pm. Had booked no where to stay, i was just gonna walk round and take my pick. As you get off of the bus it is like spot the backpakers, got talking to an Australian guy who was meeting his friends in Parity they had booked a hostel and there was plenty of availability. we shared a cab and I got sorted with a bed. hostel was lush right on the sea and had really nice vibe. I was sharing my room with 2 irish girls, we got talking, went for pizza and the most important backpaker refreshment, Beer!!!!!
I got back to my room content, only to experience the worst nights sleep ever because of mosquitos!!!!! Eaten alive!!!!!
Saturday 9th (sun gloroius sun!!!!)
Nursing my bitten body I decided that a day of pure relaxation was called for. The hostel ran a boat trip, 20 reals, you sailed around 4 islands and got to get off the boat to swim and snorkel. It was a beautiful day, good food (fish fresh from the sea), good caipirinias, amazing scenery and finally an opportunity to work on a tan!!!!
After the boat i walked around the town for a couple of hours, it was beautiful, very colonial and quaint. Lush little shops selling nik naks (Claire you came to mind!!!)
I spent the evening with others from the hostel and we experinced a little of Paritys night life, reaching my bed at 5am! Never mind all i had to worry about was getting a bus to Sao Paulo where i could go back to sleep.....its a hard life!!!!
Skipping onto the 11th as I met Chloe and Jess in Sao Paulo on the 10th (we decided in rio that we would meet up again and spend a few weeks together as our paths were travelling the same way), we caught the overnight bus to Foz Iguassu and arrived there on the 11th at midday. Can i just say I am getting very good at sleeping on public transport, who would of thought it!!
Monday 11th
After what I can say was a rather pleasant 16 hour bus ride we arrive in Foz Iguassu at about 10am. It is always and interesting time when you first get to a bus station and you need to figure out the best way to get to your hostel. Our hostel was in Argentina so we got a taxi, being 3 of us it made it cheaper and the taxi driver could deal with the boarder crossing for us between Brazil and Argentina. Iguassu Falls are on the boarder of Brazil and Argentina and you can stay in accomadation on either side, we chose to stay on the Argentinian side as Argentina is a lot cheaper than Brazil, to put it in perspective 10 Argentinian pesos is worth 1.60 to us, the hostel was 12 pesos a night!!!!! Fun will be had in Argentina!!!
We were staying in a really nice hostel with a huge pool, and at this point can I just add that the weather was great. We spent the rest of our first day walking around the quaint little town, and then joined in with the BBQ that the hostel was hosting that night, beef is amazing in Argentina. Early to bed tonight as full day at the falls the next day!!
Tuesday 12th
Got are transfer to the fall at 7.30am. We just visited the Argentinian side today as they advise it will take you a good 6 hours to see it all. We arrived at the park at 8am. The falls are set in a beatiful national park and they have set it up really well, i have not been to Niagra falls but Chloe who I was with has and said that Niagra is amazing but they have cashed in on that fact and around the falls there is not only a macdonalds but a casino!!! I feel that could taint the experience.
Everying here looked perfect in the morning light we were so glad we got up and went early as missed the crowds and it was just so peacefull ( apart from the crashing water ). All of the pictures show the different views you could walk to to see the falls, each one was as amazing as the next. Iguassu are ther 5th biggest falls in the world (Victoria in Zimbabwe are the biggest I think). Can I just apologise for the amont of different ways I spell Iguassu, it is spelt differently all over South America so we are not sure which onw is correct!!!
In the afternoon we wnet swimming, and took a boat trip which took you under the falls and got you soaked, this was great as it was boiling!!!
After the falls headed back to the hostel, had a relax by the pool a hot shower (bonus) and then headed into town for some steak and red wine (Argentinian of course)!! Up to this point this was my favourite day of the trip!!
Wednesday 13th
Early start again today as off to the Brazilian side of the falls. The Brazilian side offers a higher view of the falls where as in Argentina you can get amongst the falls, you also get to go right up to Devils throat in Brazil which is the fall with the highest volume of water passing through. Brazils side felt a little more commercialised they added a lot more extras which you could do but of course they needed to be paid for as they were not included in your entry ticket. We just decided to do the walks around the parks and falls. Again the falls were amazing, a lot of people say that you will be disappointed in the Brazilian side after seeing them from Argentina, it is true the park is not as nice and it only takes half a day but the falls are still amazing and the pure volume of water which rushes over devils throat blows your mind. You walk up a jetty to get to it and get wet with the spray bouncing up due to the force, it is a very refreshing and liberating feeling.
Back to our hostel (after another boarder crossing, you go over a bridge to get between Brazil and Argentina, the Argentinian side is painted with there flag and when you cross over there is the bright colours of the brazilian flag, sadly could not get a photo as always in a rushing taxi!) A BBQ night at the hostel and a trip to the nightclubs in Foz. The one really nice thing about staying in hostels is that you get to meet people you would never meet in usual circumstances, different ages, countries and backgrounds all with different stories on where they have been and where they are going.
Thursday 14th
Sunbathed until midafternoon and then onto another bus to our next destination Florianopolis. Once again an over night bus journey (18 hours, which saves a nights accomodation, this helps take the sting out of the length of the journey) buses are reasonably priced here this journey was only about 25.00 pounds.
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