It was the same bus company that took me to Iguazu Falls that now took me at 6:30 AM to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay at a cost of 800 pesos. It took just over an hour and that included going through three border checks—Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
Shortly after crossing the border bridge over the Parana River, the bus stopped and unloaded most of the passengers, including me. I walked 100 yards back to the immigration office and got stamped into Paraguay. It wasn’t much in the way of border protection or security.
The streets were filled with mini stalls along with a number of high-rise shopping centers all near the border. They sell lots of contraband and counterfeit goods, especially electronics here which gives it the nickname of the “Supermarket of South America”.
I quickly found an ATM and withdrew 350,000 Paraguay Guarani—about $50 USD— talking about feeling like a rich person. I was hoping I could use my credit card instead of the cash since it’s so much bulk to carry around.
The Teko Arte Bar, Resto and Hostel was just about a mile from the border and I walked along the Lago de la Republica which had separate paths for bicycles and walkers. I have not spotted very many open restaurants until I finally came to one at the end of the lake called Pizzeria La Rotonda Lago where I got a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, coffee, and orange juice.
I was staying here for two nights, and the first night I was the only one in my dorm room. That place was pretty nice and included a kitchen and a large swimming pool, however, the Restobar was under renovation so it was not open. There were a number of nice restaurants in the area including one mega pizza place where hundreds of people including families enjoyed. It included a huge play area for kids so that was a big draw.
On Sunday morning I returned to the border and it looked like fewer than half of the stores were open than when I was there Saturday.
On the way back I walked around the other side of the lake and had lunch at the Carioca restaurant with a view of the lake.
Just a short distance from there were white tents and it looked like a giant flea market, mostly clothing and other knickknacks. I wondered if some of these people were the same ones that had stalls near the border on other days.
When I return to the Teko Hostel I had a dorm mate from Chicago. We talked a bit and I learned that Arif was told me that his sister was going to be studying in Buenos Aires.
I told him to be sure to let his sister know about the blue rate pesos in Argentina and to bring lots of US dollars down, and also be sure to get the additional money out of Western Union for the Blue rate. He was surprised to learn about the blue rate and how much money he could save when he returned to Argentina well as his sister could save as well.
I woke up early and took the early bus to Encarnación which took about 6 hours and I got the top front-row seat and saw miles and miles of rolling hills and farmlands.
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