06 feb 07

foz do igaucu -pourto iguazu

i can’t get out of my room to get breakfast. i spend sometime going through emails and i trying to book a bus or flight to buenos aires. i thought i had it all figured out and tried to purchase the ticket online (using babblefish to translate the fine details). but once i got to the purchase page, it timed out after two minutes, i entered everything requested within the time limit but was still unable to complete the transaction. the bus trip was going to be 17 hours and as i researched it more and realized that my flight was at 1020 to make the flight a departure of 1100 was going to be required. i wasted the better part of the day researching travel and accommodations on the argentina side of the falls.

i finally got off the computer and went and spoke with a person at a tourist information kiosk. he suggested i take my bags and head to the brazilian side of the falls which i could see in a 3 or 4 hour period and then stay over in argentina that night. so he told me how to catch the bus and i didn’t quite get it cause i stayed on the first bus he told me to get on and it seemed to go the right direction but then it took that fatal turn onto residential streets. from there i realized i most likely was not going to make it to the falls on the brazilin side. it was already 1630 when i got back to the city bus station, it was raining and i still had to get a place to stay and settle my travel. so i changed gears and found the bus stop for transportation to the border. it took more than the quoted fifteen minutes between buses. i was getting a bit concerned since i wasn’t sure how long businesses would be open till. the bus arrived and was already standing room only so i was fortunate enough to find a place to stow my back and a spot near a window where there was a mix of fresh air and diesel fumes. the bus driver made several more stops loading to beyond any acceptable u.s. safety capacities. this became an issue when we came to the border. apparently most people using this service are locals and therefore don’t seem to need to clear customs from brazil. the driver called something out in spanish which i couldn’t hear. he blew through the brazilian border crossing and across the bridge. i was a bit concerned that he was going to do the same on the argentina side, thinking how am i going to explain this one at the airport when i go to leave a country i’ve never officially entered. well he did stop there, and i checked through almost like going over the border to tj. at this point i know i have to address the issue of the exit stamp in brazil or i may never get a visa for some future trip. but with the hour so late i didn’t want to burn up more time when i needed to get a place for the night and make some travel plans. so i found a room at this hostel i’d located online. it was clean and cheap, and had wireless internet for free, $14 and change for a private room and bath. i spoke with the owner about the border situation and she suggested i should make the trek back over the border. so i set out to do that. i waited at a bus stop for 15 minutes and decided i didn’t want to miss the falls again because of this. i walked down to a travel agent to see what could be arranged. at this point it was clear that my outward bound ticket to santiago on the 8th was going to have to change. not being a native portuguese speaker i was going to need to enlist the help of erika. so i made a reservation and headed back to the hostel hoping that the power which was out when i arrived but came back on just before i set out on my little adventure , was still on and that i’d be able to reach her and she in turn could reach someone at the airline. the connection started out okay but progressively got worse. we resorted to email and i was relatively confident that she’d be successful.

at this point the hour was late and i wasn’t going out so i ate somethings i’d bought at the market on my way back from the travel agent , tried to answer some emails and calls only to have the internet connection frustrate me more. so i decided to take a shower and read before going to bed.