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Sent from Iguazu, Brazil on Dec. 21

Subject: Via Iguasu Falls & Itaipu Dam (Brazil/Paraguay),
Hello from Asuncion, Paraguay

Actually I am back in Iguazu, spent just a day in Asuncion.
Some details below.

To start, I nominate Brazilians as the MOST genuinely
warmest, friendliest and nicest people I have met anywhere.
 They do not display any of the machismo one expects of
Latins, none of the silent-strong (perhaps silent and
problematic) ego-trip of the Americans.  They are not
judgmental and/or opinionated, have none of the practiced
warmth and hospitality one encounters among the Arabs and
Turks.  They are live-and-let-live kind of very tolerant,
´no problem´ (thumbs-up) kind of culture.  Fine people,
fine country. As for the women here, everyone seems on a
cleavage contest, 8-year old girls on platform shoes on
belly display.  So as with Africa (and India, China, and
Mid-east), too many babies here too, especially 9 months
after the carnival . . .

1. Interesting People who crossed my path along the way.
 
* The Iranian-Brazilian now in Suriname whose name I did
not ask, on the bus from Belem that got robbed.

* Stu Butler, the Canadian investment banker from Toronto
who got tired of the rat race and decided to exchange this
for freedom.

* Odineia (spoken as Ojineya), the pretty Brazilian microbiologist
I met in Cuiaba.

* Jessi Hathaway, the young and pretty American
from Maine, studying acting in New York, whom I met at the
bus station in Campo Grande, who is sure she will be a
famous actress.

* Patricia, the spunky-young owner of the HI Hostel in Corumba,

* Daniel, the amiable German (mother)-Iranian (father)
informed world-traveler I met on the bus from Corumba to Bonito,
who got fed up with his head-hunter job and structure in England,
and has taken off to the world, spending the last 7 months in
Latin America,learning Spanish and Flamenco guitar along the way.

* Thomas Weitzel, the German mountain-trekker working in
Madeira, Portugal, who now wants such a job in Brazil.

* Ricardo & Alessandra and Fabiano & Viviane, 2 Brazilian
couples with whom I shared a canoe ride then a amiable
evening and dinner in Bonito.

* Ronak Iqbal, MD (28), a very pretty--should apply for the
Miss. Universe, I told her--Pakistani who is ready to do her
residency in USA, who looks 18. Asma Husein (23), also from
Pakistan, who is doing research in architecture in Brazil,
and Tran Nhat Ly (23), a Vietnamese anthropologist.  I met
these at the hostel in Bonito, Brazil on 12/17/05; we traveled
together to Iguazu, arriving there at 3:30am, after 21 hours
of bus ride.  I could not have found better travel companions
if I had advertised for and interviewed candidates for the
position.


2. Itaipu Dam & Iguazu Falls.  The bus ride from Bonito to
Iguazu took 21 hours, daily at 5:30am, arrival at 1 am the
next day.  We arrived at 3:30am, clocks adjusted 1 hour
later in Iguazu.  The hostel desk was closed at the bus
station, due to our late (3:30am) arrival, or the attendant
was not there.  The 4 of us took a taxi to the HI Hostel at
city center--there is another nearer to the falls--paying
the taxi 14 Reals.  Dorm rooms go for 15 Reals with fan, 18
with air cond. for members, 21 and 25 for non-members,
sexes sleep separately; Internet is free (2 computers),
whereas it was 5 Reals per hour in Bonito.  The hostel is
ideally situated to the bus stops for both the dam--world´s
largest--and the falls, near the McDonald´s about 2 blocks
away.  The hostel people have all the info.  Since
admission to the falls is at 1pm--I dont know if this is
always so--and the buses to the dam go at 8, 9, and 10am,
we decided to go to the Itaipu Dam first, do the (about) 2
hour paid (20 Reals)tour there rather than the 1-hour free
one, get back, have lunch, and do the falls next, the
walkways around the falls taking about 2 hours.  The public
bus to Itaipu and/or Falls is 1.25 Reals, both about 25
minutes.  At the entry to the falls you pay 20 Reals for
the bus inside the park that takes you to the drop-off
point at the Falls.  The view is magnificent just where you
get off the bus, more detail as you walk down.  The
so-called Devil´s Throat, where the falls are the
strongest, is not visible from where you get off from the
bus; it is more to the left, covered by trees.  You´ll see
it when you walk down.  I had done this for hours from the
Argentinean side in 2003, so this time I skipped the
detail.

There is a luggage-check counter at the bus station, and
Internet (6 Reals for 1 hour; the one at the hostel is
free).


3. Asuncion, Paraguay.  There are several buses from
Iguazu, Brazil to Asuncion, Paraguay, a ride of about 7
hours costing 40 Reals ($18).  One bus leaves at 2:30,
another at 18:30 another at 00:05 (midnight); there may be
more.  These are actually mini vans that take you across to
the terminal in Ciudad de Este, the town right across the
river on the Paraguay side, where you get in a larger bus
for the 6-hour ride to Asuncion.  Ciudad de Este is also
the largest duty-free market in Latin America, especially
electronics.

a) Exchange Currency.  The ticket office in Iguazu will
exchange Reals into Guaranies, at the rate R=2000G, which
comes handy if you are leaving Brazil via Paraguay to
elsewhere.  If you do come back, the exchange hurts a bit:
you pay 2550 for 1 Real.  On a 138,000 G deal I lost about
$5.  The better way would have been to exchange Gs back to
Reals at the terminal in Asuncion where the rate was 2200,
but I thought I might need local money later at the border.
 By the way, Dollars are readily accepted everywhere,
except on buses and places like that.

b) Exit/Entry Stamps.  The mini van stopped first at the
Brazilian end of the Friendship bridge, where you get your
exit stamp.  All others had also a slip of paper which they
said they were given as they arrived in Brazil.  I was not
given one and exit without this paper is subject to 165R or
about $55 fine.  I got away without paying the fine, BUT
keep this in mind.  Later, at the other end of the bridge,
I go my entry to Paraguay.

c) Bus Terminal in Asuncion.  The bus terminal in Asuncion
is the liveliest terminal I have seen on this trip.  It is
really a mini bazaar where you can find just about anything
you want.  There are 2 hotels diagonally across (to the
left) as you exit.  I stayed at the YASY Hotel.  Room
without bath was $5, with bath and nice ceiling fan $9.  I
got the latter, ate at the International Restaurant next
door, and called it a night.

d) Return. Next day, I took Bus 31 (8 OK too) from in front
of the terminal (slightly to the right) to the Palace,
walked back along the Paraguay River about 2km to the
Cathedral, took photos along the way--I was one of 6
tourists I saw--walked up (away from river) 4 blocks to
Olive St., where a caught the return bus to the terminal,
paid 75,000 to the Ryse bus back to Ciudad del Este--they
do NOT have a bus to Iguazu, Brazil; take a bus that goes
all the way, as things get complex otherwise, especially
without language.  The bus left me at the terminal.  I paid
a taxi $5 to get me to the passport check at this side of
the bridge, walked across the bridge (15min) to Brazil, got
my entry stamp, and got stranded as there were no taxis
around.  100 meters ahead I found a motorcycle guy,
negotiated $3 for the ride to the terminal--but gave $5, as
the distance was considerable--collected my bag from
storage, and now typing these lines before my next bus to
somewhere.  (I'll decide based on what is available),
possibly to Puerto Allegre, Florianopolis, Curitiba, etc.


4.  Rest of South America.  I had in mind perhaps not using
my return ticket from Sao Paulo, but continuing on my own
to north, as far as Colombia, jump across to Central
America, etc.  But eventually I would have had to fly back
to Washington, DC.  Airlines love guys like me, who want a
one-way ticket that day.  I checked one price from
Honduras. It was more than my round-trip to/from Brazil. 
And I was advised that the connections would not be smooth,
especially during the holidays.


Sirman