Iguazu Falls

I went to check out the Iguazu falls since everybody I know who's gone there said they were amazing.  I dodged the 24 bus trip from Buenos Aires and flew instead.  1.5 hours later, I happily landed in Iguazu and once more marvelled at the wonder that is modern flight.

Amazing the falls were indeed though I apparently was there during unusually low water, but they could have said nothing and I would not have known the difference as they were really spectacular.  I spent about 3 days there admiring them from the different view points in Argentina and Brazil.

I crossed over to Brazil by public bus and yippie hurray the first country for which I did not have to  pre-arrange a visa for while I was in New York.  It was odd because it's the opposite for those traveling on an American passport.  I had a similar experience in Chile where Americans had to pay an "entry fee" of a hundred some dollars but I snuck in cheaply with my Moroccan passport which no one had heard of and kept opening the wrong way.

Iguazu Pictures in Picasa

While in Argentina, I was cautioned against taking buses in Brazil because they apparently don't have good buses and "the roads there are not as good as in Argentina".  It turns out that not only the roads are perfect in Brazil, but the buses are better than the ones I took in Argentina!  Hence the Argentine's reputation for being snobs to their neighbors.

The 24 hour bus trip from Iguazu to Rio was non-descript but not speaking a word of Portuguese was again a humbling experience.  I was trying to order lunch at a road stop and asked for "Salada" on the menu thinking I would get a nice healthy salad, but I was instead handed a ham and cheese sandwitch.  When I protested, the cook nodded saying what I had in my hands was indeed "Salada."  Go figure...