Foz do Iguaçu, Parana, Mile 478

Greetings from, again, Foz do Iguaçu.  I did not plan to be here...

Saturday morning, nice and early, I got an international taxi from my hotel in Encarnacion to take me across the bridge into Posadas, Argentina, where I then planned to take a bus to Santo Tome, Argentina, cross another bridge, and continue my journey from Sao Borja, Rio Grande do Sul.  That did not happen...Argentine customs refused me entry into the country because I did not pay a ´´reciprocity fee´´ over the internet prior to entering  the country.  This fee is $161 Dollars, and the ugly widow who is (mis)running Argentina apparently thought that sticking it to the gringos would win her political points at home.  Had I returned to Paraguay to pay the fee, it would have taken so long that I would have missed my bus anyhow.  So, I binned Argentina, had the taxi driver take me to the Encarnacion bus station, and bought a ticket to Ciudad del Este, from where I rode across the bridge into Foz do Iguaçu, this time stopping at Brazilian immigration and getting formally admitted to Brazil.

Sunday, yesterday, I rode to the Foz bus station and bought a ticket to Porto Alegre, leaving in about an hour and a half from now.  This will take 21 hours, and when I arrive in Porto Alegre, I am going to buy another ticket to the Uruguayan border and continue my ride in Uruguay.  I am going to end up in Buenos Aires eventually on this trip, which means I am going to pay that idiotic fee, but at least I am spending as little money as possible in Argentina.

Sunday afternoon, I got the bike out again and rode south of Foz to the ``Marca das thres fronteiras´´, which is a monument where the Iguaçu and Parana rivers come together.  Across the Iguaçu, which is muddy from the falls upstream, is Argentina.  Across the Parana is Paraguay.  In each of those countries there is an identical ´´triple border marker´´.  The views were incredible.  I did not know this, but there is a car ferry running from Paraguay to Puerto Yguazu, Argentina.

Last night, I found a Churrascaria, ie an all you can eat meat place, and did my best to destroy their bottom line.  I had an excellent and huge meal, and it came, with a very generous tip, to only twenty bucks.  Brazil is cheaper than it was two or, especially, four years ago...

That is all for now, I will be writing again from Uruguay in a couple of days.  Right now I am in what the Brazilians call a ´´LAN House´´, ie an internet cafe a few blocks from my hotel.  I will now be heading off to the bus station...