Dam-Bus-Tour

So how to spend a leisurely morning? Sit by the pool? No! Let's take two buses to visit the Itapu Dam! Well it was supposed to be one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Two buses later we arrived at the dam and sat through a overly long propaganda filled video about the wonders of the dam and how it aided the environment and provided employment and electricity. But we were aware there was controversy over the building of the dam and much land had been destroyed. Still, show me the cascading water!

An open-topped bus tour ensued displaying vast areas of towering concrete. However we soon learned via the guides faltering English that today (like 90% of the year), all the water was in use making electricity for Brazil and Paraguay. So no cascading water was to be seen.
Bitter and disappointed Gareth and I vowed to write a vicious review about the place on our return home - I will you know! So our third bus of the day took us back to the central bus station.

Bus number four was to take us to Argentina. If one side of the waterfall wasn't enough, it was decided the waterfall must also be seen from the Argentinian side. My energy flagging and spirits sinking, the bus arrived forty minutes later. It was getting late to be crossing the border into another country with two children (being a mother has definitely increased my propensity to worry). We all disembarked to have our passports stamped and bags spanned and climbed back on the bus which pulled up some time later at another stop. Hurrying across the road we climbed aboard bus number five (I'm losing count now)? And some kilometres later we disembarked at the falls.

A faltering and arduous train ride dropped us off at the start of a one kilometre walk across a metal bridge crossing the river to the other side of the falls. These were indeed impressive but tired and anxious about the lateness of the day (nearly 5pm) and being in the wrong country, I could not appreciate its beauty. Trudging back across the metal bridge my angst grew and grew about getting across the border before nightfall. The train ride back to the entrance was pleasantly filled with a chat with a friendly English-speaking Brazilian with his wife and child who advised us the last bus from Argentina was in one hour! Bus number six brought us back to the Argentinian bus depot well in time for the bus but the friendly chap on the train had also told us we could get a taxi across the border.

So with a slightly heavy heart I walked away from the bus station (and the last bus) to a restaurant Gareth was very keen on trying - 'Aqua'. The food was indeed amazing but we had to keep reminding ourselves and the children to speak Spanish an no longer Portuguese!

Finally the taxi brought us across the border, another stamp in the passport and we arrived back at the hotel. It was a day of a couple of highs but mostly lows (for me) and the arduous day didn't seem worth all the stress just in the pursuit of tourism. But that's just how I tell it.