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Photos by Milton Lai

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Photos by Milton Lai

So I’ve just experience both sides of the falls and as with what most people say, the Argentinian side is a lot better. Whats better is the experience of the waterfalls. The understanding of how much water passes through these falls. I’ll start with yesterday.
I arrived in the morning and checked into the hostel. Bus 120 took me from the hostel, which was a block from the local bus terminal, all the way to the falls and back on the brazillian side. Once inside, a bus will take you to different spots which have different activities and sites to see. The brazillian side is quite picturesque. I did quite enjoy this side as it was the simpler version, and also, less dangerous. This side can be done in a few hours, without the activities.
The Argentinian side involves 3 buses. One to get you to the brazillian border – heading to Portuo Iguazu, one from the brazillian border to the bus terminal (via the argentinian border patrol) and then another to the falls. As a tourist, you must get off at the brazillian border, get your passport stamped, then get off again at the argentinian side and get it stamped again. One the way back it is the same case (except my bus didn’t stop at the brazillian side… I’ll be looking to head to the federal police in Florianopolis tomorrow to get that sorted..).
Once there, there is a bit more walking it seems to get to the different points. A short walk to the trains – but it is faster to walk along a track to get you to the first point. Then there are a few walking trails – each with different vantage points. The man made floor structures are metal and when wet is extremely slippery. The jet boat ride is an experience.. to get wet. Note for anyone planning on doing this, bring thongs with you, or at least put your shoes and socks in the waterproof bag they provide… you get a complete drenching.
The other spots are spectacular to see the numerous waterfalls. There food on this side seems a bit lacking compared to the brazillian end point which was a buffet. This was a mere take out place and the main meals are back at the beginning. This trek took about 4 hours or so at a quick pace. It is the transport which is a killer, but its nice just to see both sides of Iguacu.

Written by Milton Lai

So I’ve seen a few blog posts already(** link up when i find it) (one of which was most helpful) about the journey from Punta Del Diablo to Foz Do Iguacu and just wanted to write about mine so other travellers can make their own decisions about it.

The back story of this trip was to go from Buenos Aires to Colonia, up through the coast of Uruguay and then into Brazil, ending in Sao Paulo. We were on an afternoon bus from Punta Del Este to La Paloma. Landed, looked around, was able to see the town in a good 4 hours with a long lunch break and a snooze at the beach. By this time, it might’ve been 5pm. I was hoping to get moving to Punta Del Diablo, but there weren’t any buses that night. The first would be at 6am the next day. We did that, got in at about 8am, again, walked around town and saw most of what it had to offer by 12pm. Just to let you know, I might have been a bit over sun and beaches and so did not want to stay. Decided to check out my options to get out of there and get to Iguacu.

So from the mentioned blog, there are a few ways. I decided to bus it to Porte Alegro and then a bus to Foz Do Iguacu. The other way, which I would’ve considered if I wasn’t so far along was to get back to Montevideo for a bus to Iguacu. My experience was similar to the other blog. A regular bus to Chuy/Chui which leaves every hour or so. Chuy isn’t a bad town, since it is full of duty free shops, but otherwise, is very quiet at night. The bus from Chuy was the 11 pm bus to arrive at Porte Alegre at 7 am. The other option was a 12:30 pm bus which we had missed (not 100% sure on that time). This left me with a 2 buses from Porte Alegre to Iguacu – 3pm (?) and 7pm. 12 hours in this city is a good amount of time to walk around, have a few meals and just to experience Brazil for the first time. 7pm, the bus leaves the terminal, and does stop twice, once for dinner and the other for breakfast – the dinner one i slept through. It arrived a bit late into Iguacu at 10am instead of the 9am it said. I was hoping to get a good start on a tour when I arrived, but it seems that it might be an issue since the Argentinian tours start at 8am. The brazillian side can be done in a few hours on your own. In saying this, it was possible to catch the earlier bus from Porte Alegre which would land you in Iguacu at 6:30 am.

Having been given the chance to do this all again, I would’ve travelled only as far as Punta Del Este and then headed back to Montevideo before a long single bus to Iguazu. La Paloma and Punta Del Diablo are surfing towns and hit their peak in late December and early January, otherwise they would be half day visits each.

Written by Milton Lai

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Photos by Milton Lai