I bought a flightticket to Asuncion already six months ago, because they didn't let me fly to Bolivia from Madrid without having a ticket to leave the country. That was a good reason to visit Paraguay and Iguazu falls which are located on Argentina and Brazil near the border of Paraguay. Asuncion is a quiet, relaxed and developed city compared to Bolivian cities. I spent hardly any time in the center, but decided to visit the villages nearby which are located by a beautiful lake. Paraguayn people speak Guarani, fast Spanish and the strange mixture of those two languages. Luckily they can also speak nice and slow if they want. The country hasn't seen too many tourists so far, but they are getting there slowly but surely. I'm not so convinced about all the sights they advertise on their leaflets though. Ciudad del este near the Brasilian border was a ghosttown on sunday. One taxidriver offered to take me to Itaipu dam (second biggest in the world). I acepted his offer eventhough it cost me 20$, because there wasn't any other way to visit the place on sunday. After getting used to ridiculously cheap taxis in Bolivia this kind of price felt like a rip off. The visit was free and the guides were nice which compensated the disappointment of seeing no flowing water  (the dry season). In the evening I had to eat in Burger King, because there were no other places open. On monday there was so much noise and vendors everywhere that it was difficult to believe in being in the same city. I took the bus to Puerto Iguazu (Argentina) which goes first through Brazil (Foz de Iguazu). I was warned not to miss any stamps at the borders. I couldn't get the the exitstamp of Paraguay (the busdidn't stop), but everything went smoothly on Argentinian border.

Puerto Iguazu is quiet and relaxed city inspite of having the world-class attraction just down the road. There are many good restaurants and cheap hostels (10euros) with good faciliites and service. Local bus will take you to the falls every 20 minutes. The entrance costs you 100 pesos (20$). For the second day is only 50. The whole area is huge. Eventhough the train will take you to the magnificent Devil's throat (the biggest fall) expect to do lot of walking and climbing on the stairs and to meet big bunch of other tourists. In spite of all the tourists the whole area is so amazing that is definitely worth spending two days there. In addition to watch all the falls from different distances and angles you can do some hiking in the beaten (suitable also for fit retired people and children) junglepaths and admire the flora and fauna of the surrounding rainforest. I saw some caymans, turtles, monkeys, birds, butterflies and lot of exotic plants and trees. The staff is doing their best to protect the nature from all the visitors. The place is well supervised and you are not allowed to get out of the marked trails. Because of the dense jungle you don't even feel like doing it. After a long and tiring day on Iguazu jungle I went to watch the sunshine by the Parugayriver from where you can see all the three countries at the same time.