It´s the end of the world as we know it.

After an interesting day we´ve arrived in Ushuaia Argentina. It feels like a scene out of Northern Exposure....uh I mean Southern Exposure.

We left Foz Do Iguarcu and I wrote in my journal that I couldn´t describe it but it doesn´t really matter as it´s totally unforgettable. Have a look at some of the photos on this site and you´ll know what I mean. http://www.curitiba-brazil.com/iguacu-falls.htm We only had time to go to the Argentina side but that was enough as the Brazil side is kinda like the American side of Niagara Falls.....best viewed from Canada and the best views of all the Falls are from Canada. The park takes a full day to visit and lots of water is very necessary. The temperure was 40 degrees C in downtown Foz and some of the hikes up to the viewing areas were just too much for some people (but not for us hardy canadians though...hehe!!).

Two days ago we found out that we could buy cheap tickets to Ushuaia if we flew out of the airport in Argentina - only caveat was you had to buy them in Argentina. There was also an airport on the Brazilian side of the border but tickets were twice as much. So we decided to hop on the bus and head out for the airport on Sunday. (plus local bus experiences are always an adventure!) Went pretty well except we had to take a cab to the airport from the Argentian bus station as there was no bus service to the airport on Sunday. We found out today that there´s no bus service to the airport anyday from that bus station. We get our tickets, get back, see the falls yesterday and we´re ready to go.

We leave the hostel about 9am because we have to mail stuff home (and experience tells us everything takes 3 or 4 times longer than expected), catch the bus to Brazilian customs, stop at the Argentian customs and then get to the airport by noon. After an hour and twenty minutes in the post office we´re walking to catch the bus at 10:30am. OK...little concerned but here comes our bus so all is good. Get to the Brazilian customs and think we´re doing well because we catch-on to the fact the bus driver is going to give us a pass to get the next bus as he isn´t going to wait for us to clear customs.

We find the customs officer and he askes us number of things we don´t understand in Portguese. Another fellow with a stack of Canadian passports comes over to us and says the border guard has asked him to ask us a few questions. Odd but OK. First do we have our passports....check....do we have our entry papers......what was that? When we came into the country there was a piece of paper they gave us when we cleared customs. Kathryn was able to pull hers out of her pocket with an incredible stroke of foresight. I´d pitched mine in the garbage at the airport with my baggage claim and the boarding pass. The solution, go back downtown to the bank and buy a replacement piece of paper for $55US (165 Real). With this we surely would miss the plane. The customs office kept shrugging and saying something we think was ´Too bad. Too bad´ and we kept giving him the ´That was that you said. I don´t understand what you mean. Can we not pay you.´ After Kathryn worked on him for a bit he said ´Five dollars´. OK give him five US dollars. He says ¨No no 5´. Can you write it down? Oh $55! After giving him the money he suddenly spoke a little english and the winning quote from brazil was him saying "I take the money to the bank for you". Yeah OK, whatever. $55 US cash and passport stamps all around. We make it to the airport on time and we´re off to Ushuaia!