Do you want to successfully cross the border between Argentina and Paraguay?
So there are various ways to cross the border between Argentina and Paraguay - I went from Puerto Iguazu, ARGENTINA to Ciudad del Este, PARAGUAY. Back in December 2010. Although looking back, this border crossing seemed easy compared to others I've passed through, there is still a need to be careful, read on and I'll tell you exactly what I did. This was one of the strangest border crossings I have ever done, for the reason that in the space of 45 minutes I was in three countries!! Confused? Yes it confused me a bit...this is the first of a series of reports on crossing world borders from my travels...
To start with you should board a bus at the bus station in Puerto Iguazu - the bus will have Paraguay as the destination on it. The bus is yellow and says El Practico on it. They leave quite often during the day. I went early Sunday morning. I'm not sure if you can buy tickets in advance, but check out of your hostel or hotel in Puerto Iguazu the town and head to the bus station - the main bus station in Puerto Iguazu. I would say do this early morning - as I'm not sure if the border is open at night - nor if it would be safe to risk.
I was travelling alone and my plan was to get to the city of Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and then a bus onwards to Asuncion.
Ciudad del Este, the name for this city means City of The East, is on the other side of the river from Argentina. The river acts as the border, and the bridge is the preferred crossing. As this is a post about the border crossing, I won't change the subject but I had already been to Tres Fronteras - the point where you can see all three countries. It gets confusing when you realise that your bus to Paraguay goes VIA BRAZIL.
So I paid 5 Argentine Pesos for the bus and asked with the driver to confirm if he could stop at the border for me to get my passport stamped. I was the only person on the bus that wasn't from either Brazil, Argentina or Paraguay. Those three countries have some kind of agreement between each other visa wise.
I actually assumed a lot of "backpackers" (I hate that term, but I guess I am one...) would be going from Iguazu across into Paraguay next to see Ituapu Dam and Jesuit Ruins at Trinidad. But I spoke to over 30 people at the hostel (the excellent Hostel Inn Iguazu Falls) and not one of them was going to Paraguay. A few even said to me "why would you want to go there?"! The kind of statement that makes me realise that some of us are avid travellers and some are just not. An avid traveller will go anywhere, anytime. Someone who is not, will be more picky about where they go. I'm not - I'll go anywhere. Either way, there were no other "backpackers" on my bus or in the station that morning.
If you travel in South America you should have some understanding of Spanish at least (I did a course in Montevideo but my Spanish is still pretty poor). When I noticed the queue for the Paraguay bus developing, I immediately joined it, although I was sweaty and heavily laden with bags. Most importantly I had my passport in my hand and all my money already changed into Paraguayan Guarani. This is important for you to know - before you get on that bus, change ALL your Argentine Pesos (except for the price of the bus obviously) into Paraguayan Guarani in Puerto Iguazu - you are better to have Paraguayan Guarani when you cross the border. You can do this even on a Sunday morning - there was a bank/exchange place in town open at 9am so I got mine changed there.
After getting on the bus you will be taken out of the town of Puerto Iguazu to the border bridge with BRAZIL first of all. Yes, don't be surprised at this point, as you are still on the bus to PARAGUAY! At the Argentine exit customs you need to make sure you ask the driver to let you get off to get your passport stamped. A lot of those on the bus may not need it - the majority of them are locals.
Get your passport stamped and back on the bus. Then you cross the Iguazu River into BRAZIL. But you don't stop at Brazilian border control. The driver of the bus does this route regularly and the sign on the front of the bus lets you know that you are heading to "Paraguay Directo". We're now in BRAZIL, in transit on a bus if you like.
You arrive in the city of Foz Do Iguacu which you drive through quickly, I have written a lot more about the actual waterfalls and my first trip across into Brazil elsewhere on this blog. You'd be crazy to be on this route without having visited the nearby Iguazu Falls.
After 20 minutes or so in Brazil on the bus you arrive at a crazy bridge. Again you see a border checkpoint here, but we by pass it. It's the Brazilian border point. Your eyes will remind you that your were in Brazil for 20 minutes, your passport will not. There is no need to get your passport stamped at either Brazil passport checkpoint, BUT once your bus gets onto the bridge, Keep your eyes peeled for the Paraguay entrance border checkpoint. Why? Because the driver won't stop there, but you need to tell him to stop there for you.
The unfortunate thing is that when you tell him to stop, he sadly cannot wait for you as the passengers onboard wouldn't accept waiting for a foreigner to get a passport stamp. The bus continues on its route and you are literally DUMPED out into the madness of the city of Ciudad del Este.
You are recommended not to cross this border on foot by the way, mainly due to robberies and potential safety issues. Honestly - don't risk it - take my advice for just 5 Pesos you can get the bus. I had to yell at the driver having ran to the front of the bus on arrival in Ciudad del Este, just to get him to stop! This was a few hundred yards in front of the checkpoint. I thought the driver would stop somewhere just over the border, but he didn't. You will need to keep your eyes open for the border immigration point and get out of the bus on your own. I did ask the driver if he'd hang around for me but when I realised he wouldn't, I just grabbed my bags, got off the bus and without flinching an eyelid, here I was in Paraguay!
OK so I was now in Paraguay but I still had to find the place to get my entry stamp on my passport - and it was far from obvious - at the back of a building site on the Paraguayan side of the bridge. I actually wish I had made a video of my trip that morning - looking back it was just madness!. It was hot, busy, stuffy and I was bag laden, lonely, lost and inspired! Luckily within a few minutes I arrived in the passport immigration place and obviously I was the only person in there. They stamped my entry quickly and it was easy here I was in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay! In the previous hour I had now been "in" three countries. Though I had no proof of my Brazilian bus journey (save for a video I took!).
I must admit though that I honestly am not sure if this is the easiest and best way across the border into Paraguay but I love these types of adventures on my own. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of my travels because I was the only traveller about. It was a zany place at the border and the city was so busy. People everywhere trying to sell me things. Some people might want to stay a night or 2 in Ciudad del Este but I was on a fast trip and basically wanted to head straight to Asuncion, the capital.
So from opposite the passport control, I found a taxi driver who would take me to the central bus station in Ciudad del Este for a fee of a few US Dollars (but thousands of Guarani). These are normally trustable but agree a price first and get yourself off the busy, crazy streets!
I hope this series of border crossings will be useful for fellow travellers - please let me know if you have crossed the same borders as me and whether you experienced the same thing or not.
Enjoy your border crossings!
So there are various ways to cross the border between Argentina and Paraguay - I went from Puerto Iguazu, ARGENTINA to Ciudad del Este, PARAGUAY. Back in December 2010. Although looking back, this border crossing seemed easy compared to others I've passed through, there is still a need to be careful, read on and I'll tell you exactly what I did. This was one of the strangest border crossings I have ever done, for the reason that in the space of 45 minutes I was in three countries!! Confused? Yes it confused me a bit...this is the first of a series of reports on crossing world borders from my travels...
To start with you should board a bus at the bus station in Puerto Iguazu - the bus will have Paraguay as the destination on it. The bus is yellow and says El Practico on it. They leave quite often during the day. I went early Sunday morning. I'm not sure if you can buy tickets in advance, but check out of your hostel or hotel in Puerto Iguazu the town and head to the bus station - the main bus station in Puerto Iguazu. I would say do this early morning - as I'm not sure if the border is open at night - nor if it would be safe to risk.
I was travelling alone and my plan was to get to the city of Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and then a bus onwards to Asuncion.
Ciudad del Este, the name for this city means City of The East, is on the other side of the river from Argentina. The river acts as the border, and the bridge is the preferred crossing. As this is a post about the border crossing, I won't change the subject but I had already been to Tres Fronteras - the point where you can see all three countries. It gets confusing when you realise that your bus to Paraguay goes VIA BRAZIL.
So I paid 5 Argentine Pesos for the bus and asked with the driver to confirm if he could stop at the border for me to get my passport stamped. I was the only person on the bus that wasn't from either Brazil, Argentina or Paraguay. Those three countries have some kind of agreement between each other visa wise.
I actually assumed a lot of "backpackers" (I hate that term, but I guess I am one...) would be going from Iguazu across into Paraguay next to see Ituapu Dam and Jesuit Ruins at Trinidad. But I spoke to over 30 people at the hostel (the excellent Hostel Inn Iguazu Falls) and not one of them was going to Paraguay. A few even said to me "why would you want to go there?"! The kind of statement that makes me realise that some of us are avid travellers and some are just not. An avid traveller will go anywhere, anytime. Someone who is not, will be more picky about where they go. I'm not - I'll go anywhere. Either way, there were no other "backpackers" on my bus or in the station that morning.
If you travel in South America you should have some understanding of Spanish at least (I did a course in Montevideo but my Spanish is still pretty poor). When I noticed the queue for the Paraguay bus developing, I immediately joined it, although I was sweaty and heavily laden with bags. Most importantly I had my passport in my hand and all my money already changed into Paraguayan Guarani. This is important for you to know - before you get on that bus, change ALL your Argentine Pesos (except for the price of the bus obviously) into Paraguayan Guarani in Puerto Iguazu - you are better to have Paraguayan Guarani when you cross the border. You can do this even on a Sunday morning - there was a bank/exchange place in town open at 9am so I got mine changed there.
After getting on the bus you will be taken out of the town of Puerto Iguazu to the border bridge with BRAZIL first of all. Yes, don't be surprised at this point, as you are still on the bus to PARAGUAY! At the Argentine exit customs you need to make sure you ask the driver to let you get off to get your passport stamped. A lot of those on the bus may not need it - the majority of them are locals.
Get your passport stamped and back on the bus. Then you cross the Iguazu River into BRAZIL. But you don't stop at Brazilian border control. The driver of the bus does this route regularly and the sign on the front of the bus lets you know that you are heading to "Paraguay Directo". We're now in BRAZIL, in transit on a bus if you like.
You arrive in the city of Foz Do Iguacu which you drive through quickly, I have written a lot more about the actual waterfalls and my first trip across into Brazil elsewhere on this blog. You'd be crazy to be on this route without having visited the nearby Iguazu Falls.
After 20 minutes or so in Brazil on the bus you arrive at a crazy bridge. Again you see a border checkpoint here, but we by pass it. It's the Brazilian border point. Your eyes will remind you that your were in Brazil for 20 minutes, your passport will not. There is no need to get your passport stamped at either Brazil passport checkpoint, BUT once your bus gets onto the bridge, Keep your eyes peeled for the Paraguay entrance border checkpoint. Why? Because the driver won't stop there, but you need to tell him to stop there for you.
The unfortunate thing is that when you tell him to stop, he sadly cannot wait for you as the passengers onboard wouldn't accept waiting for a foreigner to get a passport stamp. The bus continues on its route and you are literally DUMPED out into the madness of the city of Ciudad del Este.
You are recommended not to cross this border on foot by the way, mainly due to robberies and potential safety issues. Honestly - don't risk it - take my advice for just 5 Pesos you can get the bus. I had to yell at the driver having ran to the front of the bus on arrival in Ciudad del Este, just to get him to stop! This was a few hundred yards in front of the checkpoint. I thought the driver would stop somewhere just over the border, but he didn't. You will need to keep your eyes open for the border immigration point and get out of the bus on your own. I did ask the driver if he'd hang around for me but when I realised he wouldn't, I just grabbed my bags, got off the bus and without flinching an eyelid, here I was in Paraguay!
OK so I was now in Paraguay but I still had to find the place to get my entry stamp on my passport - and it was far from obvious - at the back of a building site on the Paraguayan side of the bridge. I actually wish I had made a video of my trip that morning - looking back it was just madness!. It was hot, busy, stuffy and I was bag laden, lonely, lost and inspired! Luckily within a few minutes I arrived in the passport immigration place and obviously I was the only person in there. They stamped my entry quickly and it was easy here I was in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay! In the previous hour I had now been "in" three countries. Though I had no proof of my Brazilian bus journey (save for a video I took!).
I must admit though that I honestly am not sure if this is the easiest and best way across the border into Paraguay but I love these types of adventures on my own. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of my travels because I was the only traveller about. It was a zany place at the border and the city was so busy. People everywhere trying to sell me things. Some people might want to stay a night or 2 in Ciudad del Este but I was on a fast trip and basically wanted to head straight to Asuncion, the capital.
So from opposite the passport control, I found a taxi driver who would take me to the central bus station in Ciudad del Este for a fee of a few US Dollars (but thousands of Guarani). These are normally trustable but agree a price first and get yourself off the busy, crazy streets!
I hope this series of border crossings will be useful for fellow travellers - please let me know if you have crossed the same borders as me and whether you experienced the same thing or not.
Enjoy your border crossings!
About the Author:
If you want more incredible tips on crossing world borders and popular travel tips and stories, check out Jonny Blair's awesome travel and lifestyle website Dont Stop Living Happy travels and don't stop living!
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