Hey everyone! Finally, a fast-ish internet connection to use...

So, a recap! The Iguazú falls were absolutely awesome...Kind of like something from a movie. Actually, as my mom informed me, they´re going to be featured in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (the best premier party of which I will be hosting on my return to the states--get ready!). Didn´t bring my fedora, but the humidity and the butterflies around the huge waterfalls made me feel it. I walked around with a very nice Japanese lady named Nana, who I´m going to meet up with the next time I´m in Osaka. We saw the Garganta del Diablo (the Devil´s Throat) from the Argentinean side of the falls (they´re divided between Argentina and Brazil). It was like a hole had opened up into the earth and everything was falling into the abyss...you couldn´t see the bottom because of the amount of spray put out.

From there (after a dip in the hostal pool) I took a tiny little bus through Brazil into Paraguay. I entered in the boringly-named Ciudad del Este, where I didn´t get an entrance stamp into the country (more about this later). Not wanting to get lost in a somwhat lame town, I hopped on a bus to the capitol of Asunción. I got into town late and crashed in this strange little hostal, in a rather dark room with no windows, but at least a fan.

I walked around town the dia siguiente. If you want a rather violent, dark story from Paraguay, try Lily Tuck´s "The News from Paraguay" which is about one of the country´s many dictators. I got to see his remains, along with another ruthless killer, in the Pantheon de los Heroes. You know the government of a country is messed up if they print pictures of their tyrants on the money.

Asuncion was nice, very tropical. I think that most tourists don´t come to paraguay, so the people were some of the friendliest that I´ve met (and most people are friendly here). I sweated all day though, so I got the first bus to Bolivia.

So the route that I took to Bolivia has it´s own story--it´s called the Ruta Trans-Chaco, and it kind of defines "sketchy." The Chaco is a part of Paraguay to the west that no one inhabits. It´s a sort of deserty, thorny badlands with nothing for miles but a dirt road that connects the two countries.

I got on the bus around 7 30 and we started off. Woken up at 2 in the morning, we proceeded to Paraguayan Customs (I didn´t think that they had them in that country) where the officer proceeded to charge me $80 as a fine because I didn´t get an entrance stamp, most of which I´m sure went in his pocket.

We then started on the dirt road. We were woken up in the morning by the bus stopping--another bus had gotten stuck ahead by the mud created by last nights rain. After waiting a couple of hours to get it out, we continued to Bolivian immigration, which proceeded to look my passport over at least three times for anything out of the ordinary. Sadly, all was in order and I could pass.

We actually made it through to the paved road before being stopped again--this time by politics. Apparently there was a road block ahead, made by the rich lowlanders against president Evo´s socialist taxes. I don´t see what´s so bad about taxing land, but we had to wait in this tiny little village for a night and sleep on the bus. I was almost out of money by then but my remaining $6 bought me a really good dinner, and many rounds of beer to ease the pain.

Anyway, we kept going the day after--yesterday--and passed the first block until we reached a SECOND one made by a huge fallen tree and some big trucks. A bit fed up by that time, five people from the bus and I (we had all gotten to know each other by then) took our stuff, walked through, and took a taxi to Santa Cruz. Whew.

On the brightside, I met some cool people--a British guy and a Norwegian girl, the latter of which I´m going with to a pre-Incan ruin tomorrow. I also have less than a month until I`ll be back in Alaska, which is evoking mixed feelings! Hope everyone is doing great and all pictures will be revealed when I get back. Much love!