As we queued in Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) to cross the border into Foz do Iguacu where we were staying in Brasil street vendors walked the lanes trying to sell all sorts- windscreen wipers, toys, sweets, chipa, watches, perfumes, you name it, they got it! We crossed the “Bridge of Amnesty” into Brasil and the hot brzilian policeman let us through immigration with no problems. At the other side Pablo’s friend Shoe was there to meet us and take us to the hotel.
After dinner Dari and I decided we couldn’t spend a night in Brasil without a Capirinah. We found a cosy bar, had a couple of capirinahs and rolled home along the hilly avenues to our hotel. From what I had seen of Ciudad del Este and the plans that Pablo had I knew that tomorrow was going to be a BIG day!
Shoe came to meet us at the hotel in the morning to accompany us to Ciudad del Este, she had planned the whole thing, that’s when I realised that it wasn’t just a day out but a mission that needed to be completed. We caught a bus and we hit the bombshell of a city at 10am in the pouring down rain which was washing streams or red dirt, orange peel, rubbish and herbs down the street. Luckily we knew exactly what we were there for and went straight for it. Pablo wanted a new laptop and mobile phones for the girls. I wanted a bad boy reflex camera! After a good hour of browsing just one block of electronic shops I spotted my beauty and I was
approached by Muhamed the owner of the shop who was Lebanese, had a mullet and was wearing waterproofs. He helped me, gave me a coffee, flattered me and blabbed out all sorts of obvious sales talk and offers in his own macho way. He threw in a camera bag for free and gave me a good discount on the camera which was already cheap due to 0 TAX! Weeeheeey! He insisted on being in the first picture so got one of his assistants to put my little beauty together as he gave me his number and practically proposed! It was hilarious!
Pablo got his laptop and the girls got their mobile phones and we were done just one obstacle was in front of us- crossing the bridge without paying a fee due to the $300 restriction that we had all individually exceeded! We crossed with no trouble- the inspectors didn’t see or suspect anything. I sat restlessly in the bus crossing back to Brazil with sweaty palms gazing out the window. Suddenly I had to burst out laughing at the scene which was going on on the riverbanks below. There were people were running across the riverbank with great big boxes on their shoulders full of electrical goods. They went to no effort what so ever to hide the fact that they were doing something that was blatantly illegal under the police’s noses. But the police weren’t too bothered about it either.
Having completed our missions successfully we spent the afternoon playing with our new gadgets and drying off in a nice coffee shop where they serve cake by weight! It was a day never to be forgotten and in the evening Darinka and I put the cherry on the cake by blowing away the Brazilians with our version of Madonna- Like A Virgin in a Karaoke bar, washed down with some well deserved Caipirinha beers.
After dinner Dari and I decided we couldn’t spend a night in Brasil without a Capirinah. We found a cosy bar, had a couple of capirinahs and rolled home along the hilly avenues to our hotel. From what I had seen of Ciudad del Este and the plans that Pablo had I knew that tomorrow was going to be a BIG day!
Shoe came to meet us at the hotel in the morning to accompany us to Ciudad del Este, she had planned the whole thing, that’s when I realised that it wasn’t just a day out but a mission that needed to be completed. We caught a bus and we hit the bombshell of a city at 10am in the pouring down rain which was washing streams or red dirt, orange peel, rubbish and herbs down the street. Luckily we knew exactly what we were there for and went straight for it. Pablo wanted a new laptop and mobile phones for the girls. I wanted a bad boy reflex camera! After a good hour of browsing just one block of electronic shops I spotted my beauty and I was
approached by Muhamed the owner of the shop who was Lebanese, had a mullet and was wearing waterproofs. He helped me, gave me a coffee, flattered me and blabbed out all sorts of obvious sales talk and offers in his own macho way. He threw in a camera bag for free and gave me a good discount on the camera which was already cheap due to 0 TAX! Weeeheeey! He insisted on being in the first picture so got one of his assistants to put my little beauty together as he gave me his number and practically proposed! It was hilarious!Pablo got his laptop and the girls got their mobile phones and we were done just one obstacle was in front of us- crossing the bridge without paying a fee due to the $300 restriction that we had all individually exceeded! We crossed with no trouble- the inspectors didn’t see or suspect anything. I sat restlessly in the bus crossing back to Brazil with sweaty palms gazing out the window. Suddenly I had to burst out laughing at the scene which was going on on the riverbanks below. There were people were running across the riverbank with great big boxes on their shoulders full of electrical goods. They went to no effort what so ever to hide the fact that they were doing something that was blatantly illegal under the police’s noses. But the police weren’t too bothered about it either.
Having completed our missions successfully we spent the afternoon playing with our new gadgets and drying off in a nice coffee shop where they serve cake by weight! It was a day never to be forgotten and in the evening Darinka and I put the cherry on the cake by blowing away the Brazilians with our version of Madonna- Like A Virgin in a Karaoke bar, washed down with some well deserved Caipirinha beers.
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