Ciudad del Este

Ciudad del Este is a city in Paraguay, on the triple border with Brazil and Argentina. It is linked to the city of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, by an international bridge over the Paraná river. It is mainly a shopping destination for Brazilians and Argentinians. Apart from that, the city is not very attractive. Get in By Air The local Guaraní International Airport (IATA: AGT) has direct connections to São Paulo and Asunción by TAM, on Airbus A320 jets, but there are much more frequent flights from many Brazilian cities (and some in other countries) to nearby Foz do Iguaçu airport in Brazil (IATA: IGU). The airport in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina (IATA: IGR) also receives several daily flights from Buenos Aires. By Bus The bus terminal is located around 1km South of the city center, a bit hidden behind the large sports stadium on Bernardino Caballero. There are frequent buses from Asunción (5 h) and Encarnación (4 h) in the South. International Border Crossing The most common way to arrive is through the Ponte da Amizade (Portuguese) or Puente de la Amistad (Spanish), meaning "Friendship Bridge," which connects Ciudad del Este in Paraguay to Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil over the Paraná river. There are frequent bus connections, also to and from Puerto Iguazú in Argentina. Taxis sometimes do the trans-border trip as well. A couple of kilometers south of Ciudad del Este, where the Paraná and Iguaçu/Iguazú rivers join, is a ferry crossing to Puerto Iguazú in Argentina without crossing Brazilian territory. The ferry runs hourly during daylight hours for AR$5. There´s a bus to Ciudad del Este passing close-by. From the centre (av Gral Bernardino Caballero) take a bus labeled "Tres Fronteras" (destination, not the company name) and ask to be dropped at "La Balsa" (the ferry). It is also possible to take a bus from Puerto Iguazú bus terminal through Brazil (Foz do Iguaçu), across the "Friendship Bridge" and into Ciudad del Este. The bus is specially marked "Foz, Puerto Iguazú, Ciudad del Este" or simply "Paraguay" and leaves from Puerto Iguazú bus terminal at platform 7 every hour and costs 5 Pesos. The ride to the Brazil-Paraguay border bridge will take approximately 45 minutes and you will be required to disembark at the Argentine border crossing to obtain an exit stamp before reboarding the bus for the rest of the journey. If your nationality is required to have a Brazilian visa and you don't have one, before boarding the bus, be sure that the bus will take you all the way across the Friendship Bridge into Ciudad del Este. If it does not, then it will drop you off right before the bridge and you will have to walk through immigration (exiting Brazil) and run the risk of being stopped and questioned by the Brazilian Federal Police about how you got into Brazil without a visa. Explain to them that you only wanted to visit Ciudad del Este and were unaware that the bus would not take you all the way. Also add that you will be returning straight to Puerto Iguazú (Argentina) at the end of the day. To leave Ciudad del Este back across the Friendship bridge one has three options. 1) Walk back across the bridge and wait in line at Brazilian immigration along with scores of people returning from shopping. 2) Take a bus from the bus terminal that goes into Brazil or directly to Puerto Iguazú and wait in the long line of cars. 3) Hire a motorcycle to take you across the bridge through the line specifically for Motorcycles that is rarely ever stopped by immigration officials. This can be rather dangerous as the driver will weave in and out of incoming traffic. This option is by far the quickest and took the Author 3 minutes to get from one end of the Friendship Bridge on the Paraguayan side, to the other end of the bridge on the Brazilian side - Past immigration. Cost = 10 Argentine Pesos. Border Scams If you are transiting Paraguay (not coming back across the same border the same day), you will have to go to the Paraguayan customs office just past the bridge. Citizens of Mercosur are granted entry just with their ID: others need a passport. The stories of bribings and scams in the Paraguayan customs offices are frequent. Make sure that you get everything that you are supposed to get when they check your passport and/or ID. Those that handle them the ID should receive back, along with the ID, a formulary with the arrival stamp in it. If you're with the passport, you'll receive only the usual stamp on the page. A common trick is not handing the stamped paper back with the ID; that way you cannot prove having legally entered the country. If so, you'll certainly be asked for money for the exit to be granted. So make sure you get the stamped paper at the border. Get around If you arrive with your own car make sure you find a parking lot (usually the local touts will lead you to one). However, if you do not feel comfortable with the situation you still can research a parking lot in advance as some of them have websites on the Internet. There are many local city buses available, typically charging 2500 Gs. It is common and advisable to sit down without paying due to the number of people boarding and disembarking as well as the fast pace of traffic. The driver's assistant will come by eventually to collect your payment and make change. Taxis are available, but are unmetered. Always agree on a price before getting inside. If possible, contact your hotel in advance to find out what the normal fares should be (20000-30000 Gs from the bus station to Hotel Austria or Hotel Munich for example). Taxi drivers commonly attempt to overcharge foreigners either by quoting an unreasonable fare up front, or claiming they had quoted a higher fare at the end of the trip. Paying with exact change or close to it will provide leverage in case the driver attempts to increase the fare at the end of the trip. For the adventurous, motorcycles taxis are common and a fast way to move through the heavy traffic near the Friendship Bridge to Brazil. Drivers are generally easy to spot due to their reflective shirts and should provide you with a helmet. See Itaipu Binacional Hydrodam, (The visitor centre is on the road to Hernandarias. Any bus to Hernandarias can drop you 500 m from the entrance. Get off when the bus makes a left turn off the highway or when you see prominent signs indicating the turns for Itaipu and Hernandarias), ☎ (+595 61) 599-8040, [1]. Visits only on guided tours at 8 am, 9:30 am, 2 pm, 3 pm; Sundays morning tours only. Two tour options are available for the general public. The Panoramic tour is a short and underwhelming 30 minute tour, often in Spanish only, that involves driving around the dam on a bus. A short lookout over the spillway provides the only photo opportunity, and visitors are herded back onto the bus after no more than 5 minutes. An in-depth technical tour allows visitors to see the inside of the dam and power generation facility and turbines. Reservations are required at least a week in advance for the technical tour. On Friday and Saturday evening there's an audio-visual show (reservation required). Passports necessary for all visits. Free.  edit Museo de la Tierra Guaraní and Zoológico Regional, (About 2 km from the visitor centre on the way back to Ciudad del Este), ☎ (+595 61) 599-8040. Tuesdays to Saturday 8 am to 12 pm and 2:30 pm to 5 pm; Sundays morning only, Mondays afternoon only.. A small museum mainly on the Guarani culture and the local wildlife. Descriptions in English and Spanish. Free.  edit Do Refugio Tati Yupi, 3km north of Hernandarias on the Supercarretera (Highway) to Saltos del Guairá, ☎ (+595 61) 599-8040. One of several areas of Atlantic Forest not flooded by the Itaipu reservoir, now preserved by the Itaipu Binacional organization. Refugio Tati Yupi is the most accessible and has facilities for camping, picnicking, outdoor grills, horseback riding, and a small hospedaje (guest house) with male and female dorms and a kitchen. The reserve has many small trails available for walking and wildlife includes birds, capuchin monkeys, armadillos, capibara and more. Permission must be requested at least 1 day in advance of arrival and you will need to collect a set of papers to present to the guards for admittance. If visiting the dam before going to the reserve, permits can be requested in person in the office to the left of the zoo entrance. By stopping by in advance of touring the dam, zoo, and Guarani museum permits can likely be collected before returning to Ciudad del Este at the end of the day. There is no direct public transit to the reserve, and the facilities are approximately 10-15km inside the gates. To access the reserve without renting a vehicle, take a bus to Hernandarias (it must have a sign in the windows that says "Sin Area." Other buses to Hernandarias take different routes). Get off the bus at a roundabout with Copetrol and Petrosur gas stations on the far corners and a Diske taxi stand on the near right corner. From here, a taxi to the visitors center inside the reserve should cost about 50,000 Gs. The guards may be reluctant to allow a taxi inside, but with your permits and some persuasion they will relent and allow the driver to leave you at the facilities 10km inside. Make an appointment to be picked up or take down the taxi dispatch phone number for park staff to call when you're ready to leave. Entrance, camping, hospedaje, and horse riding are free. A ''cantina'' sells souvenirs and a very limited assortment of snacks and beverages..  edit Buy Shopping is the main business of the visitors. The main shopping streets are San Blas and Camilo Recalde, where you can buy about anything and everything at really good prices; it is not without reason that so many Brazilians come in hordes to shop there and often resell the goods back home at a profit. Many people come for electronics, computer parts and accessories, liquor, perfume and other luxury goods. Counterfeit products are common, so you should prefer larger, more reputed and better structured stores, even if you find cheaper deals elsewhere. In addition to Paraguayan guaraníes, Brazilian reals, Argentine pesos, US dollars and euros are all widely accepted (and you can even get change in the same currency), though at wildly variable exchange rates. Using credit cards is usually no problem either. If you want to buy electronics such as cellphones or cameras, make sure you do this: Ask to test the device if it works. Never give it back to the shopkeeper/assistant, as that person might exchange the device with faulty versions or hand the box back filled with paper but not with what you just bought. Eat Due to the premium placed on street-front property, Ciudad del Este's eateries and dining establishments are commonly found inside multi-leveled shopping malls and are relatively scarce on the main street of San Blas. As a consequence of considerable immigrant populations, Ciudad del Este has a diverse variety of ethnic food options that one can take advantage of. Lebanese food can be found off the main streets and in many shopping centers and typically serve good shawarma/kebab to go. Chinese and Korean food restaurants can also be found. Your best bet is to ask a local to direct you to the nearest restaurant or eatery. Additionally, because of the large influx of Brazilian nationals that enter Ciudad del Este every day, the most popular restaurants are those which serve typical Brazilian fare and are easy to find. For some of the better-looking Asian restaurants, try exploring the areas around the corner of Adrian Jara and Av Boqueron. Not far from the same area are some US style burger houses. Above the 'Area Iris' supermarket (corner of Av Pioneros del Este and Adrian Jara) is a good but relatively expensive Japanese restaurant. In the supermarket various foods and other supplies can be had. Outside the supermarket, cheap hotdogs are available (but ensure that the hotdogs are heated well and not merely warmed - and this heating advice is recommended for foods from all street vendors). Many street vendors grill delicious and cheap asado (grilled beef) at night on Cap. Miranda just north of the main route through town. A plate of asado with manioc is 10,000 Gs, and salad, bread, and a liter of beer can be had for an additional 10,000 Gs. Vegetarians will have to ask around, but outside the city center there are a few vegetarian Chinese restaurants. Friends have reported that an Indian vegetarian restaurant called Gourangas is located behind the Municipalidad, not far from the city centre. Like most businesses in Ciudad del Este, you can pay for food with Argentine, US, Paraguayan, or Brazilian currency, and expect to receive change in the same currency used for payment. Drink Sleep Budget Hotel Tía Nancy, Garcete & Cruz del Chaco (South South West of the main Bus Terminal). checkout: 10:00am. A friendly and cheap but slightly grubby place very close to the main Bus Terminal. from 12 US$ (fan).  edit Hotel Caribe, on Emiliano R. Fernández (between Cap. Miranda and Mongelos), ☎ (+595 61) 512460. Clean, comfortable rooms. The building is new, with air-conditioning, hot water, and cable TV. from 33US$ (aircon).  edit Hotel Postillon, Calle Cañadones Chaqueños (Slightly south of the main Bus Terminal), ☎ (+595 61) 518621. Air-conditioning, hot water, television and clean rooms in a building being refurbished. 18 US$.  edit CDE Backpackers Hostel, Avenida Los Yerbales (One block up from Sport Zone, Area 1, within walking distance to downtown), ☎ (+595) 993-253866, [2]. Brand new hostel with shared rooms, shared kitchen and awesome terraces with great views of the city. Breakfast included. 15 US$. (-25.518088,-54.62684) edit Mid-Range Hotel Munich, on Emiliano R. Fernández 71 (between Cap. Miranda and Mongelos), ☎ (+595 61) 500347. from $30 US for a double with aircon.  edit Hotel Austria, Emiliano R. Fernández 165 (between Cap. Miranda and Mongelos), ☎ (+595 61) 504213, [3]. Also, a very basic room is available in a side area from the parking garage for $25 US. from $30 US for a double with aircon.  edit Hotel San Rafael, Av. Adrian Jara y Avay (downtown Ciudad del Este), ☎ (+595 61) 500804. checkin: 3:00 pm.; checkout: 12:00 pm. Good hotel located in downtown. Room with tv-cable, air-conditioning, private bath and telephone with direct calls. 30 US$.  edit Hotel Mi Abuela, Av. Adrian Jara (downtown Ciudad del Este, close to the corner with Pioneros del Este), ☎ (+595 61) 500333. Pleasant hotel located downtown. Like many of the mid-range hotels, offers a good breakfast buffet. from 28 US$.  edit Get out This article is an outline and needs more content. 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