So after moving hostels I went to buy a new camera in Paraguay. I went together with a guy I met from Buenos Aires. His friend happened to be a local here, and knows his way around. We caught a bus from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina to Brasil. The bus terminated right in front of the border with Paraguay. From there we had to walk across a big bridge where we crossed the border with Paraguay.
Once we got to Paraguay, I didn´t know what I was seeing. It happened to be a madhouse! People trying to sell anything on the streets. From fake brand socks to watches, toys, food.. Anything. Then on the other side of the street there happened to be some sort of mall where looooooads of electronic shops were in. There were no any other shops. Just electronic shops EVERYWHERE.. All selling the same camera´s, watches, game consoles, computers.. It was just weird.. Especially considering this is a really poor country.. It really makes you wonder how they were able to afford such a lot of electronics. Most of it is actually probably stolen from containers and the likes. I was really happy to be with a local, as I would not have felt well to go there on my own. The local guy knew his way around and we went asking at the different shops for my camera. They all charged different prices. We walked around for a good 2 hours. Then I made the decision where to buy my camera, as some shops were also selling “used” camera´s (in other words, it could have been my stolen camera). We went to a place which seemed most legit. I was able to buy my same camera for 265USD, which is about 180 euro´s. Actually cheaper than what I had payed for it back in Amsterdam.
The guy from Buenos Aires bought some stuff as well. Like a new Playstation 2 and some watches for his family. From there we went back to Brasil where we caught a bus back to Argentina. I was happy I had gotten a camera again. I also bought me a memory stick so I am able to backup all of the photos I take. So next time my camera gets stolen, I´ll at least not lose my precious photos.
The next day I decided to go back to the Iguazu falls to test out my new camera. The worst thing about my camera being stolen was the fact I lost all of the beautiful photos of the falls. I was able to take the same photos again, so in the end all is fine again.
I also booked me a bus up to Rio. I am leaving today, thursday in the afternoon. It´s a 23 hour busride, so it is going to take a while. But I am glad to get out of here, as I´ve been here much longer than I planned to be. Eventhough Rio is actually more dodgy than Argentina, I can´t wait to get there. Although I learned my lesson, and I am definitely not going to bring my camera out at night. I might even buy disposable camera´s for the time being in Rio, as people do actually get robbed in clear daylight on the streets.
More news from Rio in a few days once I am settled in over there!!
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