I´d been running into two Colombian guys for a couple of days, and saw them again on the bus that crossed into Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. We were all going there for the day to see the Itaipu dam, a massive hydroelectric project, but they were doing some cheap duty-free shopping first. I tried to go straight to the dam but ended up missing the stop and was stuck at the bus terminal in the middle of nowhere for a while, being offered ´yerba mate´, a weird herbal drink in a tin cup with a metal straw and listening to romantic orations by the boss of the station. I have never had so many marriage proposals in such a short space of time - Paraguay seems to be the place to come if your self-esteem is flagging. I´ve heard a fair bit about the Latin American ´machismo´ but this was the first time I saw it in action.

I eventually made it to the dam after crawling under a barbed wire fence, and found my Colombian amigos looking bemused. It turned out that the 13.30 tour that we´d been aiming to get was on schedule, but that Paraguay was an hour behind Brazil, so we were an hour early. None of us could afford to hang around for a long tour since we had to be back in Foz in the late afternoon. Dielo and Eduardo were catching a bus to Sao Paulo, and I, for once, was flying, thanks to Gwen, the wonder-agent who´d booked my tickets and made sure I stayed below the mile threshold I paid for. We managed to sort out that we´d do the main bit of the tour, miss the video, and then take a taxi across the border. We hung around for an hour in the cafe, chewing the fat, and they were very patient with my um-ing and er-ing Spanish.

It turned out we were the only ones on the tour, so our guide, Marta, gave us her undivided attention. Luckily, she spoke very clearly so I could understand, and she had an incredible memory for all the statistics she reeled off. Unless she was making them up off the top of her head - I guess we wouldn´t know the difference. The dam was built in the 1970s and is a binational project, supplying almost all of Paraguay´s energy and some of Brazil´s (they have 9 turbines each). The scale of the dam is massive and the lake behind it is colossal, though it is still paying off the debt incurred in its construction.

We took a taxi back to Ciudad del Este, as the driver´s papers weren´t in order so he wouldn´t take us over the border. It was just as well since the road leading up to the bridge was packed with traffic. We walked a way, stopping for the Colombian guys to buy a Carlos Vives CD as a present for me, as they told me I would like Colombian music. We got a minibus into town and then I rushed to get a bus to the airport, arriving 45 minutes before take off. Luckily for once, the flight was delayed.