Crossing the border
Crossing the border however was worrisome for me as I knew
the stupid tour in Iguazu f*cked up my immigration process. I had no exit and
re-entry stamp when I visited the Argentina side of the Falls but I had an
entry stamp from Corumba but at an earlier date. Boarding the bus at Porto Alegre
I had to surrender the passport to the bus attendant (Like an Air Stewardess
but on a bus) which she said she will return to me once we reached Uruguay.
It was an overnight bus and I was bewildered that I could
just sleep through the border crossing but I made sure to tell her that I must
get an exit stamp for Brazil and an entry stamp for Uruguay. So the bus depart and
everyone went to sleep after late supper was served. The next morning as we
were nearing the final destination of Montevideo she started handing back all
the passport or for the locals, Identification card.
I got mine back in one piece and checking the passport sure
enough I had two stamps,
Exit from Brazil (which was stamp next to the Argentina Visa
entry at Iguazu hence I knew the officer was onto me.
Interesting way to cross a border …. Where they don’t even
bother to see the actual person to process the passport. The bus attendant did
it for everyone so at least 40 people plus per day and there would be at least
10 buses going that route and coming back another 10. You could say the border
crossing was non-existence. Risky thing is that if the people make a mistake
with your passport you won’t know till you are deep into the country and by
then it will a day later and you are seriously in trouble.
Oh well … trust the local system and pray nothing goes
wrong.
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