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After spending a week in Encarnación —Paraguay’s third-largest city—we set off for Buenos Aires. Although we could have flown from Encarnación—really Posadas—to Buenos Aires, I wanted to have an adventure and chose to take an overnight bus. Thus, we would be on the road for almost 24 hours. These 24 hours, combined with our first 24 hours in Buenos Aires, were definitely the unglamorous side of traveling.
Part 1: Crossing the Border into Argentina
Hanging Out in Encarnación
We had to check out of our Airbnb in Encarnación at 10 a.m., but our overnight bus didn’t depart until 7:30 p.m. We chose to leave our Airbnb and hang out at Café Martínez at Shopping Costanera. We had been to Café Martínez a couple of times during our week-long stay in Encarnación, and it is good. They serve several gluten-free meals, and the coffee is awesome. Thus, it was the perfect place to eat lunch and hang out afterwards.

Kevin and I both ordered a gluten-free pizza and a fruit smoothie. My smoothie was an orange-strawberry mix, while Kevin got the açai smoothie. They were both quite good. We also ordered a gluten-free ham and cheese sandwich (sánduche jamón y queso, often shortened to JyQ), and two coffees. After stuffing our faces, we had our coffee and worked on our laptops.
Around 2:30pm, we decided to leave Café Martínez and take an Uber to the international train station. Although our bus didn’t leave until 7:30pm, we wanted to leave five hours ahead of time for several reasons. One reason is that Argentina is an hour ahead of Paraguay. Thus, we only had four hours before our bus departed, not five. Another reason is that we had no idea what to expect at the border crossing and how long that may take. Finally, I have anxiety, and the anticipation of this long journey made me nervous.
The Encarnación-Posadas International Train
It took less than 15 minutes to go from Shopping Costanera to the train station, south of the main part of Encarnación. We didn’t expect much, and we were right. The Encarnación train station is literally a platform where you stand to wait for the train. Paraguayan Customs and immigration occur outside, with nothing more than standing in line and talking to a guy sitting in a shipping container-type building. Since we were exiting Paraguay, there was nothing to do except for the immigration person to stamp our passports. Of course, the act of this stamping took a lot longer than it needed to.

The train tickets were around $1.50 for each of us, and the ticket person only accepted cash. Fortunately, I had plenty of Paraguayan guaraníes on me since we barely used what we initially took out when we arrived in Paraguay. We also had great timing with the train. It only departs every 30 minutes, and by the time we cleared immigration, the train just arrived and was waiting.

We got onboard, and it was hot and stuffy. The train ride is eight minutes long, so I thought we could stand by the door. However, the conductor told us we had to sit down. The aisle was relatively small, so walking down and finding a seat with a large backpack on and lugging our luggage was hard. Nonetheless, we saw two seats back-to-back, so we sat down and had to keep our luggage in the aisle. Fortunately, no one else came down the aisle since we were some of the last people to board.
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The eight-minute train ride is painfully slow, and there is little to see, at least from an aisle seat. Watching us travel over the river could be more entertaining if you are by the window. There was no air conditioning, so, fortunately, some of the windows were open. Nonetheless, it was still hot and stuffy. I can’t imagine what it is like in the summer (we traveled during winter).
We arrived at the Posadas train station in Argentina, which is the end of the line: the train literally goes back and forth between Encarnación and Posadas all day long. We had to stand outside while waiting to go through immigration and customs in Argentina. Perhaps because I was so hot, this was an annoying process.

Posadas Train Station and Immigration Station
We were among the last people in line, and the immigration building was quite small. While they let through most people immediately, our immigration person asked us all sorts of questions. It isn’t like I thought she particularly cared, as she sipped her maté while talking to us. Maybe because she wanted to take a break, or perhaps look like she was cracking down on rich foreigners entering Argentina, I thought the questions were utterly unnecessary. Entering Paraguay was similar, but at least they typed our answers into the computer, so it looked like there was some reason for the questions. Here, it felt more like we were having maté together – not the least because she was sipping her maté the entire time!
Anyway, by the time she let us go, we were the only people left. We had to put our bags through the x-ray machine and surprise, surprise, they wanted to open our bags. We opened our bags, and after going through our clothes, they said we could go through. We arrived in Argentina!
Part 2: Navigating Posadas
The train station is at the edge of the City of Posadas, so there isn’t anything immediately nearby. I had wanted to take an Uber to the bus station. But since we just crossed into Argentina, we didn’t have cell phone service, and there was no WiFi at the train station. We also couldn’t grab a taxi because there is no ATM at the train station and we didn’t have any Argentine pesos for cash. To go anywhere by foot, you have to cross a pedestrian bridge, so we crossed and at least took some photos.

After we crossed, I tried navigating us to somewhere where we could get WiFi to call an Uber or at least an ATM to get cash. After walking for a hot, sweaty mile, we found a pharmacy with WiFi. Success! I called for an Uber on my phone, arriving in four minutes.
Sure enough, it did arrive in four minutes. The driver got out to unlock the trunk so we could place our luggage inside. And this is where the trouble began. He immediately asked me to pay in cash. He told me that he would cancel our Uber ride on the app, but he would still drive us and charge us the same amount. The only difference is that we would pay in cash.
Presumably, this is because he didn’t want to pay Uber its fee, so essentially, he is doubling his income. Instead, he told me that Uber wouldn’t pay him for two weeks and that he needed the money now. Regardless of the reason, this was a dead end because we didn’t have pesos.
Remember, the whole point of calling for an Uber was because we didn’t have cash; Uber allows us to pay by credit card. I told the driver I didn’t have pesos, yet he kept saying he wanted cash. He probably thought I was lying and tried to wear me down. He finally gave up, canceled the trip on Uber, and drove off. I was more annoyed that we had to wait for another ride in the heat than for what had actually transpired. But we could do nothing except wait seven minutes for another Uber driver to come.

This Uber driver came in a regular taxi. Pretty clever I say, working both the taxi angle and picking up Uber fares on the side. Why not? The vehicle is the largest fixed cost so if he can supplement his cab fares with Ubers on demand, go for it! This driver was great and took us straight to the bus station.
Perhaps we could have explored downtown Posadas if we had more time and had not had our luggage. I did want to, but it just wouldn’t have worked out between the heat and our luggage. Just getting to the bus station was an adventure!
Part 3: Posadas Bus Station
Quick Facts about Posadas Bus Station
Official Name and Address: Terminal de Ómnibus Posadas, Av. Santa Catalina 6100, Posadas N3301
Services: Snacks and empanadas, small kiosks selling electronics and cell phone accessories, free bathrooms. Showers and WiFi are not available.
What to Know: The bus station is not enclosed, so if you are going when it is really hot or really cold, beware. Some bus companies have lounges where you can wait, but don’t expect anything fancy; most seem small. If you have a phobia of public bathrooms, this bus station could be your worst nightmare.
Where to Buy Tickets and See Schedules: You can buy tickets at the station, but I found it a lot easier to plan ahead. I purchased our tickets online using Plataform 10. The bus station is already chaotic and annoying; you don’t need the added stress of trying to purchase tickets at the station, either.
Destinations: Many cities in Argentina have direct bus services from Posadas, including Buenos Aires (“Retiro”), Rosario, and Córdoba. There is also a local bus service to Encarnación if you do not wish to take the train across the border.
What to Eat: The station has a couple of places serving empanadas and other wheat-based snacks. You can buy water and other packaged snacks as well. But if you want a real meal, a McDonald’s and Mostaza are behind the bus station, in the Libertad parking lot. There are a couple of parrilla-type restaurants across the street, too, but again, don’t expect anything fancy.
What is Posadas Bus Station Like?
The Posadas bus station is much like other bus stations in Latin America: a rundown building with a jumble of ticket windows, snack shops, and stores hawking cheap Chinese goods. (Note: The bus station in Santiago de Chile may be the nicest in Latin America.) We arrived around 5:30 p.m., so we had two hours to eat dinner and plan the overnight bus trip.

Our first goal was to get a SIM card for our cell phones. We asked several places, but they did not have Tuenti SIM cards. I wanted to get a Tuenti SIM card because they offered an excellent deal for three months – our maximum time in Argentina – and because we have Tuenti service in Ecuador and love it. Since no one carried Tuenti cards, our next goal was to get WiFi service. Unfortunately, the bus station didn’t offer WiFi. We went to the lounge for our bus carrier, and while, in theory, they provided WiFi service, there was no service at the time—a double strikeout.
The next goal was to get cash. I asked where an ATM was, and of course, there was no ATM at the bus station. However, there was an ATM behind the bus station at the Libertad warehouse store (similar to Costco). As I went to get cash, I spotted a McDonalds further down the street. Bingo! Dinner and WiFi in one! I love these moments during traveling after things haven’t gone right when you have a chance to encounter something that is comforting and helpful.
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The McDonald’s at Libertad
I went back to get Kevin, and we walked with all of our luggage to McDonald’s. From the outside, the McDonald’s appeared nice and modern – just what we needed. Once we got inside, it was maximum chaos. There were tons of screaming kids running around, people walking all over the place, no clear lines to order, and very tight seating. The complete opposite of what we needed. Ugh!
We had no choice, so we ordered at the computer kiosk. I appreciate most McDonald’s in Latin America for having these kiosk screens to order instead of having to talk to a human. Our orders often are complicated because of our gluten-free diet, so it is just a lot easier making the order myself. And it was then that I saw there were stairs! I left Kevin with our luggage to explore the upstairs and it was amazing: a complete floor of seating with not a soul in sight. My version of heaven!

I got Kevin and we lugged our luggage upstairs and picked a booth by a window. No one around, not a sound or sight of a screaming kid, just complete peace. After getting Kevin settled upstairs, I went downstairs to pick up our order. And this is where our second surprise at McDonald’s occurred.
Hamburgers may not seem an obvious choice for a couple of gluten-free eaters. The very point of a hamburger is having meat surrounded by two bread buns. But if you remove the buns, you get a gluten-free meat dish with fries. But despite me saying celiáco on the order, I saw two buns on our tray. When I got to the tray, I looked at the buns, and I noticed they were gluten-free. Wow! We wouldn’t have to settle for being second-class, we could eat real McDonalds hamburgers with real McDonalds buns.

After eating the meal, I was not as excited about the buns as I was at first glance. The buns are very dense and bready, not light and fluffy. It would probably be better to have only one bun instead of both, so you get a better ratio of meat to bread. The fries weren’t that great either, being cold and soggy. Honestly, the best part of the meal was probably the Chill Day drinks. They were very refreshing.
After finishing McDonald’s, I purchased two bottles of water for our bus trip, and we headed back to the bus station. I’ll finish this exciting bus journey in the next blog post…click here to read about our overnight bus journey.
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What an adventure!! This really had me on the edge of my seat literally, because there’s too much going on, too many in’s & out’s, and it’s really interesting to read. I’m looking forward to Part 2!