The city of the east, or Ciudad del Este, is Paraguay’s second biggest and a major shopping attraction for Brazilians and Argentines. Paraguay imposes almost no import tax or duties on electronic goods, so it’s possible to buy name brand electronics at just a little more than the price you’d pay in the USA.

The city is just over the ‘friendship bridge’ from Foz do Iguaçu. I took a walk over to buy a camera, and was amazed at how many large shopping centers there were. It looked like I imagined China would look. Outside the major centers, street hawkers and traders flogged wares in overcrowded street markets. Inside the centers, and you could have been in any major 1st world country.