One of the world's most well-known waterfalls: Iguazú Falls

There are three waterfalls that are in completely different leagues of their own worldwide: Iguazú Falls, Victoria Falls, and Niagara Falls. If you ever have an opportunity to visit one of them, you will realize no other word than magnificent can better describe them.

I decided to take a trip to visit Iguazú Falls during Memorial Day weekend. The waterfall is a UNESCO World Heritage, and it is also one of the widest falls on earth.

My friend and I took uber and a taxi from our hotel, Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, to the park on the Argentina side. I would recommend having someone who is capable of speaking both languages Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish (Argentina) to be safe. Remember to bring your VISAs and passport because you will be crossing the border.

Iguazú Falls is a transcontinental waterfall between Argentina and Brazil. Each side has its pros and cons. The Devil's Throat, most commonly known and the highest point of the waterfall, is from Argentina side, however, the Brazilian side provides a great panorama view of the waterfall.  

The view at the Devil's Throat was breathtaking and its flow rate was intense. The flow was so strong, that it caused so much mist constantly. My camera almost got wet and damaged, and it would be a disaster if I had to purchase another new camera.

If you are interested in visiting the Devil's Throat, you'll have to enter through the Argentina side. Note that the park is enormous, so it may take up your entire day if you prefer sightseeing slowly. Normally, people would spend a day in Argentina and another day in Brazil to completely explore the waterfalls.

• Orange route - Devil's Throat, approximately 2 hours
• Blue route - Upper Trail, approximately 2 hours
• Yellow route - Lower Circuit, approximately 1.5 hours
• Red route - San Martin Island, connected from the yellow route, approximately 2 hours
• Brown route - Macuco Trail, approximately 3 hours
• Green route - Green Trail Trilha Verde, approximately 15 minutes

I recommended going to the Devil's Throat and Lower Circuit first because they present a different perspective of the fall compared to the Brazilian side instead. Note that Devil's Throat may actually take up a lot longer than 2 hours especially during peak season because you have to take the train there, and the park is very crowded.

Within the park, you may see a lot of Coatis, a type of raccoon, but BE WARNED that they are very aggressive towards food and drink especially at the train station food stand. Please do not feed them randomly just because you want to take a picture with them.

After you finish visiting the Devil's Throat, I recommend stopping at Cataratas Station, because you can then head to the Lower Trail and visit some of the other waterfalls. There are only two ways to get to the Lower Trail, and both ways starting at the Cataratas Station: walk through Green Trail or take the train but it only stops there on the way back from the Devil's Throat.

When you initially enter the park, you may consider finding out the timing of the boat to San Martin Island first and plan your schedule accordingly. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to visit there as I arrived at the park in the early afternoon. The parks closed around 6pm, but the last boat stopped operating around 3pm.

The bottom line is, visiting Iguazu Fall over a long weekend was definitely worthwhile even with the little amount of time I spent there. I enjoyed my time in the park and got to witness one of the most spectacular waterfalls in front of me. It allowed me to relax and not worry about all the work I left behind, and I felt like I was truly living in that moment!

Eye-catching attractions in Rio de Janeiro

As a travel enthusiast, I always want to visit Brazil because of the most iconic attraction, Christ the Redeemer, from Rio de Janeiro. I swear to god that whenever people talk about Brazil, this picture would show up everywhere on the internet! Not only it's a gigantic statue (125' height) of Jesus Christ, the platform of where the statue also allows you to overlook entire Rio, surrounding sea and jungle. The view was absolutely mindblowing.

Here is a photo I took with the poster because the weather was ridiculously cloudy when I was there, it blocked the entire view among the statue itself. But I promise you that if you visit on a sunny day, this is the exact view you should expect to see.

On the other hand, this is what I saw instead...such awful weather when I was there...Check the weather before you go.

Tips: I strongly recommend taking a round-trip van transportation to see Christ the Redeemer because it may take you AT LEAST 30 minutes to wait for an Uber afterward since most likely they would have to drive up to the mountain. You can find the van transportation information here.

The next attraction would be Sugarloaf Mountain. No, it's not the same Sugarloaf in Maine or Maryland in the States! Here you can take a cable car to the peak of the mountain, and there is two stops total, so make sure you also visit the last one, which is the peak.

There is a helicopter tour at the platform of the first stop, and the tour flies every day from 9am until sunset. In hindsight, I would love to visit here during the day. I thought the view was underwhelming at night because there weren't enough lights in the city compared to other cities I have been to.

Don't get me wrong though. It was still absolutely worth to visit, but I just had a very high expectation that's probably different than some of you. If you have enough time, helicopter tour route 3 (there are 7 different routes) will even fly you over to see Christ the Redeemer from the sky. That would be awesome!

Last but not least, have you seen countless of pictures showing that someone was holding on a dangerous cliff-edge drop!? Well, check it out Pedra do Telegrafo if you have extra time in Rio, but note that there will be a hike so leave yourself enough time. Or you can choose to visit one of the most famous beaches, Copacabana beach, which is not too far from the Sugarloaf Mountain.