Once at the other side of the bridge it felt like we had stepped into an other World. All the streets were filled with trash, there were cars honking everywhere and people trying to sell you things everywhere. A guy at one of the corners told that he could get us special deals on cameras, so we followed him into a building, down a hallway guarded with two policemen with shotguns and and down a cellar where they sold stolen goods. The unsecure feeling we had down in that cellar stuck with us even on the street markets where we were offered opium and in the many shopping centers where people were smoking inside and people were selling all kinds of things that were either illegal (lots of fake stuff!) on the other side of the border or just much cheaper as it is a duty free zone. The prices and all the fake stuff reminded us actually a lot about China and the crazy traffic and chaotic streets about India. It is weird with borders which sometimes can feel like portals into other worlds, and the friendship bridge really is one of those. You can get some really good deals and some shopping centers are not as bad, like the one ten meters behind the Paraguayan immigration office, but the city is really shabby and there will be lots of people trying to rip you off, so weather you should bother visit the border town really depents on what you are after. Lots of Brazilians go over for some good bargains and if that is what you are looking for then maybe you should also do to. If not then I would much rather stick to Iguassu Falls which have several days worth of sights.