Flying Dutchman Pat

Little-visited, little-known Paraguay lies in the heart of the continent South America. Tourism in Paraguay is underdeveloped and it lacks the top highlights of some of its neighbors (Argentina, Bolivia & Brazil). It’s an extremely poor country and many backpackers skip this country because there’s ‘nothing to see’. I spend a week in Paraguay on my way between north Argentina and Bolivia. They speak Guarani in Paraguay, but Spanish is also widely spoken.

Facts

• Capital: Asuncion
• Language: Guarani, Spanish
• Currency: Guarani (1 €  ≅ 6000 PYG)
• Population: 6.7 million
• Size: 406.752 km² (10 times Holland)
• Daylight saving time: Yes
• Visas: Not required for most European citizens, others visa on arrival or visa required before entry
• Best time to visit: May – Sept (winter of southern hemisphere)
• Visited: 2011 (part of South America trip)

Ciudad del Este

Ciudad del Este is a duty free shopping heaven and many shoppers from Brazil try to find here their bargain. Besides that it’s also the top drug trafficking stop in southern South America. I took the bus from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina to the border town of Paraguay, Ciudad del Este. It’s only a short distance on the map, but due to the fact that there’s no direct link between the 2 towns we had to go via Brazil. Always a nice surprise when you only have 2 pages left in your passport. The bus stopped at the border of Paraguay, I showed my bag for inspection and waited in line for my stamp. After a half hour I got my stamp! But the bus already left….nice one! So I started walking into unknown Paraguay.

The road which starts at the border is a lively marketplace. But it wasn’t like the markets I saw before in other South American cities. It looked more like a garbage dump. It was extremely hot, dirty and smelly. There were stacks of rubbish everywhere and I passed by heaps of homeless people. The poorness of Paraguay hits you right in the face. I wandered around the back streets of Ciudad del Este and started to get lost. I haven’t found a hotel yet, the sunset started to kick in and it became less lively on the streets. All of a sudden I heard a lot of barking and 2 not so friendly dogs started to ran towards me with a face like they rather see me as their dinner for tonight. I stood still and acted like a statue. Aaah nothing can happen to me; I’ve got my 3 rabies shots! Well that only gives you 1 extra day in order to run to your nearest hospital; better to avoid and head back to where I came from. When I started to walk back I heard gunshots! Where am I?! I ran back to the safe garbage dump and walked into the first hotel I saw. The owner of the hotel advised me to not go outside after dark, it’s not safe. Thanks for the advice! I didn’t feel safe during the day, so wasn’t really planning to find out how the nighttime in the city will look like.

Street scene @ Ciudad del Este

The dam in action!

A man was preparing chicken on his bbq next to my hotel. I ordered a few wings, sat down on a plastic chair besides the road and waited for my chicken. Two minutes later an old car with high speed came around the corner. He hit the pool of water located on the ground next to me and I ended up ready for another shower. Interesting first day in a new country. Despite the not so great start I decided to give Paraguay a chance and started exploring.

As Paraguay isn’t over crowded with tourists it takes a little bit more effort to get things done here. But that’s also its charm. The next day I visited the world’s second-largest dam (China’s Three Gorges Dam leads the list). For me as an engineer it was great to see the power of the Itaipu dam up close!

Encarnacion & Trinidad

I continued my trip in Paraguay by visiting the city of Encarnacion and the nearby ruins of Jesus and Trinidad. Encarnacion is by far my favorite city in Paraguay, so I would say skip Ciudad del Este and skip the capital to get a more pleasant vibe of Paraguay. The bus ride from Ciudad del Este to Encarnacion took about 5 hours and was chock full with locals. You will see small villages and a lot of the beautiful green countryside. Along the way plenty of vendors marched through the bus with heaps of snacks to choose from. A common sight in South America and across the world. I stayed at Hotel Germano, just across the bus station. Great place and location. It felt a bit like a Chinese church as bibles are widely available at this hotel.

The ruins are very well preserved.

The next day I visited the Jesuit ruins of Trinidad and Jesus. The ruins are pretty well preserved! But the best thing is that there are no other tourists.

You can have Trinidad all for yourself!

A great site to explore!

When I got back to Encarnacion I had to squeeze myself through the many groups of football fans, because that evening Paraguay was qualifying for the South America league for 2014. Not every Paraguayan can effort a television, so they all watched the match together in a bar or at the local supermarket. Paraguay won and everybody celebrated!

Lovely ruins.

Cooling off in the shade!

I enjoyed a concert nearby the waterfront during my last evening in Encarnacion.

Local concert @ Encarnacion

Asuncion

The capital doesn’t have a lot to offer for the average tourist besides the palace and a few museums. The central plaza is filled with tents for the many homeless people of Asuncion. At night the streets around the plaza are frequented by prostitutes. Paraguay is an extremely poor country, but Asuncion shows a strong contrast between rich and poor: the posh buildings are placed next to the slums. It reminded me a bit of what I saw in India.

Palace of the president.

Every bank, hotel or government building has a fully armored guard who keeps the place safe. The shotgun the guard is wearing is almost bigger than the person who is holding it. Not sure if I have to feel more secure with them guarding the place or less secure because they’re being placed there for a reason?

Left: Church in Encarnacion – Right: Don’t mess with me!

The palace in Asuncion.

After a week I said my goodbyes to Paraguay and I continued my journey towards Bolivia. It was hot and crowded at the bus station, but the bus to Santa Cruz, Bolivia left surprisingly on time! Unfortunately this was also the only positive fact about this bus ride that marks high on my list of worst bus rides ever. After a half hour we were asked to leave the bus, because there were too many passengers and not enough seats. Well, that’s the first time they made an issue out of something like this in Paraguay. We had to wait in the middle of night at the side of the road for the next bus. After an hour we left for Santa Cruz, but this time without reclining seats. It was extremely hot, all the windows were wide open to let a bit of air enter the bus. But the many bumpy and dusty roads only blew dust through the bus. The old bus broke down every hour and the driver / mechanic spend more time fixing the bus then driving it. This road is also popular for drug trafficking so we had plenty of hold ups at the many security stops. I didn’t catch a lot of sleep. The bus ride should have lasted for 19 hours, but due to all the problems and hold ups we ended up with a total bus ride of 30 hours! So 1,5 day later at 4am I arrived pretty smashed in Santa Cruz.

To be honest, Paraguay is my least favorite country in South America, but I’m glad I visited it. Next stop Bolivia!

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