Blogs from Paraguay, South America

Many of us took a transport from Argentina to Paraguay some time recently the rest of the bunch in arrange to sort out my Brazil visa issues. The Brazilian Government office in Bolivia denied me a visa since my bank explanations didn´t have my title on them, fair my account number. No sum of clarifying that my bank does that for security reasons was progressing to make them issue me a visa. So I made a few articulations with my title on them prepared for my another visa endeavor. Recently I connected for the visa at the Asuncion International safe haven equipped with my bank statements and they didn´t indeed inquire for them. I couldn´t indeed donate them absent! And rather than a 48 hour turnover, my visa was prepared to choose up in three hours. ... read more

Venerdì 17 Febbraio - Arriviamo a Concepcion dopo uno straziante viaggio in autobus da Asuncion, con frequenti fermate a scaricare e caricare passeggeri durante tutte le otto ore della sua durata. Nostro scopo è la navigazione lungo il fiume Paraguay a bordo della storica (1965) motonave "Aquidaban". Per l'occasione ci stabiliamo nello storico (1905) Hotel Frances. Sabato 18 Febbraio - L'Hotel Frances è in fase di profondo decadimento ormai da diversi anni ma la nuova gestione ha finalmente avviato dei lavori di restauro. Scendiamo al porto per chiedere informazioni sulla navigazione ed apprendiamo così con orrore che la prima imbarcazione in partenza per Puerto Vallemi, la nostra destinazione a monte del fiume, è la piccola e poco invitante "Dalma", una nave dalle dimensioni ridotte ed ingombra di quelli che a prima vista sembrano cumuli di rottami. ... read more

At Easter time in 2017 we found ourselves in Paraguay, we had been travelling up through Peru when El Nino caused terrible flooding and the only way to get out of Lima was to fly. Why not fly to Paraguay? The weather forecasts said it would be dry there and it seemed like an exiting plan that we were never likely to carry out at any other time. After travelling across the country to Brazil to view the Iguassu Falls, then taking an odyssey down into Argentina to view the falls from that side, we circled back into Paraguay through the Missiones. We once more found ourselves in Asuncion, on Maundy Thursday of Semana Santa. Having stayed right in the centre of the town on our first visit we decided to opt for a smarter hotel ... read more

After visiting the amazing Iguazú Falls in Argentina together with Gideon, his wife and 3 of their friends, they all decided to visit Iguazú Falls on the Brazilian side too. I decided in advance that I did not wanted to follow the heard anymore (lol), besides I thought it would be the same falls anyway and I decided to go my own way for a week. I took a bus to the border and crossed into Brazil. The bus just drove a little bit through Brazil and then it stopped at the border and I walked into Paraguay...."¡tenés que sentirlo! (you have to feel it). That is the tourism slogan of the country! Why Paraguay? Because it's the country most people tend to skip when visiting South America thus it's not a touristy country. That is ... read more

Today we are travelling 200 miles west to the Paraguayan capital of Asunción . By bus. This is the old man’s route planning; I am a little bemused why anyone would want to do either of these things. The bus departs from Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, so first we must cross the border. We briefly consider the bus-border-bus-border-bus combination. Then book a taxi. The good news is that we make good time through the border. The bad news is that the taxi driver has forgotten the time zone change, so we arrive at the bus station two hours early. Fortunately, the bus company (NSA) has a VIP lounge where we can wait in air conditioned luxury, which is good as it’s 40 degrees outside. I’ve not been looking forward to this journey but the bus ... read more