Blogs from Paraguay, South America - page 9

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South America » Paraguay June 16th 2011

Ciudad del Este Ciaran and I left the hostel in Foz and jumped on a city bus to the Friendship Bridge which spans the Río Paraná, the bordering river between Brazil and Paraguay. As soon the bus had approached, the air had grown sour. For once it wasn't due to a trouser ghost.. The pollution in the air was horrendous. Car upon bus upon truck upon motorbike, vehicles covered the whole area, all pumping out low grade petrol. This border crossing is insane. Crossing the bridge on foot should be done with a gas mask and a good idea of the hell that is to be entered. Massive billboards advertising every brand under the sun litter the smog ridden skyline of Ciudad. A neon sign for Coca Cola or Adidas standing tall over this Paraguayan side ... read more
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South America » Paraguay » Asunciòn May 30th 2011

Saturday night after the soccer game we went out to a bar called Killkenny. We decided to walk and it took us about an hour but it was well worth it, we got to see a lot of the city that we hadn’t as of yet and it was really cool. The bar was an Irish place that reminded us both of Novi and Gus O’Connor’s. The whole setup of where the place was located looked like Novi and the fact that it was an Irish place in the middle of Asunción was kind of funny. They showed two movies in the bar, Unstoppable and Hall Pass. Both of which I had never seen, nor had I ever been privy to watching a full movie uncut in a bar before, I was talking to some girls ... read more

South America » Paraguay » Asunciòn May 28th 2011

Last night we went out for a while to get some dinner with Richie, Lauren, Kevin, Brett, and myself. We went to a place called Lido Bar which was pretty solid food, I had a hamburger and fries which was probably the best hamburger I have had in South America since I have been here. It was chilly at dinner! We were all bundled up and this was definitely not what Asuncion was supposed to be like! I thought it was hot here. We went back to the hostel so we could get some more warm clothes on and so Kevin could grab some more money and then we set off for a bar a few blocks away called 904 which was supposed to have 2 for 1 beer however they did not, the promotion had ... read more
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South America » Paraguay » Asunciòn May 27th 2011

Last night we got hammered at the hostel. We made dinner, a large helping of rib eye steak which Brett grilled up on the parilla and Andrea made a lovely salad full of veggies and a fruit salad for dinner. It was one of the most well balanced meals I have had in a while, however all the healthiness of it got cancelled out by what happened afterwards…We drank probably 8 bottles of wine between four of us, me Brett, an Aussie guy named Peter that we met and our Swiss friend Andrea. We also smoked a ton of cigarettes! God it was so bad, but it was a fun time. We woke up hungover as all hell and of course today would be the day we really need to have our heads on a swivel ... read more
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South America » Paraguay » Asunciòn May 11th 2011

Didn't manage to get one up last week, busy times. But here is what I've learnt this week! Miley Cyrus is big news...the news cut live to her concert in Paraguay yesterday! I was right to be worried about cats in the hospital...another hospital with cats and dogs has had a flea outbreak, even in the operation theatre! An endangered toucan costs $250...I saw one in a cage under a stall in the infamous Mercado 4 and asked how much it was. Spider Man jumping out of the TV works as a threat...kept my 3-year-old nephew well-behaved for at least 10 minutes The novelty of referring to 'my wife' hasn't worn off yet...although I'm yet to say to Carmen "You're my wife now Dave" (if you don't understand you need to watch more British comedy) Kettle's ... read more

South America » Paraguay » Ciudad del Este April 27th 2011

Se fosse possível ver exatamente onde a Garganta do Diabo, a maior das cachoeiras do complexo de Iguaçú e cujo nome é auto-explicativo, termina, o local seria provavelmente muito parecido com Ciudad del Este. Esta pequena cidade paraguaia, que faz parte da Tríplice Fronteira com Brasil e Argentina, está no imaginário muambeiro assim como Machu Picchu está no dos mochileiros. É um emaranhado de lojas, pessoas, outdoors e sacolas, uma grande 25 de Março com produtos que valem a pena, de preços inexplicáveis e cuja experiência chega a ser intensa. Tudo começa na travessia da infame Ponte da Amizade. Enquanto a que separa Brasil e Argentina, a Tancredo Neves, é impecável, com as bandeiras dos dois países pintadas lado a lado indicando onde começa o território de um e termina o do outro, com um belo ... read more
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Muambeiro
Saudades

South America » Paraguay » Asunciòn April 27th 2011

Wow! Since I last blogged I've got married and met my new nephew (yesterday!) so as such I've divided this week's blog into things I've learnt at weddings and things I've learnt in hospital. WEDDINGS Table plans aren't for Paraguayans...everybody just sat where they wanted to (even if I did forget to print off the table numbers) You can never have too many casserole dishes...we got given 3 but they're very useful Marriage is about compromise...which is why the whisky decanter is being used as a vase rather than its intended purpose Keep your speech notes in their own pocket...or you might whip out your wad of bank notes instead. Embarrassing. HOSPITAL Never, ever, knock the NHS...try spending 4 hours in Paraguay's largest state hospital with the rust, cockroaches, jobsworth security guards and to top it ... read more
Lads
1st Dance
New Nephew!

South America » Paraguay » Amambay » Pedro Juan Caballero April 16th 2011

The following day we should have walked to the bus terminal from the hotel, as it would have been far quicker than taking the taxi we took. To be fair to the driver, he had to drive super slowmo as the roads are in such a horrendous condition that the taxis try to take the paved roads…of which there are only 2! But we made it just in time, grabbed some disappointing chipas from a hawker (they had sounded like the Paraguayan equivalent of Lisa’s much loved pan de yucca in Ecuador – they didn’t even come close) and got chatting to some friendly sellers asking us where we were from and why we were there – a tourist hub Concepcion ain’t. The bus was ok and we were sat next to a couple of nuns ... read more
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South America » Paraguay » Concepcion April 14th 2011

We had planned on taking the bus to the terminal, but feeling lazy we ended up getting a taxi. It did mean we managed to fit brekky in before we left the hostel though, so it felt justified…kinda! And Lisa got to buy some tat while waiting for the bus so everyone was happy! The bus wasn’t too shabby at all (we had heard horror stories the night before from some French guys) – there was air-conditioning and we bagged reclining seats next to the door entrance so had lots of space to stretch out. Nice. Music blared from the speakers which took us back to travelling on Ecuadorian buses but Ian slept through it for the first 4 hours as Lisa watched the world go by spotting lots more wildlife including falcons, storks, herons and ... read more
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South America » Paraguay » Asunciòn April 12th 2011

We arrived in Resistencia after another night on a bus and thought the best course of action was to get straight on into Paraguay, so we waited for a couple of hours and hopped on another bus. With Lisa’s belly feeling better, we enjoyed the scenery passing by, an almost sub-tropical, lush green countryside dotted with palm trees and remote estancias with nothing but fields surrounding them plus lots of wildlife to spot – birds of prey, horses, cows, piggies, ostriches. A few hours later and an easy-peasy border crossing over a bridge and we were in Paraguay – South American country number 7 and pretty unknown territory for us! It wasn’t a cheap experience though crossing the border as it cost 300pesos, but being served by the jolliest immigration staff ever made it more bearable. ... read more
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