Advertisement
Published: February 17th 2008
Where is Paraguay? Well just look for the smallest section in your South America Lonley Planet guide and you have found Paraguay. Nestled in the heart of the continent, Paraguay is one of the least visited and poorest countries in South America. Despite the need for tourism the country requires Visas for many countries dissuading many from venturing through its borders. I read several blogs about peoples experiences and found so many mixed responses that I just had to see for myself.
After securing our Visa in the town of Posadas we headed for the border town of Encarnacion just across the river from Argentina. My first impression of the city was similar to that of any border town, and the culture did not seem much different than other countries in Latin America that I have visited. What I did notice was the amount of Matte (traditional tea drink either chilled or hot) that people drank. Whether they were in the store, running, walking, talking or eating everyone had a thermos and the traditional gourd and straw.
One annoying thing about Paraguay is the Guarani, the local currency. One dollar is about 4,650 Guarani, you can imagine the confusion.
The first destination was that of the Jesuit ruins located about an hour from Encarnacion. The Jesuits inahbited the land in the 15th century and had success in converting much of the population, but were forced to flee when their influnece was deemed to great. Now their memory stands in the stone structures scattered throughout the country side. I was impressed by the sites and could only imagine the granduer of the buldings during their day. For settlements far from any major city the structures were made and designed with extreme care.
We camped that night outside the ruins and I could not help but notice the traquility of the countryside. The green hills laced with palms trees spread as far as the eyes could see and rustic homes accompanied by small farms dotten the lanscape.
After a peaceful night under the stars we headed back to Encarnacion to catch a bus to Parque Ybycui. The name Ybycui is from the Guarani language and is pronounced in some way that I could just barely mumble the sounds and had quite a bit of difficulty trying to explain where I was trying to go.
It seemed as
though the park system here tries to dissuade travelers from visiting this park beacuse they make it almost impossible to get there. We arrived in the nearby village on a Friday evening and there was not another bus until the next day, but the next day when we were on the bus we found out that there was no bus back that day and in fact not until Monday. Luckily the bus driver offered to give us a ride to the nearest but stop later on that day for a few bucks.
The park itself was similar to those of Brazil and had a nice set of waterfalls. We ran into a snake which apparently is quite dangerous, but he did not seem interested in us. There was also an old steel factory that was destroyed during the war of the Triple Alliance when Paraguay disasterously declared war on Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina at the same time.
Heading away from the park we hopped on another bus and headed toward Ascuncion, the captial of Paraguay. Unlike most capitals, Ascuncion felt more like a small city than anything else.
A few large builings lined the horizon and military
men with guns were found on almost any street corner. The city itself is perched on a river bank and has scattered historical building giving a glimpse into what the city once looked liked. The country was almost completely devoid of tourists and I stood out so much people would stop me on the street to see where I was from and what I was doing so far from home.
After spending over a million Guaranis in Paraguay we decided it was time to head south to Buenos Aires and then further south to have some fun in Patagonia.
So that was my little adventure in Paraguay and now I am hopping on another lovely bus ride (20 hours) to Buenos Aires. Tchau.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.144s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 23; qc: 83; dbt: 0.0874s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Amber
non-member comment
Just when you thought you were running out of money huh? Beautiful pictures! I got the postcard you sent too! Thank you!