Blogs from Concepcion, Paraguay, South America

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

Religion has played a powerful role in Paraguay. It is partly due to the church that the Guarani language has survived, although the same church also was the church of the oppressor and slave raiders. The church in Paraguay was like the two headed eagle of the Byzantine Empire, one head condoned the Spanish treatment of the natives in all its cruelty, while the other head spread its wings over the indigenous people and protected them. The head that protected was the Jesuit order, with full support of the Vatican and the pope. The same Vatican and pope that endorsed the Spanish, who conquered and enslaved the local population. Obviously that protection came with the price of having to convert, but either way the locals were being converted, whether they were enslaved or not. At least ... read more

Spali sme skoro do 12, rano prsalo ale velmi to nepomohlo teplo je aj tak. Dnes bola nedela, vsetko pozatvarane, nikde nikto a tak sme cely den len prelezali. Uz sa vobec necudujeme ludom zijucim v takychto teplych krajinach ze cele dni len sedia a nic nerobia. Stanik vcera zabil svaba, dneska ho objavili mravce a tak si ho po kuskoch pomaly odnasaju. Chodia len popri stene a tak nam nevadia a aspon sa tu nieco deje. Navecer mesto ozilo, ludia konecne povychadzali von. Vsetci tu jazdia na motorkach, dost casto velmi mlado vyzerajuce deti, skoro ziadne auta. We slept till 12, it was raining but it is very hot anyway. It was Sunday, everything closed, nobody to be seen and so we just spend whole day lying in bed. We dont anymore wonder while people ... read more

CONCEPCION DAY 1 After a rough night’s sleep, in our grimmest lodgings so far we set out with the daughting task of crossing boarders overland. Thankfully it seems this can be done with $25, a Spanish to English Dictionary and a willing taxi driver. So after a quick stamp in Brazil and a not so quick one in Paraguay, we’d made it to our second country. The difference of a few hundred meters into each country was vast. Whilst Brazil boasted nice roads, bright shops and top of the range cars, a couple meters down the road was a completely different pictures, with market stalls, horse drawn carts and bump roads. Luckily we arrived at the bus station just in time to board the bus to Concepcion. I use the term bus in the loosest way, ... read more

Ok well time to leave Paraguay. So first idea was to get to asuncion then head north to concepcion where we would take a boat out on the Rio Paraguay and head north. We left Asuncion on the 19th of May after staying in a dodgy hotel accross from the bus station. The Royal hotel for 75 000 Guarinies for a room sharing. O the day before when leaving the bus station after buying the tickets an officer approached us speacking spanish so we were there a while not understanding a word, then we finally realised it was a local prank show because there was a guy hidding behind the tree with a camera filming, haha... OK so on the bus heading on the grand chaco high way known for how bumpy it is, it was ... read more