Paraguay: Chapter 1

We arrived in Asuncion in desperate need of a bed and a shower. Luckily, the bus attendant we had befriended during hellish border experience was from the area and walked us to a nearby hotel, and even helped us to negotiate the cheapest rate in town. We ended up in a room with a rambunctious Irishman and a bizarre Swede. After taking a much-needed nap, we decided to check out the town. Little did we know, all of downtown Asuncion shuts down on Sunday. We walked the deserted streets for a solid hour searching for some kind, any kind of open restaurant, finally finding some mediocre burgers.

Later on that evening, we met up with our friend Camilo, our Paraguayan friend whom we know from Virginia. He took us around the Asuncion bar scene, which we discovered is pretty laidback, well, pretty much dead, on Sunday nights. It was great to see one of our Charlottesville friends after such a long time away from home! We agreed to go sightseeing around Paraguay during the week, but to make our way back to Asuncion in time for the weekend. So, the next morning, we drudgingly packed up our bags to hop on a bus to Encarnacion with our new crazy Irish friend, Alan.

Encarnacion is a relatively large city in Paraguay right on the Argentine border. It is Paraguay´s prime tourist destination because of it´s close proximity to the Jesuit reducciones, or missions. The Jesuits came to the Southern cone of South America to ¨convert the heathens¨and save their souls. While they were certainly guilty of their fair share of colonial abuses, they are famous for their efforts to educate the indigenous peoples. Eventually, the Spanish crown kicked them out because they had grown too influential in the colonies. This sparked mass uprising, but the rebels did not succeed in reinstating the Jesuits. Instead, their massive settlements remained abandonded…of course, these ruins have been converted into a tourist attraction. Paraguay´s Jesuit missions are among the world´s least-visited UNESCO sights. We spent the day hitching and exploring the various sights. Due to a near total lack of public transportation, there weren´t any other tourists at the ruins. This meant we got to climb all over the reunions, conducting various fake religious ceremonies and taking goofy pictures. Score!

The next day we hopped on another 6 hour bus to Ciudad del Este. For the first time since our arrival in Paraguay, our bus was no more than 1 hour late! We found this absolutely thrilling. Upon arrival in Ciudad del Este, we were struck by the poverty in which the majority of people lived in there.

We´re going to the airport soon to go to Mexico for Tori´s cousin´s wedding but will finish updating the blog soon.

xoxo,
see you soon.