Paraguay the way I like it
Trip Start
Sep 06, 2010
1
29
64
Trip End
Sep 04, 2011
Ciudad Del Este, Paraguay
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Ciudad del Este, or the 'City of the East', is a buzzing town of almost 400k inhabitants, which stretches along the border with Brazil. Due to this "strategic" location, it serves as a gateway for smuggling contraband goods into the country. The city can seem to be a bit dodgy and unsafe at the first sight, but there is really nothing to be afraid of. As anywhere else in Paraguay, I was the only spotted tourists wandering around the city center along with countless ‘cambio’ guys and counterfeit goods vendors, who were taking care of their daily business. Honestly, these guys have problems of their own, than to pay too much attention to one enthusiastic and very careful backpacker. After disappointing Asuncion and boring Encarnacion, this place, with much of commotion on the streets, plenty of food and fruits street vendors, and a bit of that necessary garbage lying on the streets, put me back on the South American note.
As in other parts of the country, the locals here love to sip ‘terere’, an iced herbal tea drank from a special set composed of insulated (thermos), flask cup and straw. At the beginning, I was surprised to see how many people carry these big ‘terere’ flaks along on streets, on buses; literally everywhere. But then I understood that drinking ‘terere’ is one big genuine national passion, the same way as wearing jersey of Paraguayan national football team. Not only boys, but also many girls proudly put on their white-red striped tops. It is something I have not seen in any other country. I can now imagine what kind of craziness was happening all around the country during the World Cup games of Paraguay.
The city however has also its dark sides. For the first time during my whole trip I could see people living on streets in tents made of plastic, bare-footed kids or women with an infant walking around outside restaurants and bagging for food, or kids sleeping on a path walks. Those were very disturbing scenes showing you what poverty is about.
Before moving to the ‘experience part’ of this blog entry, let me make a few comments on the population in Paraguay. This country continues in a trend noted already in my last Bolivian stop, the wine town of Tarija. The closer you are to Argentina and Brazil, the more European looking locals you can see. If in Tarija this group stood for 15-20%, here were are talking around 50%. One would say that this way it is easier to mix up with locals, but there are certain signs which always reveal your real origin. The most obvious one is wearing shorts. Even with outside temperatures attacking 40 degrees Celsius, the local guys wear pants. During my entire stay in Paraguay, I saw maybe 2 or 3 guys older than 15 years wearing shorts. I do not how they do it, but I would melt away within a few minutes. A bit further up, I shortly mentioned Paraguayan chica, which is, considering their ‘qualities’, absolutely insufficient. European or Hispanic looking, both of them have one amazing feature; they are slim, or mostly slim. It must be the climate or what making the local girls surprisingly fit. The Old Continent’s fatties should be sent here to get a bit of inspiration how to look like attractive again! I know, I am harsh, but I just cannot help myself.
Besides the hectic city centre, there is much to be seen around the town’s perimeter. My first steps led to Itaipu dam, the world’s second largest hydroelectric plant. Over there, a free tour on a nice and air-conditioned bus allows you to see the 6km long weir, as well as the heart of this ‘technical monument’, a 1 km long hall where all 20 turbines are located. The dam is so big, that it supplies 80% of Paraguay’s and 25% of Brazil’s electricity demand. To reach the Itaipu visitor centre hop on any Hernandariaz-bound bus (2,300 guarani), and let the driver know where are you going. From the outskirt of Hernandariaz it is only around 400 m walk along a very busy road.
After this technical excursion, it was a time to experience a natural phenomenon for which this micro-region is known, waterfalls. Just 10 km north of Ciudad del Este, in a small town called President Franco, can be found a first waterfall set called Salto Monday. With the height of 40 m, these are the highest falls in Paraguay, and the place where you can enjoy sound of roaring water mass without being disturbed by anybody else. I arrived at the site a bit before 6 pm, and have not seen anybody else besides 3 local workers building a new outlook platform. You must undergone a bit of hassle to find a correct bus to get you there, but I promise you will not be disappointing.
What Ciudad del Este is however the most well-known for is its proximity to one of the World’s New Wonders of Nature, and apparently the most beautiful waterfalls on this planet. Located just 15 km outside of Paraguay territory right on the Brazilian and Argentinean boarder, the city serves as a handy and cheap base for exploring the Iguazu waterfalls. To reach this natural wonderland, you first must cross the super busy boarder, a bridge over the Parana River. I was there already at 6.30 am, and the boarder traffic was humongous: hundreds of cars, endless see of moto-taxis, and, of course, rushing pedestrians. It was the busiest and the biggest border crossing I have ever seen. From there I still had to find my way to the Iguazu National Park, and honestly, it was not an easy task. After almost 3 months of traveling through a Spanish speaking environment, I can more or less understand what to do or were to go. But dealing with Portuguese was totally out of my league. Fortunately, I bumped into some super nice locals who stopped the bus, put me on it, and told the driver where to drop me off. This way I ended up at Foz do Iguacu’s (Brazilian town on the other side of the boarder) bus station from where it was not hard to find a bus heading to the National Park. Actually, I could not be surer of being on the right bus, as it was full of folks wearing NP uniforms. To reach the NP entrance took me an hour and forty five minutes, but it was worth all that effort and uncertainty, as the whole trip, with the entrance fee of 37 real ($1=1.7real), cost me less than $30. The day before, I had stopped at one Paraguayan travel agency, which offered me 2-day customized trip to Brazilian and Argentinean part of falls for sky-high $280. The whole NP is perfectly and smoothly run having plenty of helpful, English speaking employees on each corner, multilingual audio presentations, air-conditioned bus transportation, etc. You cannot imagine how amazing it felt to again understand what is being saidJ. And waterfalls? Simply a breath-taking scenery with 275 various sized falls spread along 2.7 km of the Iguazu river bed. Thinking that you saw all of them, the most impressive part, hidden in a landscape till the very last moment, reveals its spectacular beauty. Called the Devil Throat, this roaming spot concentrates a power and amenity of approx 5 waterfalls. It is a truly amazing scene with you being almost in the middle of it. As the waterfalls actually create a border line, you can visit them either from Brazilian or Argentinean side. With falls located mostly on Argentinean side, much better panoramic view can be found in Brazil. Many people do both sides, but I was more than happy what I see from Brazilian side.
Knowing the way back finding and crossing the border was fairly easy. The first meters back on Paraguayan soil let me understand how Ciudad del Este earned its nickname ‘Supermarket of South America’. With hundreds of street vendors and small stores lined up one next to each other, this place is a shopping wonderland where you can buy almost anything for just a fraction of original price. The question is to what extent these goods are brand names or just counterfeits. The answer can be a fact that the last place where I saw so many females carrying Louise Vuitton bags was LuxembourgL.
I truly enjoyed my 3-day stay in Ciudad del Este, a city so infections for its unique business and smuggling ambiance. But even this experience must have come to its end. The bus back to Asuncion let me understood why I had to suffer aboard of the previous sluggish buses. Unlike the other ones, this one was a ‘directo’ stopping only at major bus terminals along the way, and not to anybody standing at the road. And as a nice bonus, the bus was air-conditioned. So for all of intending to travel around Paraguay, take directos! Coming back to Asuncion had only one pragmatic reason; to take a next day flight to the other side of the continent, the capital of the country stretching down through half of South America. December 2 was also the day when I started counting down my last 16 days in South America.
Paraguay is a country of remarkable contrast where shiny Mercedeses and bare-footed baggers meet on the streets, the country where the word ‘tourist’ is almost unknown, and a place which is surprisingly safe. If you want to enjoy a real off-bean path travel experience, or forget about other noisy backpackers, or just to travel without being perceived as one big $ sign, this is a place to be. Do yourself a favor and for once diverge from the main travel routes, cut a few days from your stay in Buenos Aires, and come here to taste what Paraguay is about. I think that you will not regret. I did it, and I am proud to say:” I have been to Paraguay”. Paraguay deserves its 60%.
Greetings from Asuncion, Paraguay
Comments
Aoooooooh, yes, I know, 9 weeks in Bs Aires and I didn t cut a few days to go to Paraguay... and relating to my previous comment on the previos entry, no, I haven t been to Paraguay neither.
What is strange is that you really claim to have not seen any real poverty. I mean, you have have described it with regard to working conditions of the miners in Bolivia, and several times with regard to the average income people have in the various countries. But now you are saying that people living in tents, barefeet children (did you actually say that or am I making that up?) and poverty on the streets is coming to your sight for the first time. Strange.
The female physique. Man, still the same. I am convinced that something has gone wrong in your childhood. We all have complexes, you certainly have one with regard to fit girls, or fatties, or whatever you wanna call them. I m looking forward to you coming back, and then we ll go and discover the art of life, which is the art of love, discover the god given beauty that every woman carries within her!
You see I am currently unemployed, don t you? Cheers buddy, all the best.
When I saw those bare-footed kids, I asked myself the same question:" how come that I see it only now, for the first time". I really do not know. I might have happened to be in wrong places, or was looking at something else. But there is no question that poverty in Ciudad was the most obvious.
Speaking of girls, our ideologies are totally different. Me, being shallow, looking for physical perfection, you, somehow being able to see the inner beauty. No physique, no deal.....this is my rule. Actually this is reason why I am still alone :-0. Dude, I do not think that you will be able to change me, especially by taking me out to meet those cold Germen, French, English females. I remember my 'successes' back in Trier, Frankfturt, Luxembourg....no more! Buy I appreciate your effort! You are one fine guy!
haha, loving this chat after the entry....
Eeeeh, Petr... so are our ideologies really so totally different? I could write a 1000 words now, but...
Life is not easy man. It s about how you sell yourself and your convictions I think. Isn t it?!