Brett's Southern Crossing

Paraguay’s capital, Asunción was my last stop before moving on to Colombia.  For a capital city it seemed really relaxed, but I suppose that’s because it’s one of the smallest capitals in South America and kind of a forgotten place when it comes to tourism.  I was glad to finally be able to stay in a hostel, both because it’s cheaper and because the staff at hostels are used to giving advice to backpackers.

The Black Cat Hostel is the only hostel in all of Paraguay, and it’s less than a year old.  I could tell that the staff (who I think were also the owners) were really proud of being on the frontier of backpacker tourism in Paraguay, and I don’t think I’ve ever stayed somewhere that was more helpful.  They put together a huge customized map of places to go and see, and seemed to enjoy socializing with the guests.

Asunción itself has all the usual capital city sites – government buildings and museums.  One of the more interesting places to see is the Panteón de Los Héroes, a monument to Paraguay’s war heroes located in the main plaza.  An honor guard in full dress uniform stands guard, and inside are statues of several Presidents and war heroes (for example, Mariscal Estigarribia, who just about everything in Paraguay seems to be named after).  The walls are covered with hundreds of bronze plaques, given as tributes to Paraguay’s heroes from government, civilian, and military organizations throughout the world.  I was able to locate several from branches of the US Government and Military.

Tomb of the Unknown Child Soldier on the left

The remains of some of the heroes and Presidents can be viewed in a circular area about 15 feet below floor level.  Also included are the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Tomb of the Unknown Child Soldier.  During the 1865-1870 Paraguay was at war with Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil (the War of the Triple Alliance). 60%-70% of the population was killed and the male population was reduced to approximately 28,000, which resulted in boys as young as 12 being conscripted to fight before the Paraguayan military surrendered.  In the 20th century, Paraguay and Bolivia went to war over the Chaco desert region which was rumored to have oil reserves.  Foreign oil companies funded both sides of the war, though I’m not sure if any oil was ever found.  Amazingly, Paraguay has only been a democracy since 1993, so as you can imagine some of the government institutions are still very young.

Brahman Cows, showing off their ribbons in the upper right corner

While I was there Asunción was also having one of it’s biggest annual events, the 2010 Expo.  The bulk of the expo has become an attraction for families, like a state fair, with huge booths run by cell phone companies, auto companies, and retail brands.  In the back are the traditional rural displays, including farm equipment and livestock.  I couldn’t help but wonder why there were only convention girls in the front of the fair…if booth babes can sell cell phones why can’t they sell sheep and genetically engineering animal semen?

Asunción has a number of other nearby places to visit, sometimes called the Central Circuit.  It includes lakes, islands, hikes, etc.  This is where I finally decided I should leave Paraguay, despite there being a lot more there that I want to do.  So many of the things to do seem best suited to summer, and I was visiting in winter.  I had been wearing thermal underwear and all my layers for over a week and was still constantly cold, and hot showers are a rarity.  I decided to return to see more of Asunción, the Pantanal, and the Chaco another time when I either had appropriate clothes or during the summer.

Since it was cold, I decided to go somewhere warm and Colombia seemed like a great idea.  I couldn’t find any cheap international fares to anywhere from Asunción, which is only served by a few international carriers so I grit my teeth and paid quite a bit to fly to Medellin.

Encarnación is located in the far south of Paraguay, just across the border from Posadas, Argentina.  Some of the earliest European settlement of this region was done by Jesuit missionaries, who built several dozen communities in the area.  Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil all have a good number of sites to visit in this area.  When the Spanish took over, the Jesuits were forced to leave, but the ruins of the cities they built are well preserved and interesting to visit.  I was a bit amazed by how intact the sites are, since on my previous trips to Peru most of the Incan sites had been stripped down and the stones used in Catholic cathedrals in the Spanish colonial towns there.

In Paraguay, the most famous site is called Trinidad and is easy to visit on a local bus.  The entrance ticket is valid for two other sites as well, and an occasional minibus for locals can give a ride from the service station on the main route to Jesus, where another good ruin site is located.  I didn’t take advantage, but guides are available at the entrances for a few dollars.

Crossing the Punte de Amistad bridge from Brazil to Uruguay (near Iguazu Falls) puts you right in the heart of Paraguay’s Ciudad del Este.  It’s crazy here, with hordes of people, thousands of shops packed with cheap and possibly contraband goods, portable grills crammed with grilled meats, ankle deep trash, and insane traffic.  The whole place reminded me a bit of a modern-day town like the pirate town in Pirates of the Caribbean (where Johnny Depp gets slapped by all the women).

The town is known throughout South America as the place to go to buy cheap electronics and imported goods, but they sell just about everything you could imagine.  Paraguay isn’t visited by backpackers much and so there’s no hostels in the city.  I ended up staying at a German owned hotel (Hotel Austria).  I often saw the family working in the hotel, including their kids, and was kind of intrigued as to what originally would have led them to move to this town of all places (though I didn’t ask).

Only Argentina really controls their border, Paraguay and Brazil allow people to pass in and out without stopping them.  My bus raced past the border to the bus terminal, so I had to find my way back to the immigrations office near the bridge to get stamped in (as a US Citizen I had to apply for a visa in advance in Buenos Aires).  The receptionist in the hotel told me it was dangerous to walk there after dark, so I skipped it the first night.  The second day I intended to go during daylight, but a mix-up with the bus routes returned me to town way later than I had planned and it was after dark again.

My strategy for potentially being mugged is to take enough money with me to satisfy a mugger, but nothing else.  I figure you don’t want to end up with someone snarling “that’s all you’ve got?!” and you also don’t want to lose a camera or anything else valuable.  I ended up having no trouble, but the main route back to the bridge was pretty creepy.  During the day it’s crammed with vendors, but as soon as the sun sets the shops shut thick steel shutters over the windows and doors and the street stalls are packed up and hauled away.  What’s left is incredible amounts of trash, homeless and crazy people burning it in makeshift campfires, and people lurking out of the bushes.  The whole place smells like pee.  Definitely somewhere I would not return, but I felt like I had to legally enter the country at some point…

The most intriguing part of the area to me for tourism was the Itapu Binacional, a massive hydroelectric dam that produces more power than any dam in the world.  It’s considered one of the 7 modern wonders of the world and provides 90% of Paraguay’s power and 19% of Brazil’s power.  On the Paraguayan side they offer free tours.  Transit to the dam is a bit complicated, but I eventually found that I could just take a bus to Hernandarias and jump off when the bus turned off the main highway, walking the rest of the way.  Unfortunately the technical tour which includes a tour inside the dam, power generation facility, turbines, and control room requires a week advance notice to request.  Instead I did the “Panoramic Tour” which is a quick 30 minute drive around the dam in a bus and was a big disappointment.

During the rainy season, more water flow through the spillway than all of Iguazu Falls

The dam flooded a huge area and destroyed a lot of the native forest, including a set of falls as impressive as Iguazu in Brazil.  I did lots of paperwork and got permission to visit one of the few remaining forest preserves, called Refugio Tati Yupi.  After taking another bus to Hernandarias, I had to take a taxi the rest of the way to the park.  I had two sets of papers signed by the park director, which the shotgun-toting guards at the gate near the road insisted on seeing.  They initially said that taxis weren’t allowed inside, but the driver sweet-talked them and we were allowed through.  A few kilometers down the road we came to a second set of shotgun-toting guards, who needed my second copy of papers.  I was a bit confused by all the security, wondering if trees were under siege in Paraguay or something.  I was surprised to find it almost like a summer camp near the lake, with picnic tables, a football pitch, and visitors center.

After spending the day hiking around the forest I was able to see capibaras, lots of tropical birds, armadillos, and anteaters.  It’s a shame, but many species are threatened or endangered now.  Near the end of the day, one of the guards had tracked down some monkeys and had me follow him out to them.  We shucked and threw out some maize, and after a while one of the monkeys ventured down to grab an ear.  They’re very nervous, apparently because people will hunt them.

Capibaras are fortunately not threatened, and they’re one of my favorite South American animals.  They’re basically a rodent of unusual size and can weigh up to 250 pounds!