Paraguay

Day 15

A 4-hour bus ride (still on our private bus) took us to the border town of Ponto Pora. Our hotel was quite a bit nicer than what we have had for the last few days - hot and cold running water on demand.

We went out for supper with the group before doing our usual wandering around. After we had gone a few blocks, it became apparent that we were in Paraguay as all of the license plates were different and the motorcyclists did not have helmets any more. The border here is quite transparent with 1/2 the town in Brazil and the other 1/2 in Paraguay - no-one seems to pay it any attention. Unfortunately, it was Sunday night and nothing was open, so there was not a lot to do.

Day 16

Today, we officially left Brazil and entered Paraguay. This time we had a nice big bus that took us the mile or so the the official exit point, where we sat on the bus while some strange man took all of our passports and little pieces of paper, eventually returning with our exit-stamped passports. Then the bus took us a few miles to the immigration office in Paraguay where the same guy took our passports and returned them with our entry stamps into Paraguay. Very painless and absolutely no paperwork for us.

We then went to the local bus depot where we waited for the public bus to take us to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay.

This was a 7-hour bus ride but on what had to be the best bus we have ever seen. Huge seats and lots of leg room. We were treated to a Jet Li film festival (in Spanish) for the entire trip. Does it get any better than that?

It was evening by the time we got to Asuncion, just time to grab some supper at a local restaurant before crashing for the night.

Time here for a little note about restaurants in Brazil and Paraguay. Buffets seem to the the norm in both countries but while in Brazil the meal is a fixed price, here in Paraguay they weigh your plate and you pay by the kg. In Brazil, if you want to eat from the menu (al a carte), most meals are priced for 2 people. If you only want a meal for yourself, it is usually about 60% of the menu price, and you have to be very firm that you are eating alone. It would have been nice to have known this before ordering our first meals in Brazil as we ended up with a huge amout of food.

The other issue we are having is with going back and forth from Spanish-speaking to Portugese-speaking countries. At this point we are completely hopeless at ordering anything, resorting to sign language most of the time.

Day 17

Free day in Asuncion.

We toured around by foot in the central area of the city. Lots of excitement as there is a major protest going on by the farm workers, demanding safer working conditions from the new government. Huge rally downtown with lots of loud fireworks, congregating at the constitution building where many speeches went on. Very peacefull march for the most part, but it made it difficult to get near the government buildings.

Our impression of Asuncion is of a big city; a little more cosmopolitan than La Paz, but not as much character. Very hot (mid to high 30s) during the day. Lots of shops selling electronics and fashions, perfumes, etc., as the entire city is a duty-free zone. If we had any idea what anything should be worth, it might be a great buying opportunity.

The currency in Paraguay is the Guaranie. The exchange rate is about 4800 to the US$. A 500ml Coca Cola will cost about 5,000 Guaranies and large (750ml) beer about 10,000. So basically things are cheap but sound expensive.

Tomorrow we can look forward to another 7-hour bus ride, heading for Foz de Iguazu.