With the capital done it was time to see what else Paraguay had to offer. I soon realized it’s a country that loves the siesta, loves to see the day just drift by. No matter how busy the day is, it just seems to disappear. No one seemed to be in a hurry. People seemed to just sit around drink there cool herbal drink and call it a day at 10am sitting out the front of their or a friends house.

Traveling around was actually quite easy just annoying when the buses would stop all the time. By the end I saw so many drink coolers pouring water into cups it actually gave me the shits. Basically every Paraguayan mixes multiple herbs into a carved out horn and add water from a cooler. No matter where you go in Paraguay this is a given.

First up I headed to Ybycui (pronounced Ubeekooee – It’s Guarani the native Indigenous language) National Park 3 hours south east of the capital. In the main town there are no restaurants just a small farming community where horses and ox drawn carts are still a main source of transport. The national Park is a 20 minute drive from town. Being Sunday there was no bus. I ask the hotel to call a taxi. I waited close to an hour when two Paraguayan couples were heading in the same direction and offered to take me. It was the best thing for me because I was forced to try my Spanish for longer than a couple of minutes. (There has been an improvement since Paraguay.) Anyway their names were Louis and Fanny. I said to Fanny (who is a female) “Is that a normal name for Paraguayan women?” She said yes. So this means there’s a whole bunch of Fanny’s walking around Paraguay proudly showing their face. I shouldn’t have written that they were really nice people. Muy amable to use a Spanish phrase. Couldn’t help it…

The National Park is one of Paraguay’s last strands of Brazilian Subtropical rainforest. There’s an Iron Foundry that was blown up by the Brazilians during the War of the Triple Alliance. In 1853 Paraguay got its first International Treaty of Commerce. The Foundry was to symbolize to the world that Paraguay is part of modern times. It is now a symbol of pain as it was bombed by the Brazilians in 1863. Originally the foundry was making household goods but by the time the war came around it changed its production to making military weapons. This is near the entrance to the park and further down is the campsite and the main attraction for the Paraguayan tourists.

The main attraction is a 30 minute walk from the campsite to Salto Guarani a small waterfall by South American standards. Again nothing much to do here but relax and let the day drift by, watch the water stream down and watch these blue butterflies fly around. It is only a small area and most tourists just come take a photo and go back to the campsite where a smaller less spectacular waterfall is. This meant that most of the time I had the waterfall to myself or with only one or two others. The butterflies for those interested are a colorful metallic blue morpho (That’s what the book tells me). I put my hand out and a few butterflies hopped onto my finger so I watched for 20 minutes or so butterflies sucking the water off my hands. It was actually quite nice.

Around 4pm I realized how the hell am I going to get back? If Fanny and Louis left it could be a long walk back to the hotel. I may have to befriend someone at the campsite. I got back to the campsite and the 2 couples one with kids were waiting at the other waterfall. They wanted to leave a bit earlier but waited till I was ready to go. How nice was that!

Encarnacion was the next destination. To get there from Ybycui it was two buses. The first was a bus heading back to the capital for an hour and a half. Get drop off in a small town which connects to a bus going back the other way. It all went pretty smoothly. Encarnacion is known as the pearl of the south because of its location on Rio Parana, Argentina is over the border so it is a trading city. It is a nothing town for a tourist just a base to see two of the worlds best preserved Jesuit Missionary sites.

Jesuit Missionaries in the early 17^th century set up settlements for the local Guarani indigenous population. This was to prevent Brazilian Slave traders finding them so they could work on their sugar plantations. They introduced to the indigenous population the new methods of cultivation and successfully prevented Portuguese intervention. They also gave the message of god. Because the missionaries had such a large number of Guarani’s they became prime targets. To avoid them they made residents more fortified and more remote. Between 1609 and 1768 there were more than 80 communities now only 30 of those communities remain with 15 ruins in Argentina 8 in Brazil and 7 in Paraguay. The best preserved are the two World Heritage Listed (1993) ruins Trinidad and Jesus. They are actually some of the worlds least visited UNESCO sites in the world.

Trinidad is the most complete of all the remaining 30. 40 minutes bus ride from Encarnacion. It’s a 500m walk through a small village to the ruins. After being in Europe for so long and seeing ruins I suppose it was just another bunch of ruins but this place was different. I have very rarely been to an impressive set of ruins and had it basically to myself. In Trinidad there was one other guy until my last 5 minutes a small group came in. When I left (In Spanish) I asked the kids how many people normally visit the site in a day. He said it varies from day to day. The most is 50, normally 10-20. Sometimes they only get 2 tourists.

Jesus (pronounced Yesus) to me even though it was smaller was more enjoyable. 12km north of Trinidad. To get there was a walk back to the main road and a half hour wait for a local bus to take the locals back home and me to the site. Driving through the village at 11:30 and the whole village it seemed was drinking out of the horn cups under a tree in the front of a house. I actually like the look of the little village. The ruins in Jesus are far more hands on or should I say feets on. Because no one really comes here they haven’t bothered to block off potentially dangerous areas. Potentially dangerous, being the walls of the ruined cathedral. Something I have never done before walking on top of 3 walls of a ruined Cathedral. Again apart from a German family and 2 Paraguayans I had the place to myself. The two sites combined were the highlight as a tourist sites for Paraguay.

My last stop in Paraguay was to South America’s biggest shopping centre Ciudad Del Este. One of only two South American countries landlocked, Paraguay has become a region where the economy is marked by a large unofficial sector. This sector re-exports imported consumer goods to neighboring countries. To contribute to this there are thousands of micro enterprises and urban street vendors. As well as this some US$1billion worth of bootlegged cigarettes goes into the Brazilian economy from the border towns. Paraguay is the 3^rd poorest country in South America. In 2005 it had a poverty percentage of 32 and 16% unemployment.

Ciudad Del Este is a prime example of everything that is wrong with Paraguay. For two weeks minus the buses I saw everything that was a good about Paraguay. This place was a dump. This is because it is positioned on the border with Argentina and Brazil meaning it is a perfect location for money laundering. It’s a place that helps Paraguay get the tag of the most bribe hungry country outside of Africa. It’s a place that sees trafficking of arms and illegal narcotics.

But enough about the negative or maybe for just a bit longer but it could be a positive depending on how you look at it. Itaipu Dam is Worlds largest hydro-electric dam (Until Chinas 3 Gorges project). The dam is blamed for much flooding and damage throughout the region including a set of waterfalls said to be just as spectacular as Iguazu. It provides 75% of Paraguay’s electricity and 25% of Brazil’s. It is actually named as part of the 7 Modern Wonders of the World. It is a fine example of human engineering.

The food here has improved compared to Peru and Bolivia and an interesting appetizer at a restaurant is a dish called Palmitos or Palm Heart. It is the very centre of a Palm Tree trunk. It’s a soft, tender and fibrous like sugar cain. Each tree has one heart. Its flavor is nutty yet sour (that could have been the style I ordered.) I am not sure what happens to the rest of the tree? I’m sure they find a use for it.

Iquazu Falls is just over the border, it is a thunderous intro into the real world. This must wake up every tourist from their siesta in Paraguay and that is probably the best way I can explain Paraguay. Paraguay - It lives in a siesta where its people on a whole are quite happy not to wake up. It is definately a unique part of South America.

SIDE NOTE – I walked between borders where between Brazil and Paraguay near the bridge a guard asked me to go into a tower off the road and asked for my passport. I said with a smile. “No, no that’s not going to be happening. If you want to look at it you come over here on the main road and do what you have to do.” This was in Spanglish. He came over and I was on my way.

I also got bullshitted by a taxi driver of my last Gurarani money on the Brazilian side. I threw the money on the hotel table and said. “Go, please… Just take the money and go... I do not want to see your face ever again, for the rest of my life”. I think that that is a far more satisfying comment than just cursing. Ah, it was US$4.