Asuncion

Asuncion is the capital of Paraguay. That was about the only thing I knew about this city, and the whole country for that matter. Now that I have spent some days here, I know that it is a lot more than just a name on a map. This country, as most, is full of life, but it was so evident here, where you can see all the stages of it on the streets. Argentina was very much like Europe. Full of life but still dead.

Entering the bus terminal in Ciudad del Este, a horde of men came running at us. They all started talking to me, as if Youri was not there. There were about five companies who had buses going to the capital within the next 15 minutes. All of them had two or three people trying to make us buy their tickets. I tried to bargain, but none of them went lower than 40000 Guarani per person. The guy at the hotel told us that the normal fares were about forty to fifty thousand. We got on one of the buses, got our tickets, and a few minutes later, when all the people selling food and DVDs got out of the bus, we left the terminal for what they said was a five hour bus ride.

Along the road we picked up people who would come on the bus and sell bread. They all eat some kind of yellow bread, corn I assume, with a taste of anise. I really like them, but Youri is not a big fan. Everything else was sold as well, but the soda, bubble gum and sandwiches were not as impressively carried. The women who sold bread would carry their large baskets on top if heir heads. When the bus ride started the air-con was on, just like they promised. We were soaking wet and were happy to see them turning it off. I took my shirt off, and wore a blanket. Seven and a half hours later the shirt was almost dry, and we were in Asuncion. The terminal was quite empty, and we got on the first bus to the city center.

In Iguacu, on the Brazilian side, we met a man who recommended us to stay in the only hostel in Paraguay. It is called the Black Cat, and is located in Asuncion. We had the address, and decided to find it. The directions we had were not perfect, but we asked some long time alcoholics, they usually know the streets in the city. Their directions sent us in the right direction, and with some help from a nice man, also an alcoholic, we found the hostel. It had opened just a couple of months before, and was nice. There were not many guests, but one Irish guy had a Mac, so I could finally make a backup of my photos again.

The "senora" who ran the hostel was very nice, and she recommended us a cheap place to eat. It was called "Punto 10", and was just a few blocks away. When we got there it turned out to be a food court with live music and a lot of different foods. I had a good lasagna, and we boughttheir three litres of Pilsener beer offer, for 20000 PAG. On a large canvas they projected 1990's music videos, and later a team of jugglers performed to the sound of a live band. The music was not all that great, but the jugglers, or at least one of them was cool.

There was not much more to see in Asuncion. We checked out a flea market, some public squares, and a view down to the slums, but that was about it. We wanted to move on. We went to the bus station, bought some food, and got on the bus to Concepcion.