Central Cuidad del Este is mess, a slum, and a marked difference from the capital, Asuncion and beachy Encarnacion. Construction is everywhere. Sidewalks and streets just start and end for no apparent reason as if the installers installed only where there was shade. I arrived around 4 PM and the entire tax free black market area I wanted to witness first hand was closed, the stalls shuttered or empty, garbage trucks moving the remaining waste behind street crews sweeping the day away.

However, at around 6 AM the following morning, Ciudad del Este awoke, literally. I awoke when the electricity kicked on in force and began to hum from the dozens of electrical wires clinging to a pole out side my hotel window. An electrical fire waiting to happen. This was soon followed by honking trucks and taxis jockeying for position to deposit venders and their wears. By 8 AM, the streets were so full, no vehicle was moving, and the residents of Ciudad del Este pulsed around both trucks and taxis like blood cells coursing through through the city's veins.

I followed the sea of people, through market stalls selling mostly Chinese made goods, pirated DVDs and fake watches. I almost bought a polo shirt with a Ferrari logo, a Polo pony and a Nike swoosh on the sleeve (covering all the bases) but it was too early to haggle. At the end of each street, individuals await to hand you leaflets, offer to exchange money, sell you drugs, or you a gun.

At the center of the market, on the corner of Monsenor Rodriguez and Avda. Carlos Antonio Lopez was the Mona Lisa Department store, an oasis of real luxury goods, and a stark contrast to the chaos outside. Heavily armed guards watch the entrance, but I breezed through them, if only to catch my breath from the market insanity.

In the end, unless you are looking to smuggle something across an international border, Ciudad del Este, and the unlimited shopping is a skip.