Here, we also visited the largest dam in the world and the triple border of three countries. There was also a very big show, including a large samba show. Perfect

BTW: we spent a whole 15 minutes in Paraguay. That's enough for the link

Largest church in Paraguay, not very impressive and a place for Chris to park.

Here, the overhaul of the steering rod was on the agenda!

Track measurement was, of course, included; afterwards, an emergency aid program with dear friends. Starter defective, no, ignition switch defective!!

A street festival has invigorated the situation a bit.

What do we actually know about Paraguay?

Good question! Not too much, I would have answered if I had been asked the question BEFORE departure. And it should probably stay that way AFTER departure, but more on that later.

When it comes to the distribution of natural spectacles, unique landscapes, access to the sea and other attractions on the South American continent, Paraguay somehow came up short in all the draws compared to its competitors. This country seems to have very little that is exceptional to offer, there seems to be nothing that cannot be found elsewhere on the continent and even the only Paraguayan I have met so far on my trip - Andres - who has lived in Rio for a long time, would not reveal much to anyone when asked about his home country: "There is nothing to see" was the short and to the point answer.

To get an idea of what was going on, we boarded a bus in Iguazu to travel the 350 km to Asuncion. The capital of the only landlocked country in South America, in which around 1 million people live, is by far the largest city in the country. In fact, most of the urban life takes place in the eastern region of the country, where almost 97% of Paraguay's inhabitants live on around 40% of the country's surface area. In the west of the country, the groundwater is largely highly saline and the lack of fresh water means that this region is very sparsely populated.

The accommodation we booked in advance was unbeatable at a price of less than 7 euros per night per person for 2 rooms - at least on paper. The reviews were also pretty good, only the location was viewed somewhat critically. About 2 hours before arriving in Asuncion (and already slightly late), the host contacted me via WhatsApp to find out where we were staying. Nothing unusual so far, but the number of inquiries increased and the content from the sender became increasingly cryptic and incomprehensible. With a delay of almost 1.5 hours and the clock pointing to well after midnight, it was perhaps somewhat understandable.

When we finally arrived at our destination, we changed from a bus to a taxi and covered the last few meters to the final destination of the trip. Shortly before arriving at our hostel, it quickly became clear why we had to give the location a lower rating - the area by the harbor was more like a township than a city-like settlement, and in the immediate vicinity of the hostel, all kinds of fucked up and completely stoned characters lived between wooden shacks, right next door to our domicile. The crackling of the campfires between the shacks at least created some atmosphere - even if it took on more apocalyptic overtones. The grotesque scenery could not have been better thought up as a script for an end-time blockbuster.

Phew – not a nice area and given the view of the neighborhood it's hard to imagine stepping out the door here, at least not after dark.

While we were hauling our luggage out of the trunk, the host opened the door of the accommodation, yelling loudly, and invited us in. The waiting time was apparently passed by with the supply of alcoholic soft drinks, which also explained the somewhat confused messages. Somewhat surprised that there were three of us, we were led into a kind of children's room with a bunk bed and a third mattress was organized at short notice. This part of the house was obviously not part of the hostel area; it seemed more like we were being put up in the innkeeper's private quarters. The heavily intoxicated colleague did not want to know anything about a booking with 2 rooms and 3 beds and further communication was quite difficult due to his condition. He quickly explained to us that this was the only room available, closed the door behind him and disappeared. Since the bunk bed unanimously failed the short static test, the sleeping configuration, at least for that night, was: 2 completely worn-out mattresses on the dusty floor and 1 bed on the lower level, also with a completely worn-out mattress - and all of that on a floor area of perhaps 10 m² and an outside and inside temperature of around 30°.

We quickly realized that we couldn't and didn't want to spend any longer here, so before we could go to sleep we canceled the remaining days and headed off to dreamland.

The next day, the move to a hotel in the city center was not entirely smooth, as the innkeeper was quite annoyed about our cancellation and repeatedly asked us in disbelief what we were expecting for the price - my advice and the booking with 3 beds in 2 rooms that was shoved in front of him was ignored - after all, you should check beforehand and ask whether the price offered for the stated price is actually realistic, in principle. Absolutely illogical but never mind, after all, the thermometer was already well over 30° early in the morning and they didn't feel like arguing and made off. At least, despite a bad review, they gave us the money we had already paid back without any problems - great!

The first impressions of Asuncion should also remain the general impressions for the entire stay. A settlement of rather unspectacular and aging buildings with no recognizable city center - it all seems more like the suburbs or outskirts of other big cities. You walk through the similar streets with the expectation that something worth seeing will appear around the next corner - a building or something that stands out from the rest of the monotony - but unfortunately without success. The trudge through the city is more like a stroll through an industrial park, because at least fans of retail get their money's worth here: there are countless pharmacies, supermarkets, furniture stores, clothing stores and gas stations. And not much else. Not a bad thing, because at this time of year the sun burns mercilessly and heats the air to more than 45° during the day. If yours truly prefers the far too heavily air-conditioned rooms to outdoor dining when visiting a restaurant, that says a lot about how bearable the heat hell of Asuncion is - at least in the South American summer.

There isn't really much more to report about our stay in Paraguay. Sweating heavily, we took a short stroll through the city to see the few buildings and squares that didn't quite fit in with the industrial area, and we attended a few football matches, which for the reason mentioned above all took place at 7:30 in the morning or after dark - even for fit bodies, sporting activity is only recommended to a limited extent in these climatic conditions. It should also be noted that Paraguay is unbeatably cheap - lunch costs no more than the equivalent of 5 euros, and a taxi ride of over 30 km to the surrounding towns costs around 3.50 euros. It is so cheap that before leaving by bus it became a real challenge to convert the remaining 8 euros into useful goods.

Perhaps there are other places in this country that are worth seeing and spectacular - unfortunately we only found them to a limited extent in Asuncion. However, the people were generally quite nice and interested and that is an added value that you take home as a memory. Paraguay - take care!

In 2018, while traveling through Bolivia near the border of Paraguay, I met a backpacker from Israel who had traveled through Paraguay for six weeks. When I asked him what he had done in Paraguay for so long, he replied, 'The attraction of Paraguay is Paraguay!' There are no major tourist attractions in the country, but that's exactly why you can experience an authentic South America here. With this expectation, I traveled to this country!

As I mentioned in my last post, on May 1st in the afternoon, I took a bus from Foz Iguazu to the Paraná River, to the Paraguayan border. After getting my Brazilian exit stamp, I crossed the river on foot to Ciudad del Este to enter Paraguay. There, I exchanged my remaining Brazilian reals for Paraguayan guaranis. To avoid confusion: besides currency, the term Guarani refers to the majority of the indigenous population in Paraguay, as well as in the bordering Argentina and Brazil. In addition, Guaraní is also the second official language of Paraguay, so Spanish is only a second language for many people here. I took a motorcycle taxi to my hostel where I checked into my room. Almost all shops and restaurants were closed due to the holiday (Labor Day), but I finally found an open restaurant where I had a plate of noodles. Unfortunately, the weather was bad since that afternoon and it didn't look better for the following days. The next morning it rained, but in the afternoon it was at least only cloudy and I visited the Monday waterfalls, the largest waterfalls in the country. Surrounded by dense greenery, they are reminiscent of the Iguazu waterfalls, only smaller and less spectacular. If I had visited them in sunshine and especially before the Iguazu waterfalls, I would have liked them much better. Near the waterfalls, there is a breeding station for macaws that are then released. Besides birds, I also saw two tortoises near the waterfalls. Unfortunately, Ciudad del Este has nothing to offer as a city. Many Argentinians and Brazilians go there for shopping, as technical devices such as televisions, computers, etc. are much cheaper there. There are several huge shopping centers.

On May 3rd, I left Ciudad del Este and took a bus for a little over five hours to Encarnación, located on the Paraná River, directly across from Posadas in Argentina, where I had been a week before. The city is actually quite beautiful, but it was also raining here. On May 4th, it was a bit drier, so I took a trip to two more Jesuit missions of the Guarani, as I had already visited two in Argentina from Posadas. I took a bus to Trinidad, where I visited the impressive ruins of the destroyed complex from the 18th century. Then I hitchhiked to the small town of Jesús, where there are also ruins of the Jesuits to visit. Unfortunately, the sun was missing that day, so my photos were far from as beautiful as those of the Argentine missions. Back in Encarnación, I found a German restaurant! That's nothing special in Paraguay, as seven percent of the population is of German descent. If I had only been on a normal vacation here, I would have ignored the German cuisine, but after more than ten months, it was different and I enjoyed goulash with fried potatoes. Unfortunately, in the past three years, a couple of thousand COVID-deniers, Reich citizens, etc. from Germany came to Paraguay. Why Paraguay of all places? In addition to the German restaurants, German food, etc. due to the German origins of many Paraguayans, the most important reason for this was certainly that there were hardly any COVID rules in Paraguay for a long time, and that unvaccinated people could also enter. In addition, it is relatively easy for foreigners to be allowed to stay permanently in Paraguay.

On May 5th, I finally took the bus to Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, where I spent the next two days exploring the city in mixed weather. Asunción has some beautiful areas and there are a few interesting small museums. In a German bakery, I could buy apple strudel, which was really good. On the first evening, I had pork roast with bread dumplings in a restaurant called 'Brauhaus'! The owner of the restaurant emigrated from Germany to Paraguay 20 years ago. At the neighboring table, a few people were speaking in German, and although I only caught a few snippets of the conversation, it was enough! Germany would destroy itself through 'Islamization'! Merkel, who allowed the refugees into the country, should be shot, just like Scholz! The only person who could save Germany would be Alice Weidel as the next Chancellor. I briefly considered joining the conversation, but it wouldn't have made any difference anyway. From that point on, whenever I was asked where I was from in Paraguay, I always emphasized that I was a tourist from Germany and not one of those who emigrated from Germany to Paraguay in recent years.

On May 8th, I left Asunción temporarily with little luggage and took a three-hour bus ride to the town of Villarrica, where there is a beautiful park with capybaras, some colonial houses, and two interesting churches. The weather was much better now. I stayed there for two nights and then drove through the nice town of Eusebio Ayala to the city of Caacupé, where the modern cathedral is the only attraction. The owner of my accommodation spoke German, as he was a Mennonite, a member of a Protestant religious community that has been living in Paraguay for several decades. While he is one of the very few Mennonites in Caacupé, there are proper Mennonite colonies elsewhere in Paraguay, and I became curious and decided to visit one of them. For this, I had to go back to Asunción and on the way back, I visited an interesting museum about Paraguayan myths and the town of Areguá on Lake Ypacaraí with the magnificent rock formations of Cerro Koi. From Asunción, where I stayed one night in my old hostel, I then drove for ten hours to the Gran Chaco region, an area between Asunción and the border with Bolivia, which consists partly of wetlands and partly of inhospitable steppes. There are hardly any people living here. However, there is a group of small towns with names like Osterwick, Blumengart, Kleefeld, and even Karlsruhe, which together form the Mennonite colony of Fernheim. I stayed in the main town, Filadelfia, for the next two days. For explanation: The Mennonite religious community originated during the time of the Reformation in northern Germany and the present-day Netherlands. Initially, they differed from the Lutherans primarily in that they rejected the baptism of infants and young children. Everyone should consciously decide on baptism! They also refused any kind of military service. When they were persecuted in their homeland, they moved to Prussia, where they lived until the end of the 18th century. As their situation deteriorated there, most of them moved to Russia, where they lived until the 1920s, when they were persecuted by Stalin and thousands of them died. Most of them then fled to the United States, but some also came to Paraguay, where they still enjoy special rights: schools in German, exemption from military service, and regulation of the sale of alcohol are some examples. During visits to several small museums, I learned a lot about the history and life of the Mennonites. Nowadays, all Mennonites in Paraguay are bilingual in German and Spanish, and their standard of living is significantly higher than the average in Paraguay. Mennonites only marry among themselves, which is why they also visually differ from the original population. On the second day, I rented a bicycle, the lady who provided me with the bike was named Mrs. Wohlgemut, and the lady who opened the gate to a nature reserve was named Mrs. Krause. The German spoken by these people differs from our language both in sound and vocabulary. A man who guided me through one of the museums told me about his grandchildren, meaning his grandchildren!

After two days, I left Filadelfia on the night bus and arrived early in the morning on May 15th in Asunción, where I spent the last two days in Paraguay. Finally, I was able to take photos of Asuncion in good weather. On the morning of May 17th, I took a taxi to the airport to fly to Colombia from there.

Paraguay is a very interesting country with very nice people, but without a significant tourist infrastructure. On the one hand, this means that there are hardly any tourists, but on the other hand, you need a private guide for tours in remote areas, which makes things incredibly expensive. Therefore, I had to forego excursions into the jungle. The number of cultural attractions is certainly limited, but the country has a lot of untouched nature. Let's hope that it stays that way, even if more tourists visit this hospitable country in the future!

We had a relaxed day, packed our backpacks again and in the evening we continued to Paraguay by bus. The bus left with a delay of one hour, but the border crossings were the fastest we have ever experienced. Since only the two of us had to enter and exit the bus, we each had the passport stamp in 3 minutes. At 1 o'clock in the morning, after 6 hours of bus ride, we arrived in the capital of Paraguay. We went to our accommodation and went straight to sleep.

The next morning we went to the city center of Asuncion. The city's full name is La Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad de Nuestra Senora Santa Maria de la Asuncion, which is actually only for the Assumption of Mary. We were there at the right time because in the heart of the city, on the Plaza de los Héroes, there were many men in uniform. At 10:15 a.m., a parade with a band and changing of the guard started at the Panteón de los Héroes. This is the symbol and national monument of Paraguay. The construction began in 1863, completed in 1936, and since then the remains of the Paraguayan war heroes have been kept here. We continued walking through the city. However, the city is rather deserted today. Almost all shops were closed, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion was closed, the huge Plaza Constitucion park was fenced off and closed, and the Estación Ferrocarril, the former train station with a museum, was also closed. So we couldn't see much. We took some photos at the Palacio de los López, the government headquarters, and we also found some interesting murals that were worth a photo. Of course, we couldn't miss the huge lettering "Asuncion" on the promenade. We walked along the shore of the Paraguay River and in the afternoon, we had a coffee in a good, but deserted cafe.

We already started to the airport at 4 o'clock in the morning. We drove for about half an hour through the noisy and crowded streets of the city. Apparently, life here takes place at night and not during the day.

Every beginning of something new also means the end of something existing. I booked the trip three weeks ago and the time until departure passed very quickly. I flew on Thursday evening at 18:50 and reached my destination in Paraguay 🇵🇾 on Saturday morning.

Favorite place/city

Tim: Buenos Aires with a bit of a European big city flair in the middle of South America

Tabea: Buenos Aires, especially our neighborhood San Telmo

Best accommodation

Tim: Hub Hotel Asuncion, a little bit of luxury and very good breakfast

Tabea: The Hub Hotel in Asunción: here we treated ourselves to a nice hotel with a great breakfast and a rooftop pool.

Best restaurant/café

Tim: VeganGo in Ciudad del Este, a super inexpensive vegan buffet restaurant where we finally had the full selection without having to sort anything out

Tabea: It's a really tough choice this time, because we found so many great restaurants. The best food was at the winery "El Esteco" in Cafayate (Argentina) and the most beautiful atmosphere was at "Tomate" in Buenos Aires.

Favorite local dishes/snacks/drinks

Tim: Chipa, small corn balls with melted cheese

Tabea: Chipa! That's a Paraguayan snack made from flour, egg, and cheese, which usually comes in the form of small balls.

Most amazing natural experience

Tim: Definitely the impressive Iguazu Falls

Tabea: Clearly the Iguazu Falls and their surroundings.

Most beautiful overall experience

Tim: for me, it's also the Iguazu Falls, although the carnival in Encarnacion was also a special experience

Tabea: driving through the landscape around Salta and going from the green hills to the beautiful red sandstone landscape.

What surprised me

Tim: Paraguay is actually so non-touristy that we weren't even ripped off by taxi drivers and paid fair prices...

Tabea: how incredibly difficult it is to understand the Paraguayans' Spanish, often we didn't stand a chance here and had to ask three times.

The people in Argentina/Paraguay...

Tim: are crazy about Dulce de Leche, a sweet cream that is in almost all sweets, ice cream, etc. and is used as a spread (similar to Nutella for us, but not nearly as delicious)

Tabea: unfortunately, we found them to be a bit more reckless and unfriendly than in Chile (Argentina), but also very open-hearted and friendly (Paraguay).

Paraguay/Argentina is...

Tim: both worth a trip. Argentina certainly has even more highlights and is more diverse, but neither country disappointed us!

Tabea: Paraguay is really almost tourist-free and somehow everything is smaller and calmer here, which was very pleasant for us. Argentina is such a big country, of which we unfortunately only saw a fraction. I would love to come back here someday.

A thought about traveling from our time in Argentina and Paraguay

Tim: Even in Paraguay, the standard on bus trips is surprisingly high and contrary to previous concerns, there are actually no differences compared to Chile.

Tabea: after three months of traveling in total, a few days without much program are very good and afterwards you're really eager for new impressions and experiences.

After our last days in Argentina, we returned to Paraguay once again, as we had already booked our flight back to the western side of the Andes from here a while ago. The bus ride from Buenos Aires to Asunción marked our longest so far, with 19.5 hours. Since we had read beforehand that there isn't much to see in Asunción, we compensated for this by booking a slightly fancier hotel for our three days there. It did not disappoint, and we enjoyed the great rooftop terrace with a pool.

Asunción is remarkably green and is characterized by low houses rather than large apartment blocks or skyscrapers, which was a nice change from the other big cities we visited in South America. Additionally, the entire city is very calm and relaxed, and everything feels somehow small and cozy. We were able to explore the entire city center and several small neighborhoods comfortably using the hotel bikes. Within a short time, we visited the few sights of the city: the presidential palace, Plaza de Armas, the pantheon where national heroes are buried, as well as the riverside promenade. Unfortunately, we once again encountered the garbage problem that we have observed many times in South America, which seems to be particularly pronounced near water and ports.

We spent the rest of the weekend strolling in the mall, by the pool, and at the nearby cinema - it really felt like a vacation with an outside temperature of 30 degrees, and we were sometimes reminded of Florida. Then we had to say goodbye to the second country (after Argentina) on our trip. We will see Chile again briefly and then continue to Peru for the final leg.

When researching what there is to experience in Paraguay, you don't come across a variety of highlights. However, we quickly stumbled upon the fact that in the south of the country, the 'capital of carnival' (apparently right after Rio de Janeiro) can be found. That was reason enough for us to visit the second largest city in Paraguay, Encarnacion, which is beautifully located on a river that also forms the border with Argentina. Due to the carnival season, accommodations were scarce, but we were lucky and secured an Airbnb apartment in a newly built building overlooking the river. We were only able to use the rooftop pool once due to the high temperatures, because...

... it stormed and poured rain continuously for the entire three days. That was a bit depressing. Our planned Valentine's Day dinner could only be reached by taxi due to the bad weather, and we were already fearing the worst for the following Saturday, when the carnival takes place every week in February. But miraculously, it actually cleared up on Saturday afternoon and we were overjoyed. After a walk on the beach and dinner, we went to the 'Sambadromo' - the venue for the weekly carnival parade. There are permanent stands installed along a closed street throughout the year, where the carnival parade takes place. It consists of various associations, each of which presents itself with elaborately decorated floats, dancers, and sometimes even its own band (alternatively, the music comes from a recording). There is even a jury that evaluates the performances of the associations - so it's not just for fun!

The whole thing was supposed to start at 9 p.m. according to the ticket, and we were there shortly after nine... however, that didn't apply to many other spectators. Until around 10:30 p.m., it was really shocking how empty it was, and even until shortly after midnight, new spectators were still arriving. However, the parade was in full swing from the beginning. I (Tabea) especially noticed the diversity of the participants: not only half-naked women, but also men - each with model proportions or average bodies - were represented. Children as young as 4 years old (obviously more dressed) were already part of the parade, and a few grandmothers also presented themselves on one or another float. The audience was also mixed from young to old, so it was an event for the whole family.

We had read beforehand that snow spray was in high demand at this carnival. We saw that right at the beginning and didn't want to miss out: we bought two cans of the sticky stuff and happily sprayed it in the crowd like many others. So if it 'snows' or 'rains' in the pictures, it's just spectators having fun with their sprays.

All in all, the Paraguayan carnival was an absolute cultural highlight of our trip so far. The atmosphere in the stands (or at least on our stand) was a bit disappointing, but the creativity and dancing skills of the participants in the parade were really impressive and great to watch. You could almost think that the weather god is a carnival enthusiast, because it was already storming heavily again the next morning. So we spent the last day in Encarnacion in our apartment and in the evening made our way to the bus station for our longest overnight journey so far. We will report on the destination of this journey in the next article.

The Iguazu Falls and the region around the three-country corner of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay are a true paradise for passport stamp collectors. Just the trip to the Brazilian side brought us four new stamps (Argentina exit, Brazil entry, Brazil exit, and Argentina entry). But that wasn't the end of it for the day.

After returning from Brazil, we picked up our backpacks from the hostel and set off again. Next destination: Ciudad del Este in Paraguay! Since the only connection there is by land through Brazil, we were starting to get worried about space in our passports. After leaving Argentina (with stamp number 5 that day), the bus driver surprisingly didn't stop at the Brazilian border, but continued without stopping. Unfortunately, the same was true at the Paraguayan border, we also drove through without stopping. A short Google search later, we learned that the bus drivers at this border crossing like to just drive through, but it can cause problems and fines for foreigners when leaving. So while we saved space in our passports, we faced the next challenge.

Nevertheless, we first dropped off our things at the hotel and got a small overview of the city. And it was not quite as we had expected. Everywhere before, the South Americans had told us that Paraguay is almost untouched by tourism and nobody goes there. Here in Ciudad del Este, however, it's a bit different. Especially near the border with Brazil, there are shopping malls, electronics markets, and small market stalls lined up one after the other. You can buy everything here from brand-name clothing (whether real or fake, who knows...) to cheap unknown brands. But above all, there is everything that runs on electricity (from notebooks and smartphones to headphones and kitchen appliances). However, it must also be mentioned that Ciudad del Este enjoys a special status and is not representative of Paraguay. Here, foreigners do not pay taxes on all these imported goods, and so it is a shopping paradise for Argentinians and Brazilians, who come here in large numbers for day shopping trips. Of course, we also got an overview of the shopping malls and strolled around a bit. We were particularly impressed by a huge "China-Import" shop. Here, not only electronics were available, but also the world's leading brands in all conceivable product categories (from Milka to Schwartau, we also recognized many German brands). Since our arrival day in Ciudad del Este coincided with the halfway point of our journey, we treated ourselves to a large bag of Haribo to celebrate Germany.

After the excursion into the shopping world, we decided to tackle our stamp problem once again. So we went back to the border and tried to officially enter. This ultimately went surprisingly smoothly and we were given the necessary entry stamp without further questions. So we got rid of this worry and could enjoy the evening relaxed. The next day, we had to get up early again because we wanted to visit Itaipu Binacional, the second-largest dam in the world. Once again, it was very impressive to see what mankind can build and how advanced the technology was already in the 1970s when the dam was built. At the same time, you could also feel the pride of the Paraguayans in this structure. However, considering that the dam covers 90% of Paraguay's (and 20% of Brazil's) energy needs, it is quickly understandable and the relevance for the small Paraguay becomes obvious.

Since Ciudad del Este does not offer any other major tourist highlights and, to be honest, did not really invite us to linger, we used it more as a stopover on our way to Paraguay. In addition, I (Tim) was able to replace my broken headphones and we were able to replenish our small electronic needs like batteries. Now we are fully equipped for the further journey towards Carnival. But more about that next time...

Our first real day in Paraguay started unexpectedly earlier than hoped. Probably due to a little jetlag. After a small breakfast, the expedition started right away: we were introduced to the whole city and everyone was so excited to see us! We were treated like celebrities! We could easily get used to that. After a little negotiation with Ganesha, Archana also dared to try Carne for lunch. And she liked it! As did all of us. However, Carne's karma didn't take long to show itself, as her bike lock broke while chaining the bike. When the neighbor's dog attacked us, we were very grateful for our bikes. And grateful that our dog is on a leash. All in all, the culture shock seems to last a while: Shock No. 1: the indigenous population lives in their own settlements and has a dedicated ward in the hospital. Shock No. 2: the city of filadelfia was founded in the bush less than 100 years ago! Shock No. 3: every indigenous family speaks a completely different language and their cultures are so different that they cannot understand each other.

So we drove to Ciudad del Este, which is located at the tri-border area between Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. And thus the odyssey of passport stamps would begin.

First of all, it must be said that there is absolutely nothing to see in Ciudad del Este itself. The city is ugly and, in addition to an unbearable amount of border traffic, it is filled with shopping centers. This applies to the whole area in general. Even in Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, there is a huge duty-free market where we also stocked up on some packs of cigarettes for $9 each. The duty-free market was like an amusement park, with different areas decorated with sets, dolls, and LEDs. The chocolate section, for example, was designed like an Alpine village. Half of Europe was represented, with the Eiffel Tower from Paris and the Tower Bridge from London featured in the decorations. The entire tri-border area is considered a paradise for cross-border shopping. It's hard to figure out who exactly has the biggest advantages here. Everyone seems to be traveling everywhere to shop in large quantities. There are even "sightseeing trips" to Ciudad del Este, where you can buy cheap electronic devices, or to the duty-free mall where tons of alcohol, chocolate, and perfumes can be bought. There is also a huge casino just after the Argentine border, apparently gambling is not allowed everywhere among the neighbors.

Ciudad del del Este has an important highlight to offer: the Itaipu Dam, Itaipu means "singing stone" in the indigenous Guarani language. The dam was constructed as a binational project between Paraguay and Brazil. Until the opening of the Three Gorges Dam in China in 2006, it was the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world since its completion in 1991. Due to the high utilization of the turbines, Itaipu still ranked first in terms of annual energy production even after 2006.
Various tours can be taken through the dam. The usual tour only includes a bus ride to the visitor center to an observation deck, from where you have a beautiful panoramic view of the dam. On Friday and Saturday evenings, a sound and light show was offered. Coincidentally, we arrived on a Friday and of course, booked such a tour for the evening. We took a taxi to the visitor center and when it started, we were also driven to the observation deck. There, a 10-minute (advertising) video was shown about the construction and performance of the power plant, mainly throwing astronomical figures at you that you couldn't remember. The light show then started, but before you even realized it was starting, the whole thing was already over. With a little background music, lights were gradually turned on until the whole dam was illuminated. That was it. Then there was another 5 minutes for taking pictures before we were herded back onto the buses that returned to the entrance. I think the term "sound and light show" is a bit exaggerated, but it was quite nice, the dam is really impressive to see, and at night it is definitely a special sight.
The dam tours are offered on both the Paraguayan and Brazilian sides. In addition to the panoramic tour, there is also a special tour offered on both sides, where you can go inside the dam and visit the control center. The main difference is that they are free in Paraguay, while you have to pay admission in Brazil. However, Paraguay also offers a technical tour that is not available in Brazil. For this, you have to register one week in advance and you "must" have a technical background or be a student. Of course, I didn't want to miss this opportunity, so I booked such a tour in advance, but only for the following Monday. So we had to come back here after the weekend. Sounds simple? We'll see.

Another coincidence was that it was a full moon this weekend. And during a full moon, there is a full moon tour to Garganta del Diablo on the Argentine side of the Iguazu Falls. I should mention that these waterfalls are the main reason why thousands of tourists visit this area every year.
The Iguazu Falls consist of 20 major and 255 smaller waterfalls over a length of 2.7 kilometers. Some are up to 82 meters high, the majority are 64 meters high. The Iguazu Falls are wider than Victoria Falls and taller than Niagara Falls. The waterfall system known as Garganta del Diablo or "Devil's Throat" is a U-shaped gorge that is 150 meters wide and 700 meters long. It runs along the border between Argentina and Brazil. The falls are separated from each other by several larger and smaller islands.

A few days ago, I read on the internet that there is a full moon tour on 5 days per month and of course, immediately got tickets for us. So we had to travel to Argentina first. This also made sense because we could bring all our luggage to Argentina, as we were going there anyway. However, there is no direct border between Paraguay and Argentina, so you have to travel through the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu. Locals can travel within a radius of 100 km in the 3 countries without having to go through immigration and customs procedures. Not so for foreigners. They have to go through all the border formalities every time. This means for a trip from Paraguay to Argentina: Departure from Paraguay - Entry to Brazil - Departure from Brazil - Entry to Argentina. This means a lot of stamps per border crossing, and due to our wild planning, there would be tons of stamps. We slowly started to worry that we wouldn't have enough free pages in our passports in the end. So the motto for the coming days was to save as much space in the passport as possible. Buses are also a bit of a challenge: there are international buses, but they don't always wait for you at the border while you are at immigration. That means you might have to wait up to 1 hour for the next bus after completing the formalities at the border. And there are not many buses that go directly between Argentina and Ciudad del Este without having to transfer in Brazil. Considering this, and also considering our mountain of luggage, not to mention the damn ceramic parrots, we decided to travel to Puerto Iguazu by taxi. The hotel called the same driver who had taken us to the dam the previous evening. He was kind of a crazy guy, friendly and nice, but also a bit crazy. The evening before, he accompanied us to the visitor center, shared Terere with us during the waiting time for the panoramic tour, and introduced us to all his acquaintances who sell souvenirs there. In between, you could feel that he was maybe a bit drunk, and his slightly intrusive manner was a bit tiring at times. Especially when he tried to take our passports to register us at the visitor center, that definitely went too far for me. However, the same crazy guy came to drive us to Argentina. But first, we went to a money changer, where he once again wanted our passports and our dollars to exchange them for us. As if! We'll do that ourselves, thank you very much. Then he also found that it wasn't really necessary to go through all the entries and exits, and he decided on the spot that we would just drive through Brazil, an illegal entry and exit so to speak. It worked out fine, it's also difficult to control that with the crazy border traffic between the 3 countries, so at least we saved 2 passport stamps.

In the afternoon, we strolled around Puerto Iguazu, inquired at the bus terminal about the buses to the waterfalls, and did the laundry.

In the evening, we waited on time for the special bus that took us to the entrance of the Argentine National Park. The full moon tour takes place on 5 days per month, 3 times per evening. We had booked tickets for the first tour, the others had already been fully booked. However, since it stays light longer at this time of year, it was still bright when we arrived at the entrance, so we were a bit skeptical. But it did get dark in time for us to reach Garganta del Diablo. To get to the Garganta, you take a small train. You can't see the other areas of the Argentine falls in the evening, you go directly to the final stop at Garganta del Diablo and then back to the exit.

From the train station to the waterfall, it's a good 15-minute walk along a metal walkway. When we finally reached the waterfall, the moon had indeed risen and illuminated the absolutely gigantic waterfall in a mystical and magical way. It was beautiful to look at. Unfortunately, it was hardly possible to take decent photos with our cameras, but there was a photographer on site who took nice photos of the people for a fee.

What we really underestimated was the water. The cascading gushing water causes a real rain, which, depending on the wind, blows directly onto the viewing platform. Within minutes, you were completely soaked from head to toe, and since it was evening, it was also quite cool. At least I had brought my rain jacket with me, which didn't hold up for long against the relentless spray, but it was still better than nothing. Jörg, as usual, thought he didn't need one, and so he was completely soaked to the bones when we headed back to the train station.

For the next day, we had planned to visit the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls. It was a Sunday: bad idea. From Puerto Iguazu, there is a tourist bus that goes directly to the visitor center, which waits for you at the border while you complete the immigration and customs procedures. This time, we entered Brazil legally again.

Already when we reached the entrance, we were amazed at the crowds of visitors. At that point, we still thought it would still be quick despite that. What a mistake. We had read beforehand that the Brazilian park is much smaller than the Argentine one and requires much less time for a visit. Therefore, we decided to take a boat ride on the Brazilian side, since we were already here. While Jörg stood in line, I went to buy the boat tour tickets. And there it happened, the typical fatal mistake at such a tri-border area: I bought the tickets and was surprised that the boat tour was actually quite cheap. Until it dawned on me at some point that I had mixed up the exchange rate. I had calculated with the Argentine rate instead of the Brazilian one, which amounts to a factor of about 10. So the boat tour cost around 10 times more than I thought, and was by no means cheap, quite the opposite. Well, it didn't matter anyway, I already had the tickets and we wanted to do the boat tour anyway, it wouldn't have been much cheaper on the Argentine side either. I returned to Jörg, who hadn't made much progress in the line. And mind you, this was the line to enter the park, we had already fortunately purchased the entrance tickets online beforehand. Jörg had in the meantime struck up a conversation with a Swiss couple who were on vacation here. At least that provided some entertainment during the long wait time.
In the Brazilian park, you board a bus directly at the entrance, which takes you through the park. Along the way, you can get off and back on at various attractions, which you have to pay extra for. The last stop is at the Panorama Walkway. And it is precisely this bus that is the bottleneck, especially with such a large number of visitors. We ended up waiting for about 2.5 hours before we could finally get on one of the buses. Originally, we had planned to go to the walkway first and then do the boat tour on the way back. But since it was already getting quite late, we decided to reverse the order. After all, the boat tour was very expensive, so it had priority. If we couldn't do the walkway anymore, we could just come back another day.

So we got off the bus at the corresponding stop and said goodbye to the Swiss couple. The boat tour starts with a ride through the jungle and a short hike. And wonder of wonders, we were once again in Brazil, no one spoke Spanish or English. So we didn't understand most of the few explanations about the flora and fauna during the "hike", but it was probably not particularly thrilling anyway. When we arrived at the boat dock, we were asked "Wet" or "Dry". Those were absolutely the only words that the staff knew in a foreign language, but still. The boat tour can be done in the "wet" version, meaning the boat goes into a small waterfall, so you really get soaked. The "dry" alternative is more of a panoramic boat ride at the foot of the waterfalls. Of course, we opted for the wet version, because fun is a must. I (and also several others) had the absolutely idiotic idea that a rain poncho might prevent the worst. It couldn't. In the end, I was completely wet, so the poncho offered for purchase is definitely useless. The bathing suit would have been the better choice. All in all, the boat tour was really fun. First, like the panoramic tour, we drove along the base of a group of waterfalls, so you can take some really nice photos from a different perspective. Then we headed towards a small waterfall...and into it...several times, the driver steered the inflatable boat directly into the waterfall. The force of the cascading water was very impressive, you could hardly breathe or keep your eyes open. So you didn't see much in the whole process, but you definitely felt it. And experiencing this force of nature was absolutely fascinating. Besides, plenty of adrenaline is released, so you return to the boat dock in a good mood. And luckily it was hot, so you dried off quickly.

Afterwards, we waited for the next bus that took us to the starting point of the Panorama Walkway. Right at the bus stop, there is already the first viewpoint, from where you have an absolutely breathtaking view of the Iguazu Falls. Right there, there is also a hotel, a really chic and expensive one, the Belmond Hotel, which looks like a pink castle. The overnight stay in a double room costs about $500 per night, but I would still recommend it to anyone who visits the falls and can afford it, to spend a night there. Of course, that wasn't possible for us as long-term travelers, but if I ever come back here and can expect a salary at the end of the month, I would definitely stay there. Because guests have unlimited access to the walkway, so you can find a nice spot to enjoy the waterfalls early in the morning or in the evening, without the crowds from during the day.
Most of the waterfalls are on the Argentine side, so you have a better panoramic view from Brazil. However, the Brazilian park only offers a circular walkway, so you go through it relatively quickly. But along the way, you are treated to truly breathtaking views. You have to be careful of the cute but cheeky coatis, who will snatch food right out of your hand if you're not careful. And although there are signs everywhere not to feed the animals, many people still do it.

When we left the park in the evening, it was already late and the last bus that goes directly to Puerto Iguazu had already left. What a bummer. We inquired about the best way to return to Argentina and ended up boarding a bus that would let us get off at a stop in Foz do Iguacu, where we could transfer to another bus. Done. The driver stopped at the designated bus stop and we got off. But unfortunately, no bus came. We waited for what felt like an eternity, several buses passed by, but none of them stopped. That was just driving us crazy. Eventually, we gave up and grabbed a taxi.

It was slowly time to return to Asuncion to return the rental car. However, we made a few more stops along the way.

First, we drove to San Cosme y Damian, where there was another Jesuit mission to visit. If you are wondering if we are getting tired of the Jesuit missions, you are absolutely right. However, San Cosme y Damian is somewhat special because there is an astronomical observatory here.
The facility is visited as part of a guided tour, which is included in the entrance fee. The first part of the tour is a visit to the mission itself with the usual buildings (churches, workshops, etc.). The tour was absolutely terrible, the guide absolutely careless and impatient. There was no time to look around and take photos, and no one was taken into consideration. The woman simply hurried through the buildings and muttered her monologue, she didn't care at all if the group was together and if everyone could hear her explanations. She didn't react enthusiastically to questions either. Fortunately, we had already seen some missions and knew the history and background, so we didn't have to rely on the unfriendly lady to expand our knowledge. Since it was always said that there are only ruins in Paraguay, and the best preserved one is Trinidad, this surprised us a lot, because the church and the complex in Cosme y Damian are in very good condition and by no means a ruin, the church is even still used. However, it is not particularly pretty or spectacular compared to the others. The only unusual thing is that the buildings adjacent to the church are two-story. On a rickety wooden ladder, you could climb up to the attic, but you had to hurry because the guide had already rushed to the next room.

The second part took us through the observatory, this time fortunately with a different, much friendlier lady. The observatory was founded by Jesuit Father Buenaventura Suarez, who had a great passion for astronomy, and was once the most important astronomical center in South America. A film was shown first, which reported on the astronomical knowledge and views of the Guarani, who, like almost all ancient cultures, had already thought about the starry sky at an early time. They already knew that the weather repeated itself after 12 full moons and knew the solstices. They also had their own names for the constellations we still know today. Next, we went to the actual observatory, where a telescope was set up. It was not as big as you would expect in an "astronomical center", but resources are limited. But since we were there during the day, there was no starry sky to see anyway. We had actually planned to come in the evening, but San Cosme y Damian is so far off the beaten path that it would have been too inconvenient. However, we were able to look at the sun through a smaller telescope with the appropriate filter, which is also something. The tour continued in the planetarium, which gave us information about the southern hemisphere's sky, for example showing us the location of the Southern Cross. In the last part of the tour, the large armillary sphere was demonstrated to us, and that was the absolute highlight for me. I had never seen such a device so consciously before, or at least I was not aware of its purpose and use, and I was absolutely thrilled. It is used to represent the movement of celestial bodies. I really would like to have such a thing at home! However, the pitfall is that it must always be precisely aligned to provide reliable information, i.e. once set up, it must not be moved at all.

Unfortunately, something very tragic happened on our way to our next stop. We were driving on the highway when suddenly 2 dogs ran across the road. And the driver in front of me actually ran over one of the dogs. I could see exactly how the poor creature was being thrown back and forth between the wheels and finally lay lifeless on the ground while the driver just continued driving. I can't even describe it, it was absolutely horrible. I was able to swerve just in time so that I didn't run over the poor animal as well. I immediately started crying, I was completely shocked and distraught. I have a hard time dealing with animal and human suffering. Jörg immediately turned on the hazard lights (the most essential function of a car in Latin America) and as soon as there was an opportunity, I drove off the road. It took me a while to recover from this terrible experience enough to be able to continue driving, I would have preferred not to drive at all. But Jörg also suffered a lot from the situation, the grief and compassion for this poor creature haunted us all day. Of course, we had seen animal carcasses by the side of the road during all our car trips, on these roads and with the many strays that suddenly run across the road, it is inevitable. But experiencing something like this live really affected us deeply. From then on, I was filled with panic every time I saw another dog along the road, fearing that it might run in front of my car. And it's not just dogs. It's all sorts of animals. I will never forget when our driver in Brazil suddenly slammed on the brakes because a hen was crossing the road with her brood of chicks right in front of us. So cute.......

Our next stop was in Yaguaron, where we wanted to visit the Franciscan church. However, the church had already closed, so we could only admire it from the outside. The church warden was just about to lock the church, but despite our pleas, he unfortunately did not agree to work a few extra minutes. Too bad. After a short break, we soon continued driving.

Our final stop before Asuncion took us to Ita. There, we also took a quick look at the church and then relaxed a bit in a local park around a pond where some caimans live. Although we had already seen these animals several times, it is always fascinating to encounter them.

We spent our last evening before we had to return the car outside Asuncion, so that we didn't have to drive far the next day. We still had a burden on our minds, namely our dirty car. Surprisingly, the rental office had required us to return the car washed. Honestly, it was the first time I had heard of something like this, and I had rented a car a few times, both for personal and business purposes. And, well, since our visit to the Mennonites in the Chaco, our car had been covered in dirt. Of course, there are no car wash facilities here as we know them. On the way, we had seen signs by the road from people offering to wash cars, but we always thought it was better to wait until the end, after all, you never know what else might happen and we didn't want to wash the car twice. But just when the time came, we suddenly couldn't find any such "car wash" anymore. Of course, we could have returned the car unwashed, but that would have been expensive. So we first went to the supermarket and bought some rags there, with the plan to at least clean the car a little bit, hoping that the car rental company would overlook it. When we arrived at our accommodation and were warmly welcomed by the host family, we noticed a garden hose in the driveway. So we asked if we could possibly use the hose to wash our car. The host waved us off with a smile, called his teenage son over, and instructed him to wash our car. The family takes care of several cars, both their own and cars of customers and guests, so the boy has practice in it. Despite our desperate protests and repeated emphases that we would do it ourselves, he would not be dissuaded, and the son vehemently refused to accept the hose, the sponge, or the vacuum cleaner to help him. And they also didn't want to accept any money from us. In return, terere was offered to us, and the father and mother happily chatted with us in the courtyard while the boy cleaned the car. An hour later, the car shone like new. We were of course incredibly relieved and grateful.

The next morning, we said goodbye once again to the friendly family. That's the downside of the long journey: constantly saying goodbye to loved ones whom you have quickly grown fond of. Of course, we are traveling very quickly, so we only have a short time to spend with the people we meet along the way. We don't form deep friendships like this, but in return, we meet so many nice people with whom we have countless beautiful, interesting, and unforgettable encounters and conversations that I would never want to miss. And thanks to this blog, my personal diary that I share with you, I will never forget them.

And who knows, certain encounters last longer. For example, we still receive occasional messages from Rafael, our guide who accompanied us in Perquin, El Salvador, who asks how we are and where we are. We are always very happy about that. We just exchanged greetings and good wishes for the New Year. And also with Linda, the daughter of our host family in Bogota, Colombia, we occasionally exchange text messages.

And so, enriched by another such encounter, we returned to Asuncion to return the car and end our beautiful road trip through Paraguay.

After that was done, we drove from Asuncion to Ciudad del Este with the bus company Nuestra Senora de Asuncion, which had been recommended to us by the hotel family, and it must be said that this company is definitely one of the best on the entire continent. The bus classes are relatively similar all over South America. Long-distance connections offer a semi-cama class with 4 seats per row and reclining backrests that can be adjusted to 120°-140°. The cama class offers seats with backrests that can be adjusted to 160° and only 3 seats per row. There are often double-decker buses with semi-cama seats on the upper deck and fewer cama class seats on the lower deck. In some countries, there is even a suite class on certain routes, where you can recline the seats to 180° and almost have a small bed. Sometimes the bus companies even offer meal service, otherwise there is a stop at a comedor where you have half an hour to eat. Interestingly, we have not yet found a "perfect" bus line. Although the classes are similar, there are small but fine differences everywhere. In poorer countries like Bolivia, for example, the vehicles are often much older and not as well maintained. The buses sometimes have damage, cracks in the windshield, poorly maintained toilets, worn-out interior and seats. On-board service is basically non-existent there. There are also no amenities on the bus. The really good bus lines sometimes offer pillows and/or blankets, dividing curtains between the seats, personal screens (often only shared screens showing movies or nothing at all), power outlets for phones, Wi-Fi, number of toilets, etc. But interestingly, there is (so far) no bus company that offers everything. The complete perfect package for comfort on long bus rides. Of course, our criteria are high, we almost always travel (if the journey takes more than 8 hours) in the Cama class, simply because of Jörg's height. The best bus company we have used so far was Cruz del Sur in Peru. The vehicles were in top shape, great emphasis was placed on safety, there was on-board service with good food, there were power outlets, and usually 2 toilets per bus. Luggage could be checked in beforehand, even early in the morning if you had booked an overnight bus on the same day. In addition, the company serves all major long-distance routes in the country, so you can always use the same company and don't have to look for a provider again and again. Another huge advantage was that you could book the tickets online and didn't have to print them out. That doesn't exist anywhere else, either tickets always have to be booked at the bus terminal or possibly by phone, or the online booking system does not accept foreign credit cards. The only drawback was that there were no individual screens per seat and that the Wi-Fi only worked moderately. We give second place to Colombia, in terms of average standard. In Colombia, bus companies operate regionally, so depending on where you are traveling, you always have to take a different company. Almost all good bus companies in Colombia offer their own TV screens, sometimes even with German movies, but that is actually only an important criterion for Jörg, as I get sick when I read or watch movies in the bus. Many people have raved to us about the bus companies in Argentina and that they are the best of all. Here I want to interrupt briefly: at the time of writing this, we have been in Argentina for a while and we can definitely not confirm that. There are some decent bus companies, but the overall quality and service definitely do NOT compare to Peru, Colombia, or even NSA in Paraguay. Let's see what awaits us in Chile. This is a little side note on the topic of bus travel in South America.

From Villarrica we drove to Encarnacion the next morning. The hotels in the city center were all unaffordable, so we booked accommodation a little outside. Thanks to our car, this wasn't a problem. And indeed, this was definitely the best accommodation we had in Paraguay. Although it wasn't cheap either, the price-performance ratio was definitely right. We got a nice studio with 2 huge comfortable beds, a small kitchen and dining table. We could have easily stayed here for a few more days and just cuddled in the comfortable bed. The host family was incredibly nice too. The woman of the house was overjoyed with our visit, asked us about our home country and our travel. They had built these studios next to their own house to rent them out. 4 were already completely finished, the 5th was going to be painted in the next few days. She proudly showed me everything and explained the progress of the construction. They usually rent the studios to business travelers, foreign tourists are rare here. Her husband owns a sports shop in town and immediately saw a good business opportunity. He enthusiastically came over with sports shoes and shorts in Jörg's size. We were actually quite surprised that there were things in Jörg's size here, and the price wouldn't have been bad either. However, we had to explain to the good man that we were already carrying too much luggage with us (not to mention the damn ceramic parrots) and currently didn't really need sneakers and more sports shorts.

In Encarnacion, we first went to the Costanera. Actually, everything worth seeing in Encarnacion is along the waterfront of the Rio Parana. This is also where the Sambadromo is located, where Encarnacion's famous carnival is celebrated. Since the door was open and no one was there, we took a look around. The Sambadromo, which can accommodate 8500 spectators, is certainly much more fascinating when it's full and the party is in full swing. Nevertheless, one does question a little the construction of such a huge thing that is only used for one purpose once a year.

Also located on the Costanera is an old flour mill, which unfortunately cannot be entered. But it provides some nice photo opportunities.
Also right on the coast is the old train station, where you can visit a rusty train.
Across the Rio Parana is the Argentine city of Posadas, which offers a nice view from the promenade.
There are also some small sandy beaches where the locals hang out. There is apparently also the BurgerKing with the most beautiful view we have ever seen: it is located right on the beach.

After walking up and down the Costanera a bit, we then sat on the pier to admire the beautiful sunset from there. It was a wonderful atmosphere in the evening along the promenade. Locals gathered everywhere, set up their folding camping chairs, and drank Terere. In fact, there were hardly any people drinking beer or anything similar, which would be more common for us. Here, people drink Terere.

We also wandered a bit through the city center of Encarnacion, but apart from the usual squares and churches, there is not much to see and they are not particularly beautiful. The (touristic) life definitely takes place on the Costanera.

The next day we first went to Jesus de Tavarangue to visit the Jesuit mission there. In contrast to the Jesuit missions we had already seen in Bolivia, these are almost exclusively ruins. The mission was founded in 1685, but the work was never completed until the Jesuits were expelled in 1767. The complex also includes a small museum where pieces and artworks from the mission are exhibited. As was customary with the Jesuits, a simpler provisional church was initially built before construction of the actual temple began. In the case of Jesus, construction of the huge church measuring 70m in length, 24m in width, and 12m in height began in 1756. The church would have been one of the largest of all Jesuit churches, but it was never completed. In addition to the ruins of the massive church, you can also visit the workshops and the "Indian houses" in the complex, although only the foundations remain. Today, the Plaza Mayor is a tree-lined, shady meadow.

We then continued to Trinidad, where Paraguay's allegedly best-preserved mission is located, which was founded in 1706. By 1728, 3000 people already lived here. After the Jesuits were expelled, the Dominican Order took over the mission, but only for a short time. In 1776, the church was destroyed. In 1788, only 57 families were left in Trinidad. After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the indigenous people lost their protection and migrated away. In 1993, the missions of Paraguay were declared UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Here too, only ruins can be admired on a large green area, including a watchtower that served to defend the mission. This is a new element that we had not encountered in other places before. There was also a small museum here where you could see stonework and sculptures. Particularly noteworthy in Trinidad are the reliefs of the music-playing angels that have been preserved in the church wall. They are beautiful and very detailed representations of angels with various instruments.

In the afternoon, we continued to Bellavista, where we had booked a tour of the Yerba Mate factory "Selecta". Yerba Mate is the tea with which the Paraguayans mix their beloved Terere. The Terere cup is almost filled to the brim with Yerba Mate tea. Then ice-cold water from the previously ice-filled thermos jug is added. It is drunk with a bombilla, a type of straw with a built-in tea sieve. Yerba Mate would accompany us for a while, because it is not only drunk in Paraguay, but also in Uruguay and Argentina, although there it is not consumed as Terere, but as Mate, a hot drink.

After registering at the visitor center, we were equipped with protective helmets. Nobody really knows what these are for. Then we were taken on a tour of a small "open-air museum" where we could look at old machines that were used for processing in the past. Then we went to the factory, where the production process was explained to us. About 500 people work here. Selecta now also produces other products, such as rice, roasted peanuts, and tea in bags.

After the leaves are harvested, they are delivered to the factory from the farms. Selecta's own production accounts for about 70%, the rest is purchased from independent farmers. About 9 tons of tea leaves can be processed per day. The leaves are dehydrated and sterilized at 400° for 1.5 minutes, reducing their moisture content to only 20%. They are then dried in a large oven on a giant conveyor belt for 24 hours at 90° until they contain only 3% moisture. Next comes the storage, which lasts at least 1 whole year, and even 2 years for premium varieties. Finally, the leaves are ground and packaged. And there it is, Paraguay's favorite tea. On average, every Paraguayan consumes an incredible 7 kg of tea per month, which is about 250 g per day! We asked our guide why Yerba Mate is drunk cold in Paraguay. He tells us that the tea was already cultivated by the Jesuits. According to legend, the "cold drinking" began during the Chaco War so that they wouldn't have to make a fire and thereby not reveal their hiding place to the enemies.

The tour was relatively short, but very informative and interesting. After all, this is an important aspect of Paraguay's culture. And every Paraguayan we later encountered was very surprised and excited when we told them that we had visited the Selecta factory.

In the evening, we drove back to Encarnacion, where we could sleep for a second time in the divinely comfortable beds in our accommodation before saying goodbye to our host family the next day and embarking on the third stage of the village sightseeing tour.

The next morning we continued our journey towards Atyra. The town is known as a center for leather handicrafts. However, we only found a small market in Paseo Peatonal Indio Jose, which didn't offer much. But we actually found a new leather belt in Jorg's size here, as his old one was slowly falling apart. So the trip was already worth it for that alone.
The town is also known as the cleanest city in Paraguay, and it was indeed very clean. Otherwise, it is a quiet, peaceful, and very green place with not much to do and see. We briefly stopped by the Franciscan Church with its massive wooden altar and took a cigarette break in the pretty park. We skipped the local museum of religious art, as we had seen enough religious art already.

Next, we continued to Tobati. The town is known for its clay workshops where bricks and roof tiles are produced. Most of these workshops are located right by the road. The range of factories varies from simple, manual production supported by horse power to larger, semi-automatic factory-like enterprises. However, since it was Sunday, no work was being done and it was accordingly empty. But the old brick kilns provided some nice photo opportunities. Our visit to Tobati was therefore quite short, we simply drove through.

Our next stop was in Caacupe, which is 'famous' for its Basilica de la Virgen de Caacupe. The church is particularly impressive because of its size, which seems a bit out of place in the small town. However, we have seen more beautiful churches in terms of design. Nevertheless, this seems to be one of the tourist highlights of Paraguay, as we encountered a lot of local tourists here, including a German. We even had to buy a parking ticket from a nice old gentleman in the park, whereas in the rest of Paraguay you simply park your car wherever there is space.
For Catholics, the Virgin Mary is particularly important, a 60 cm tall, splendidly dressed statue on an oversized pyramid-shaped stone pedestal adorned with numerous handprints. And indeed, the believers lined up to touch the pedestal and say a prayer. The dome of the church can be climbed, offering a beautiful view of the interior of the church and the town of Caacupe from the inside. The walls of the staircase are painted and tell the legend of the Virgin, which was made by a Guarani Indian converted to Christianity and found its place in Caacupe only after a long odyssey. As an interesting side note, it should be mentioned that the Guarani were the original inhabitants of the area of Paraguay. In fact, 95% of Paraguayans still speak the Guarani language. The Guarani Indians were also found in present-day Bolivia and Uruguay, although the language is hardly represented there anymore.
Jorg generally finds it amusing to imitate exaggerated "preacher poses" in churches and justifies this right with the high church taxes he pays to the Catholic Church. However, when he once again swung his arms in the air on the balcony of the dome, pretending to be the Prophet himself, the other churchgoers, who could see him perfectly from below, did not find it quite as funny.
I particularly liked the beautiful stained glass windows in the basilica.

Afterwards, we continued our journey, which was a longer stretch to Villarrica. Road trips, especially in countries like this, always offer amusing anecdotes. In fact, I can't even count how many times I would have had to hand in my driver's license on this trip if it had been according to Swiss law.
What I remember most from Paraguay is when we once again left a village and suddenly found ourselves in a seemingly endless queue of cars, driving at a speed limit of 30 km/h. It took a while for us to realize that the "culprit" of the whole mess was a hearse, followed by the funeral procession in their cars with hazard lights on. However, there was a lot of oncoming traffic, making it difficult to pass the many cars. So we drove in a long line for a while until the other Paraguayans slowly started to get fed up with it. One after the other, they swerved to the right and overtook on the shoulder. Eventually, following the motto "when in Rome, do as the Romans do," I did the same. I waited for a gap, pulled onto the shoulder and overtook the funeral procession. Or rather, part of it. Because suddenly there was a bridge and the shoulder ended. Oops. Honestly, I don't remember exactly what I was thinking when I just followed the car in front of me, which squeezed back to the left between the hearse and the car behind it, then turned left onto the oncoming lane, pushed the oncoming traffic aside, and overtook the hearse on the median between the oncoming traffic and the hearse. Before I fully realized what I had just done, the whole thing was over and my pulse was pretty high. No, I definitely wouldn't have my driver's license anymore after such an action in Switzerland.

In the evening, we arrived in Villarrica and drove to our accommodation, which belonged to an old, pot-bellied man who was constantly sitting outside on the veranda, sipping his terere. The driveway to the square was so steep and narrow that, tired as I was after the long drive, I couldn't manage to maneuver the Hyundai through the entrance gate anymore, so Jorg had to take over for once. According to his amused expression when we swapped seats, the old man probably thought the usual: oh well, women just can't park. But I didn't care, I'd rather have that than damage the car.

After unloading our luggage, we took a stroll through the town. We had read that you can take horse-drawn taxi rides here, but we didn't come across any. We passed by the market, where there were truckloads of watermelons and other fruits and vegetables to buy. After the heavy rain finally stopped, we sat down in Parque Manuel Ortiz Guerrero, where there was a large pond and 3 capybaras lived. Just adorable. Just as we were about to cross the small bridge, they came towards us and trotted past us. There was also a little kitten sitting on the stairs, and it was impossible to tell who was more startled by this encounter: the cat, which immediately jumped up a meter high, or the capybaras, as they were loudly hissed at by the cat. For all the people around, the whole thing was quite funny to watch.

From Filadelfia we first went to San Bernardino and looked for accommodation there. San Bernardino is located on Lake Ypacarai and is considered the preferred recreational area for the wealthy citizens of Paraguay. This meant that our local hotel was even more expensive and worse than all the previous ones. We actually got along well with the young "landlord" and had a nice evening in the garden with interesting conversations. It turned out that he was the son of the owner family and this family seemed to be doing really well, after all they had another hotel in Asuncion and the son was taking flying lessons at the nearby airport and generally seemed quite spoiled, bragging about expensive cars and such. Nevertheless, we happened to overhear a conversation between the family where the parents complained that we were paying way too little for the room because we had found a last-minute special offer on the internet. To be fair, we hadn't even booked the room on the internet, but negotiated the same price upon arrival, otherwise they would have had to pay another 15% to the booking platform. Considering the fact that we were the only guests in the hotel at that time and that our room, or rather shack, once again fell far short of all price-performance requirements, it was quite cheeky. Even cheekier, the breakfast on the second day was only half the size of the first day (meaning only 1 bun and a slice of ham per person), in addition our room door couldn't be locked, the internet wasn't working, and when we checked out, suddenly the credit card terminal wasn't working, even though we had explicitly asked before booking if card payment was possible. That was definitely too much and we complained and demanded a discount in the amount of the bank fees for a cash withdrawal. In response, we were told: Why did you even stay for 2 nights if you don't like it? Well, thanks a lot. Actually, on the way back a few days later, we needed another hotel in the area, but then we took a detour to go to another hotel. I would have preferred to sleep in the Chiquitito-Mobile rather than go back there again.

In San Bernardino there is nothing else to see. The town only has expensive hotels and restaurants.

From San Bernardino we drove to some villages in the area.

When we inquired about the sights in the country at the tourist information in Asuncion, we saw a sales booth offering filigree jewelry made of silver. We asked about it and found out that this jewelry is made in Luque. Out of curiosity and because we thought it would be a nice Christmas gift for the women in the family, we went there. Jorg had found a jewelry store called "Don Mateo" on his beloved MapsMe app. In the absence of official parking spaces, we simply parked our Hyundai along the busy main road, as seems to be the custom here, and went in search of Don Mateo's store. But it didn't seem to exist somehow. So we asked a man on the street if he knew where we could find Don Mateo. Indeed, he knew him, took a few steps with us and then rang a doorbell. A few moments later, the door opened, Don Mateo greeted us and invited us in. And so we found ourselves in his house, where the wife greeted us in the kitchen, the son just grunted a short "Hola" while slouching in a rocking chair in front of the television with his T-shirt pulled up.
Mateo, who of course smelled a good business opportunity, immediately brought out huge travel bags into the kitchen and spread heaps of jewelry in front of us on the kitchen table.

When we inquired about the production of the jewelry, he took us to the open washroom, which also serves as a workshop, and gave us a 1.5-hour introduction to his craft. And it was really fascinating. Filigree jewelry is made from fine silver wires. I had thought that Mateo would buy the wires to make the pieces, but I was mistaken. Mateo showed us the raw material, the silver he procures, among other things from the silver mine in Potosi. Simple silver beads, 98% purity. He weighed a small amount of silver and added a little copper. From 30g of silver and 1g of copper, he can produce about 100m of wire. He then heated the silver with a Bunsen burner until it was liquid and poured it into a wooden mold. This yielded a small rectangular silver bar. He then pressed the bar countless times through a manually operated roller to reduce the cross section and produce a wire. When the wire became too small for the roller, he continued with a diamond-coated draw die. He repeatedly drew the silver wire by hand through the drawing apparatus. Of course, he only gave us a brief demonstration of the whole process, and we ourselves were allowed to try rolling and drawing a bit. In reality, he has to draw the silver through the differently sized draw dies countless times until the wire becomes thinner and longer and eventually reaches the desired diameter. All in painstaking manual work.
He then used thicker wire to make the contour of the desired piece of jewelry. With a skillful hand movement, he wound the thinner wire onto a kind of screwdriver and pressed it into the outer mould. This is how the beautiful filigree style is created.

He then produced silver dust from a melted silver bar using a file. He mixed this with borax. The resulting mass serves as soldering material, which he applied to the still loose piece of jewelry and then heated it with a gas burner to fix the silver wires. He placed the finished soldered piece of jewelry in a solution of water and chemicals, which he also heated with the gas burner to remove the borax residue. After rinsing the jewelry with water, he placed it in a plastic container filled with metal beads and shook it to polish the silver piece.

And presto... the filigree jewelry made of silver is finished. He produces each design in series of 100 pieces in order to speed up the work. Depending on the complexity of the design, he needs up to 10 days for such a series of one hundred.

Don Mateo told us that he has over 54 years of experience in making this jewelry. He learned the trade from a neighbor of his family when he was 10 years old. By now, he has passed on his knowledge to his son (who, by the way, is still sticking his belly out in the rocking chair in front of the television and doesn't seem motivated at all). Nowadays, about 40 people in Luque master this craft.

We were incredibly impressed by this craftsmanship, especially by the fact that it is truly 100% handmade. We happily bought some pieces from Don Mateo, which would make nice Christmas gifts for friends and family.

When we said goodbye, Don Mateo gave us his business card and said that he could also send his pieces to Europe in case we wanted to open a store there. We'll see. :-)

After visiting Luque, we continued to Aregua, which is located on the opposite side of Lake Ypacarai and is known for its ceramics. In fact, the first sales booths are already located along the main road at the entrance to the village. In the village center, there is a charming market where you can buy all kinds of ceramic products. Fancy a life-size ceramic swan? Or a monstrous statue of Christ for the garden? And since it was pre-Christmas time, there were of course also cribs in all imaginable sizes, from miniature to almost life-size. Beautiful flower pots that would cost a fortune in our country can be purchased here for a few francs. Unfortunately, they just don't fit so well in our luggage. Nevertheless, we couldn't resist and were tempted to buy 2 cool ceramic parrots. We would curse this completely stupid idea for weeks to come, namely every time we have to transport these huge and of course fragile things on the bus for hours.
Since it was unbearably hot, we didn't take a single step on foot in Aregua. We had parked the car directly on the road next to the market in typical Paraguayan fashion. And so we loaded our parrots and drove to the village church of Aregua, which sits on a hill. The view from the church was supposed to be quite nice, but it wasn't anything special.
Otherwise, the little village of Aregua with its colonial houses and cobblestone streets is really very nice.

Finally, we drove to the Lido on the lakeshore, a facility with picnic tables, sunshades, sanitary facilities, a beach, and food and drink stands. It wasn't very crowded, only a few people were there, and the friendly gentlemen at the entrance even waived the entrance fee for us. Here we also drank Terere ourselves for the very first time, which we bought at a stand, and we really liked it, although the cold tea is a bit bitter. We also had a conversation with the lady at the restroom and she joyfully brought her recently acquired tame parrot out of its cage and put it on my hand. The cute little bird greeted me with a croaked "Hola".

Afterwards, we drove to Itaugua, which is considered the center for the production of Nanduti, and where you could allegedly visit workshops as well. Nanduti is a kind of lace made of fine threads and the technique resembles a spider's web. Unfortunately, we didn't find any such workshops, only some shops that offered doilies made of Nanduti, which were recommended to us by locals. We don't need doilies, never have, and won't have any in the future either.
Apart from that, the village of Itaugua is quite dreary and not particularly worth seeing. We stopped by the church and hung out in the park for a while before continuing our journey.

In the evening, we drove back to San Bernardino and spent the evening on the shore of the lake, watching the sunset. We had read on the internet that the water is apparently so dirty that it is better not to swim in the lake. So we didn't.

05.01.2019 - 08.01.2019

Already when we started planning our stay in Paraguay, Jörg had the idea that we could rent a car there. This is mainly because Paraguay is a relatively small country, so only relatively short distances have to be covered. On the other hand, Paraguay does not have any of the big, absolute must-see highlights of the continent, but there are many places and villages worth seeing, for example because of the handicrafts produced there or because of a church or other building. It is very inefficient to reach all these places by public transport, especially if you only want to stay at each place for a very short time. With a car, you are much more flexible and can visit several places in one day. Also, as we would find out, the heat in Paraguay at this time was almost unbearable. An air-conditioned car naturally offers a lot of luxury in that respect, not to mention the luggage that can simply be stuffed into the trunk.

Unfortunately, my Swiss beginner driver's license had already expired in September, and my new, valid driver's license was at home in Switzerland. Stupid. After some back and forth, we decided to give it a try anyway, even with the expired "check" to rent the car. After all, I did have a valid driver's license, I just had an expired card with me. And behold, it was absolutely no problem to rent the car with it. Even during the police check, which we encountered on the first day, no one was interested in the expiration date on my driver's license. On the contrary, the expiration date of the fire extinguisher seemed to be much more important to the police. And so the friendly officer checked off this point on his checklist and then let us continue driving.

First of all, we drove to the town of Filadelfia, which is located in the east of the country in the so-called Chaco, a savannah landscape. The drive to Filadelfia on the Trans-Chaco Route would be our longest stretch, about 460 km. However, the long drive was much more pleasant than expected, as the road is mostly straight and flat through the wilderness, and there is little traffic. So, for example, if you need to overtake a truck, you can easily drive kilometers on the opposite lane. The road quality was also much better than expected. Only towards the end of the route did some terrible pothole fields appear, where the drive became really tedious and exhausting, especially after I had already driven 400 km and was getting tired.
When we stopped at a gas station for a break, we got into a conversation with a truck driver who was traveling with his entire family in the truck. He warned us to be particularly careful in this area. It is not uncommon for vehicles to be attacked here, and there are many people here who do not want to work, he said. Especially around the gas stations, caution is required, as shady characters often lurk here and watch you. And foreigners particularly stand out, especially when they are traveling in a small car like our rented Hyundai. In fact, our little car was by far the smallest among all the passing vehicles. But renting large cars is expensive, and the car rental company assured us that we would be able to get anywhere in Paraguay with this car (which we did). The truck driver told us that he had loaded first quality meat and that he always notified the police patrols by phone when he was on the road or stopping at a gas station for a longer break. After this conversation, we naturally felt only half as comfortable in our own skin and therefore hurried to get to Filadelfia quickly. We only got out of the car at gas stations when it was absolutely necessary, after all, there were attendants everywhere (since our little car only had a very small tank, we had to refuel constantly). Nothing actually happened on the way, but it is always better to be cautious, especially when the locals warn you about such dangers. And we really passed by some tiny settlements along the road where the poverty of the people living here was very evident.
But my biggest fear was hitting a cow or some other animal on the way, as they like to stay along the road here. But luckily, nothing happened in this regard either.

As we finally approached our destination, I had become really tired from driving, suddenly the radio crackled....and then suddenly German Schlager music was playing.

We had come to Filadelfia to visit the Mennonites. The Mennonites are an evangelical free church that traces its roots back to the Anabaptist movements of the Reformation period. The name is derived from Menno Simons (1496-1561), who came from Friesland and was a theologian. After baptism by faith, the Mennonites live according to the following principles:

1. Honor be to the Father

2. Honor be to the Son

3. Honor be to the Holy Spirit

4. We read the Bible together

5. We are committed to peace

6. We gather and celebrate together

7. We are a global family

Persecution and legal restrictions in Europe, as well as the ban on buying more land for the growing Mennonite families, led to the emigration of Mennonites to Russia between 1715 and 1815, where they were kindly received by the Russian royal family and were granted certain special privileges, for example, they were not required to perform military service, as Mennonites are always pacifists. The Mennonites lived very secluded from other people, stayed among themselves, and followed their old traditions. They were very successful economically, factories were built that produced agricultural machinery for large parts of Russia. The decades before World War I can be described as the heyday of Mennonitism in Russia. Mission work also flourished.
However, the "island mentality" of the Mennonites led to increasing hatred and envy among the otherwise peaceful Russian rural population. Apparently, too few of the Mennonites' spiritual, cultural, and economic goods were passed on to their Russian neighbors.
During World War I and the fall of the Tsar, life changed for the Mennonites. Around 10,000 Mennonite men were conscripted and had to serve as medics or in forestry. The Land Expropriation Law of 1915 hit the Mennonites hard. Robber bands roamed southern Russia, robbing and plundering, torturing, and killing Mennonite men and raping women. Farms were set on fire and entire villages devastated. In 1921, a terrible famine broke out in Russia. In addition, the introduction of communism led to the collectivization of agriculture, and free farming was to be destroyed. Many Russian-German Mennonites were arrested, abused, murdered, or deported to labor camps, where many cruelly perished.
Many Mennonites fled to Canada, Brazil, or Paraguay. From 1930 onwards, the first Mennonites fled to the Chaco in Paraguay, where they could buy a large piece of land from a businessman and founded the Fernheim colony with 13 villages, each with about 25 families. At that time, Paraguay had conflicts with its neighbor Bolivia over the Chaco region and therefore welcomed the settlement of people in this inhospitable zone. Other groups came later and founded the neighboring colonies Menno and Neuland in 1948.

The life of the newcomers in the Chaco was hard. There was only bush here, forests had to be cleared to create arable land, there was not enough food, and the Mennonite settlers also struggled with diseases such as typhoid fever, which many succumbed to. A saying of the Mennonites says: The first generation had death, the second had need, the third had bread.

And so it was: Similar to Russia, the Mennonites were also very successful thanks to their diligence. Whenever we spoke to locals in Paraguay about the Mennonites, they always said the same thing: son trabajadores! (They are hard workers). The Mennonites organized themselves into cooperatives within their colonies. Colony houses, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and a radio station (hence the German Schlager music) were established. Even an airport was built. In 1979, the first villages were connected to the power grid.
In the 1970s, the government of Paraguay decided to industrialize the dairy industry and offered the Mennonites favorable loans to expand their dairies. Nowadays, the Mennonite colonies of Paraguay have a monopoly with more than 75% market share on all dairy products in the country.

In 1956, under pressure from the Mennonites, the construction of the Trans-Chaco Route began. On October 5, 1961, the road reached the Fernheim colony. Since the state could only provide limited funds, the road construction was made possible with funds provided by the Mennonite Central Committee, which had already financially supported the resettlement of the Fernheimers to Paraguay. Among other things, old machines from the Korean War era were donated from the USA and used for road construction. The asphalt of the road from Asuncion to Filadelfia was only completed in 1991, and the last 130 km of the road in northern Paraguay were still not asphalted in 2013. This road has contributed a lot to the development of the Chaco colonies.
Because now they all came: Indigenous people, Latin Paraguayans, foreign immigrants. They all came here to find work and settle. And there is work here. The cities and colonies grew more and more, there are 18,000 inhabitants in Filadelfia alone today. The Mennonites are already outnumbered. The standard of living is high, in the middle of the savannah of the Chaco. In 1993, Filadelfia was declared the capital of the Department of Boqueron by the central government, and in 2006, the Municipio Filadelfia was established with a municipal administration.

In the Chaco, there are 3 Mennonite colonies: Fernheim with its capital Filadelfia, Menno with its capital Loma Plata, and Neuland with its capital Neu-Halbstadt. But there are also several other Mennonite settlements in the rest of Paraguay. We have seen them. They are hard to miss. Because they look exactly like Laura and Charles Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie". Still today. The men wear overalls, boots, and hats, the women wear old-fashioned, long flower dresses, braids, and a bonnet on their heads. Not so in the Chaco colonies. The Mennonites here have, according to their own words, learned from their mistakes in Russia, have abandoned the "island mentality," and have opened up to their neighbors and fellow human beings. They live modern lives, wear normal clothes, have a cell phone, and hardly differ from all other people here. Well....except for the blonde hair and blue eyes, that is.

And of course, apart from the fact that they speak German here.

Actually, we were quite amazed when we were approached by a woman who looked very Paraguayan, typically Latino. She spoke to us in German. Not accent-free, but almost perfect German. She explained to us that she had already attended school here, in a school run by the cooperative, and German is taught there. Actually, we had planned to stay at the Hotel Florida, which also belongs to the Mennonite colony, but unfortunately, it was already fully booked. So we had to look for an alternative. We went to the Florida restaurant for dinner and there we also met almost exclusively German-speaking holidaymakers. The only meals available were meat dishes, which is the absolute main food. Each of the 3 Mennonites in the Chaco has its own slaughterhouse.

The next morning, we went to the local tourist information center. The blonde, blue-eyed young lady we met there (unfortunately, I forgot her name) usually works as a sports teacher. But since it was vacation time, she was helping out at the tourist office. First of all, she took us through the museum, which is part of the tourist office, and told us a lot about Mennonite history. She was born here, her family lives in the reserves that have been created by the Mennonites for the indigenous people on their lands, and they work there as missionaries. We really had to restrain ourselves from laughing out loud when we started talking about the Mennonites in Africa, and the young lady began to say something and then said: The Ne-....... uhhhh...Black people.....yeah...apparently political correctness is not yet as important in the Chaco of Paraguay as it is for us. The people here also consistently call the indigenous people "Indians".

Afterwards, we visited the settlers' house, which used to serve as the headquarters of the colony. Today it is also a museum where many of the tools and equipment brought from the old home by the first Mennonite settlers are exhibited, or were donated by the Mennonite Central Committee as a start-up aid. Some fur coats on display were particularly amusing, which people had brought from cold Russia even though they probably never needed them here. There was also a small exhibition in the settlers' house about the construction of the Trans-Chaco Route, where mainly photos from that time were shown.

Already in 1930, a separate magazine was founded, the "Mennoblatt", which was launched in a situation of complete seclusion as a link between the settlement pioneers, and it still exists today. Nowadays, there are about 2,500 subscribers. An old printing press was also exhibited in the museum.

But at 11:30 sharp, the museum was closed, because then everything and everyone in the town closes for lunch. People hurry home from work or school, and the town looks deserted.

In the afternoon, the museums are closed. We passed the time by strolling through the town a bit, looking at the various (honestly not very beautiful) monuments and memorials that were erected on the occasions of the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the colony, and hanging out in the park for a while. We also visited the local library, where you can buy various books in German as well as some books about Mennonite history and culture that have been self-published by them.

We also made a brief visit to the big supermarket of the cooperative. The market was just being built and offers everything you need. There is a kind of "building and hobby department," a clothing store, a pharmacy, and of course a large store with groceries and personal care products. Meat and dairy products naturally come from their own factories, everything else is purchased. The range of products is really extensive, so you don't lack anything here.

For the next day, the lady from the tourist office organized a tour for us, during which we were allowed to visit some of the businesses belonging to the cooperative.

First, we visited the Co-op dairy, which is operated by the Fernheim colony together with the Menno colony. The Neuland colony has its own dairy. Unfortunately, for hygienic reasons, we were not allowed to visit the factory itself. But we were able to walk around the premises, then the head of administration showed us a promotional film, and during the subsequent conversation with him, we got to taste locally produced yogurt. And it was really delicious. The local dairy processes around 75,000 liters of milk per day. All imaginable dairy products in various flavors are produced here and delivered from here to the whole of Paraguay. And that is quite an effort when you consider that the products have to be transported 480 km through the hot Chaco to the distribution center in Asuncion.

Then we went to the desalination plant. Here, the salty water pumped from the ground is treated, which is used in the cooperative's facilities, for example, in the slaughterhouse. The plant comes from Germany and can desalinate 16,000 liters of water per hour. 16,000 liters of fresh water can be produced from 30,000 liters of saltwater. We were even allowed to taste the desalinated water.

Finally, we visited the research and breeding station of the cooperative. Here, on the one hand, vegetable seeds are produced and sold. In addition, breeding animals (horses and cattle) are raised. Farm owners from the surrounding area can have their animals serviced here. Proudly, they took us to the site to admire a huge bottle tree, with which the breeding station has recently won an award. Apart from the fact that I think these bottle trees are generally super cool, this particular specimen was really impressive.

All members of the cooperative contribute a considerable part of their income (I'm not quite sure anymore, but I think it was about 15%) to it. In return, they benefit from some advantages. For example, they can send their children to the cooperative's school free of charge, they receive discounts on products in the supermarket, and they are insured through the cooperative. The members of the cooperative are mainly Mennonites, with few indigenous people or Latin Paraguayans being members. The cooperative still has control over some administrative tasks in the town, such as road construction, hospitals, and other infrastructure projects. The other residents of the community do not pay "municipal taxes," so they can benefit from this infrastructure free of charge, they only pay a little more for gasoline because cooperative members also receive a discount at the cooperative's own gas station. The Mennonites explain to us that they could easily hand over the roads to the government, but they prefer to pay for them themselves, and in return, they have decent roads. And indeed: only the main road in Filadelfia is asphalted, all the side roads are "off-road." But immediately after each rain (and during our visit, it rained several times), a grader drives through the town to repair the roads.
The colony is governed by a mayor and a board of 6 members who are elected for a period of 3 years. The mayor represents the colony and the cooperative internally and externally.

After the tour, we visited the "Indian Museum" for a very short time, which was set up by the indigenous people in the reserves. This is the only museum where all descriptions were only in Spanish. Probably to prevent German-speaking visitors from finding out too clearly that not all indigenous people were so happy about the settlement of the Mennonites in their area. Some indigenous tribes accuse the Mennonites of being responsible for the poor state they are in and that the Mennonites do not help them. They also don't think it's great that people say they don't like to work. After all, they work according to the traditions, customs, and rules of their tribe. Apparently, it all started when the indigenous people begged the newly arrived Mennonites for food, to which they replied that they should first work before they could get something to eat. A simple request was not enough for the Mennonites to give up some of their food. They claim that the Mennonites are to blame for their current poor state because they have cultivated the land and thus destroyed it and also drove away the animals that the indigenous people used to eat. The indigenous people also complain that the Mennonites pay unfair wages, justifying this with poorer knowledge and skills, and that the Mennonites do not respect their respective culture and customs enough.

Even the Mennonite missionary efforts were not always successful. Only a few indigenous people actually converted, and one tribe refused any contact attempts so fiercely that there was even a death, and the Mennonites subsequently gave up.

Well, you can't please everyone. Although the Mennonites bought the land legally and didn't just "steal" it from the indigenous people, the settlement and development certainly did not only bring advantages, and it is quite likely that the indigenous people were disturbed in their way of life and actually robbed of some sources of food. Nevertheless, only a few indigenous people completely reject modern achievements, most of them want these and also benefit from having access to work and infrastructure in the city.
Actually, it is simply a typical European model, the scheme "more skills, more work, diligence, and efficiency = more money and more prosperity". But this exact model ultimately led to the great success of the Mennonites. Son trabajadores. Jörg once said, and although it sounds a bit crude, there is actually something to it that it is incredibly astonishing how the Mennonites have surpassed the rest of Paraguay in just under 90 years. And this, even though they had to start their success story in the most inhospitable and ungrateful corner of the country. Of course, they also had help, especially from the Mennonite Central Committee but also from the Paraguayan state itself. The Mennonites are also all citizens of Paraguay.

And yet they also somehow become victims of their own success. The Mennonites of Fernheim have abandoned their island mentality and accept being in the minority in their community, perhaps they will eventually die out altogether. Already now, a slow mixture is beginning. Our lady from the tourist office could still count the mixed marriages between Mennonites and Paraguayos on one hand, but this trend will increase more and more. Just as religiosity among young, modern people is decreasing, the Mennonites are not immune to this worldwide development either.
And they also depend on people who have moved here to work.
There are also increasingly more problems with crime in the region. The Mennonites are very rich, and wealth always attracts envious people.

However you look at it, you simply have to respect these people for what they have achieved and built here in a relatively short amount of time and for making an important contribution to the well-being of the whole country.

It was an incredibly interesting visit here in Filadelfia, it was very fascinating to get to know these people, and we really enjoyed our time here. We have encountered Mennonites in Belize and we have also met them while traveling in Paraguay and in Brazil. Unfortunately, the majority of them still live in a very old-fashioned and withdrawn manner, so it is difficult to get access to them. So it was all the more exciting to meet "modern" and open-minded Mennonites here, who gave us an insight into their history and way of life.

And so we set off, enriched by another great experience, on the long journey back on the Trans-Chaco Route towards Asuncion. This time we knew roughly where the pothole fields were.

The bus ride from Concepcion to Asuncion took about 7 hours and was uneventful. In Asuncion, the hotel nightmare continued. Originally, we had booked a room in a hostel at a moderately affordable price. The room was supposed to have its own bathroom, at least according to the description, but in truth, it didn't. Well, at first glance, that doesn't seem so bad, if there's only a shared bathroom, but the bathroom was about 3km away from the room, one floor down, through the courtyard and the garden on the other side of the surprisingly large property. 1 bathroom for all rooms! At the end of the world! For me, who has to go to the bathroom at least once every night, that's an absolute no-go. If I have to get dressed in the middle of the night and make this journey, I'll be wide awake afterwards and definitely won't be able to sleep anymore. We complained to the hotel manager, as this was definitely not what we had booked. The friendly man immediately offered to find an alternative solution and booked a room for us in a nearby hotel in a similar price range. At first glance, that was an acceptable alternative, although the room was also quite run-down with sagging, paper-thin mattresses, but the essentials were there and it was somewhat bearable. At least until you turned on the air conditioning. From that moment on, you felt like you were sleeping right next to a construction site with a jackhammer. And there was no question of sleeping with all that noise. So we had the choice between a jackhammer or 40°C in the room. Yay. That couldn't go on, so after a terrible night, we had to strain our budget again and move to a "mid-range hotel". It was simple but really well located in the city center and offered an excellent breakfast buffet, where we even snatched a few rolls for lunch as compensation for our budget. You have to make ends meet, after all.
Another hotel curiosity in Paraguay is the arrangement of the bathroom fixtures. Often, the bathroom is very narrow. First comes the sink, then the shower, and at the back of the wall, the toilet. Mind you, the shower is simply a hole in the floor and a shower faucet on the wall. This means that first of all, it's not possible to shower without getting the entire bathroom wet, and secondly, once you have showered, it is impossible to go to the toilet without wading through the entire flooded bathroom.

Our first day in Asuncion was a Sunday, and as we found out, you don't want to do anything there on this day. I have hardly ever seen a place that is so deserted, and mind you, this is the capital of the country. Most restaurants and shops are closed, the streets are empty, and only a few suspicious characters are hanging around in the parks. So we relatively soon gave up sightseeing and spent the day in the air-conditioned hotel room.

Then on Monday, life came into the picture or rather into the city, and we went on an exploration tour. But there's not really much to see either.

First of all, there's the Panteon de los Heroes, a mausoleum on Plaza de los Heroes, where the mortal remains of Mariscal Francisco Solano Lopez and other key figures from Paraguay's catastrophic wars are interred and guarded by a military guard.

We also visited the Estacion Ferrocarril, where there is a railway museum. The small museum was generally nice and entertaining. The Asuncion-Encarnacion railway route was the first in South America. Among other things, one of the first trains to travel on this route is displayed in the museum, along with other artifacts from that time. But in Paraguay, the railway has long been out of operation. However, the most interesting thing was the conversation with the two older Swiss ladies we happened to meet there. And from Küttigen, of all places, who would believe such a thing.

We also visited the Casa de la Independencia, where Paraguay, in 1811, became the first country on the continent to declare its independence. As interesting as that sounds, the museum doesn't really offer anything despite the guided tour by the motivated staff member, and the visit is not really worth it.

We also passed by the Palacio Lopez, the seat of the government, but could only look at it from outside.

Despite the absolutely scorching heat, we wandered around the city quite eagerly, visited the river promenade and the port, as well as the city parks and the small craft market at Plaza de los Heroes (where we even met a Santa Claus).

The two Swiss women we had met at the railway museum also recommended the Escalinata. A hidden stone staircase in a very colorful small neighborhood, adorned with colorful mosaics. Both the staircase and the entire neighborhood really appealed to us. It is actually the most charming place in Asuncion.

There we also met a photo crew, who was taking pictures with a model. Ironically, we ran into the same crew in nearly every other place we were that day. Of course, this led to a conversation, and they recommended the Restaurant Lido at Plaza de los Heroes, where you can eat typical Paraguayan food.
Of course, we followed this advice and treated ourselves to a delicious lunch there, where we tried, among other things, chipa, a typical Paraguayan pastry, a kind of cornbread with egg and cheese. When I ordered the Sopa Paraguaya, I naively expected to be served a soup. I was surprised when a casserole of corn, cheese, milk, and onions was served. It was delicious, but until today, I have absolutely no idea why this dish is called "sopa".

The next border crossing from Bonito to Paraguay would actually be Bela Vista, but unfortunately we were told that there are no authorities there where foreigners can process the border formalities and collect the necessary stamps. So we had no choice but to continue on to Ponta Pora. Idiotically, the bus from Bonito to Ponta Pora goes first via Bela Vista, so we made a huge detour. When we finally arrived in Ponta Pora, it was already late and the customs authorities were already closed. Great. So we had to stay there overnight. The two places Ponta Pora (Brazil) and Pedro Juan Caballero (Paraguay) actually form a big city. The border runs along a main road. Within the town, you can freely move between the two countries. In fact, on one side of the main road, people speak Portuguese and pay in Reais, on the other side of the road, people speak (finally again) Spanish and pay in the Paraguayan currency Guarani.
The next morning, we were finally able to complete the entry and exit formalities. There is no official border crossing. The exit from Brazil must be done at the airport, the entry into Paraguay in an inconspicuous little office in the middle of the city. Only the passport is stamped, no one is interested in what you have in your luggage.

Once that was done, we went to the bus terminal, where we boarded the next bus to Concepcion.

Honestly, we had no concrete idea of Paraguay. If someone had asked us about it, we probably would have answered with some stereotypes: somehow a bit like the Wild West, cowboys, horses and wagons, big ranches, lots of cows, dusty, hot, quite run-down.
In fact, if at all, only Concepcion fulfilled these "prejudices", so it comes close to what we had imagined about Paraguay. Concepcion is actually a sleepy, dusty, hot little town where absolutely nothing happens. "Action" in this area means that a horse with a wagon full of watermelons trot by or a ship docks in the port. Indeed, this was also the only place in all of Paraguay where we actually encountered horses with wagons on the street.

The first nasty surprise that awaited us in the country were the inflated prices for "hotel rooms". If they could be called that at all. For really outrageous prices compared to other Latin American countries, we got a really miserable standard here. For example, our accommodation in Concepcion cost about 35 CHF per ight, and for that we received a tiny little rat hole without windows with peeling paint on the walls, 2 more than poor old beds, a small shared bathroom, and a terrible coffee and 2 dry rolls for breakfast. In comparison, for this money in Bolivia you can get a really very nice room with private bathroom, heating or aircon, good breakfast and all the amenities. Well, Paraguay in general and Concepcion in particular is really not on the Gringo route, so there wasn't really much choice there. But we would also experience everywhere else in the country that you really have to dig deep into your pocket if you want even a halfway decent room. Otherwise, traveling in the country is relatively cheap, it's really mostly the accommodations that tear a hole in your wallet.

As I said, there's not much to see in Concepcion. The highlight is probably the monument of Maria Auxiliadora, an enormous statue that towers in the middle of the main street.

Then there is the Museo de Arqueologia Industrial, an "open-air museum" with a "collection" of old industrial and agricultural machinery. Actually, the "open-air museum" is located along the median strip of the main road and the "collection" consists of a handful of ancient equipment and vehicles.

Otherwise, we strolled through the town a bit, saw the partly dilapidated colonial buildings, hung out a bit at the "port" and took care of a few necessary things, like getting a local SIM card. It was also very amusing to watch the "sales stand" of the clever car carpet and seat cover seller on the side of the road. Actually, it seemed that he wasn't doing a bad business.
Otherwise, Concepcion was bustling with scooters, it almost felt like being in Vietnam.

As soon as you enter Paraguay, one thing immediately catches your eye: Everyone. Really. Absolutely. Everyone.....carries a thermos flask with them. We had read before that Paraguayos love terere, a cold herbal tea. "Love" is really an understatement. From the salesperson in the store, to the police officer on the street, to the teenagers on their way to school, to the housewife playing with her children in the park, yes even the guy on the motorcycle and the bus driver, everyone has the typical 3 utensils with them that immediately identify them as Paraguayans: a huge thermos flask, a cup (usually in the integrated cup holder on the thermos flask) and a bombilla (a kind of straw with a built-in tea strainer). These utensils can also be bought on every street corner. We will come back to this really interesting cultural peculiarity later.

It is slowly becoming summertime here, which means 40 degrees during the day and 25 degrees at night. That is not exactly ideal for camping. So that we always have a shower nearby at these temperatures, we wanted to go to campsites. But in a country where tourism doesn't mean much, it's like searching for a needle in a haystack. In addition, the roads to the campsites were often impassable without a 4x4. That was quite frustrating.

But again with a lot of luck, we found a few campsites in beautiful places.

We happened to come to Independencia. There was a campsite near a national park (which we couldn't enter because the roads there are only accessible by off-road vehicles). Independencia is a German colony, all signs here are in German and there is Schnitzel. So we thought it would be fun, but we were wrong! People here live in a small German bubble. Germans only marry Germans and the young generation learning Spanish "is actually rather unnecessary." Aha! Foreigners in a country who don't want to learn the language?! They are my favorites! Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there, often when you ask people why they emigrated, they say it was because of terrorism in Germany "it's crazy what's going on in Germany" (This sounds almost like Germans talking about dangerous South America). After talking to a few of these characters, we quickly made our way out.

Next, we drove to 'Base Camp' Tres Kandu (the highest mountain in Paraguay). Well, Base Camp was really a cute expression, the mountain is 842m high, which is remarkable for the otherwise flat Paraguay. Camping was allowed here as well. The showers and toilets were, how should I say...present.

The next day we climbed the mountain. Even though it's more like a hill, it was really exhausting at 40 degrees and high humidity (it had rained at night). At the summit, we were rewarded with a great view of Paraguay.

Then we went to the next national park, to a campsite founded by a French family. After our adventurous journey through Paraguay (German idiots, terrible roads and bridges), we allowed ourselves a day off from traveling. We have been on the road or working on the car every day for a month, and now we finally took a day to relax and work on our South American tan, which in two cases turned out to be red rather than brown. We also fell in love with the clean sanitary facilities.

To escape the crazy heat here, we will continue our journey to the south with a stopover in Buenos Aires, heading to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

¡Hasta luego!