在里约的最后一天有点无聊。我吃了街头食品，似乎不太新鲜。因此，在里约的最后一天我一直在喊Jörg。即使在科帕卡巴纳，我也在喊Jörg，这引起了很多人的目光。好在作为德国人本来就已经很引人注目了。感谢上帝，当我们飞往FOZ时，紧张感已经消失了。

在这里，我们还参观了世界上最大的水坝和三国交汇点。那里还有一场非常大的表演，包括一场盛大的桑巴表演。完美

顺便提一下：我们在巴拉圭待了整整15分钟。这足够用来挂个链接

铁路博物馆不幸关闭了。

巴拉圭最大的教堂，虽然不是特别引人注目，还有克里斯的停车位。

这里正要进行转向杆的维修！

当然要进行轨道测量，之后再去亲朋好友那里执行紧急救助计划。发电机坏了，不，点火锁坏了！！

巴拉圭，移民之地！这里炎热且湿度达到95%，或者下雨时湿度达到100%。

在这里，我们遇到了老朋友和新朋友。

在亚松森，这里的人们能更清楚地看到贫困的现象。

一个街头节日确实为这一切注入了一些活力。

人们对于巴拉圭到底了解多少呢？

好问题！如果在出发前问我这个问题，我可能会回答说不太多。而且即使在出发后，这种情况也大致保持不变，不过稍后会详细说明。

在南美洲大陆上，自然奇观、独特景观、海洋通道和其他吸引力的分布方面，与其竞争对手相比，巴拉圭在所有抽奖中似乎运气不佳。这个国家似乎没有什么特别之处，似乎没有什么地方是其他地方没有的，而我在旅行中遇到的唯一一个巴拉圭人安德烈斯——他在里约已经住了很久——在被问及他的祖国时几乎没说出什么：“没有什么好看的。”这是他简短而明确的回答。

为了了解情况，我们在伊瓜苏上了巴士，准备返回设立在亚松森的约350公里。南美洲唯一的内陆国家的首都，约有100万人生活在大都市区，是该国最大的城市。实际上，大部分的城市生活发生在该国东部地区，这里大约覆盖了40%的国土面积，几乎居住着97% 的巴拉圭居民。在该国西部，地下水大多高度盐化，由于缺少淡水，这个地区的居民非常稀少。

预订的住宿以每晚不到7欧元（每人）为人耳目一新，至少在纸面上是如此。评价也相对不错，只有位置被稍微批评了一下。大约在抵达亚松森前2小时（并且已经有轻微延误）时，房东通过WhatsApp与我联系，询问我们在哪里。不过并没有什么异常，然而，随之而来的询问却越来越多，发件人的内容也变得愈发诡异和难以理解。由于延迟将近1.5小时，时间已经远过午夜，这也许可以理解。

终于到达目的地后，我们换了出租车，走完旅行的最后一段。就在我们即将到达旅馆之前，很快就清楚了评价位置有差距的原因——港口附近的街区更像一个贫民窟，而不是城市居民区，旅馆周围住着一些可怜的、完全陶醉的人，正好与我们的住所隔墙相望。在板凳间点燃的篝火发出轻微的声响，虽说气氛十分奇异——尽管这气氛显得相当末日气息。这个可怕的场景作为末世大片的剧本也不为过。

唉——这并不是一个美丽的地段，望着周边环境着实难以想象在这里走出一步，至少在天黑后是不太敢的。

当我们拖着行李从后备箱拿出来时，房东已经高声打开了住所的门，邀请我们进来。等待的时间显然是通过提供酒精饮料来消磨，这也解释了他那些有些混乱的信息。由于我们是三个人到达，他故作惊讶地把我们带到一个有双层床的儿童房，并迅速组织了一张第三张床垫。显然这个房间不属于旅馆区域，似乎是一系列过夜房间。对于一间预订了2个房间、3张床的宿舍，醉得不太清醒的房东显然不在意，接下来的沟通由于他的状态而变得异常困难。他简单地告诉我们这是唯一的可用房间，便关上了门走了。由于双层床在简短的结构测试中显然不堪一击，今晚的睡觉安排是：2张完全破旧的床垫放在尘土飞扬的地面上，另一张下铺也同样是完全老旧的床垫——这一切是在大约10平方米的空间内，外面的温度和内部温度大约都是30°。

显然我们不能也不想在这里呆太久，所以在入睡前取消了剩余的住宿天数，就进入梦乡了。

第二天，换到市中心的酒店相对不是很顺利，因为旅馆房东对我们的取消预订相当不满，几次不相信地问我们：“你们对于这个价格究竟期待什么？”——我举起之前的预订确认，说明这个房间是3张床的毫无用处的行为被他忽视了——毕竟，人们早该检查并咨询一下这个价格所提供的条件是否实际可行，这一过程是属于原则性的需求。绝对不合理，没关系，毕竟早晨的气温已经过了30°，真没兴趣去争论，只想快点溜走。至少除了差评，他很痛快地将已支付的钱退还给我们——太棒了！

对亚松森的初步印象也应成为对整个逗留的总体印象。这个地方是一片缺乏吸引力且年久失修的建筑群，没有明显的市中心——所有这一切更像是其他大城市的郊区或边缘地带。人们漫步在相似的街道，期待下一个街角会出现一些值得一看的东西——一栋建筑或一些与其他地方不同的东西——但很遗憾未能如愿。沿着街道漫步更像是在商业区游荡，毕竟，至少热衷于购物的人在这里能获得相应的满足：有无数的药店、超市、家具店、服装店和加油站。除此以外就不多了。这并不算糟糕，因为在这个季节，阳光毫不留情，白天气温超过45°。当我在餐馆中宁愿选择过于空调的室外就餐时，这就很能说明亚松森的高温是令人难以忍受的——至少在南美的夏天。

实际上，关于在巴拉圭的逗留没有更多的事情可说。在短暂的城市漫游中，强烈的汗水使得我们游览了还算不太与商业区相符的少数建筑和广场，还观看了一些足球比赛，理由还是因为前述原因，那些比赛都在早上7:30或者天黑后进行——在气候条件下，体育活动对于任何人来说显然都是有限的。还要提醒的是，巴拉圭极其便宜——一顿午餐只需不超过5欧元，而从这里驱车前往周边城市超过30公里的出租车费用大约是3.50欧元。如此便宜，以至于出发前，当我们坐上巴士时，剩下的8欧元真成了一场狂热的挑战，试图将其转换为合适的商品价值。

或许在这个国家的其他地方有值得一看的特殊景点——遗憾的是在亚松森我们只找到有限的部分。然而，大多数人都相当友好且热情，这是一个令人愉快的回忆。巴拉圭——再见！

在2018年，我在一次经过玻利维亚的旅行中，偶然遇到了一位来自以色列的背包客，他在巴拉圭旅行了六周。当我问他在巴拉圭待那么久做了什么时，他回答道：'巴拉圭的魅力就是巴拉圭！'整个国家没有什么伟大的景点，但正因如此，您可以在这里体验到一些真实的南美生活。带着这样的期待，我便踏上了这片土地！

正如我在上一个帖子结尾所写的，我于5月1日下午乘坐一辆长途巴士从福斯伊瓜苏前往巴拉圭边境的巴拉那河。在领取我的巴西出境章后，我步行过河抵达西乌达德尔埃斯特，进入巴拉圭。在那里，我将剩余的巴西雷亚尔兑换成巴拉圭瓜拉尼。为了避免混淆：除了作为货币，'瓜拉尼'一词也用于指代巴拉圭的大部分土著人口，同时在阿根廷和巴西边境地区也有类似情况。此外，巴拉圭的第二官方语言也是瓜拉尼，西班牙语在这里对很多人来说只是第二语言。乘坐摩托出租车，我来到了我的青年旅舍，入住了我的房间。由于是节假日（劳动节），几乎所有商店和餐馆都关闭了，但我还是找到了一个开着的餐馆，吃了一盘面条。不幸的是，从那天下午开始，天气就开始恶化，接下来的几天情况看起来也不太乐观。第二天上午下起了雨，但下午至少只剩下浓云，我参观了国内最大的Monday瀑布。它被郁郁葱葱的绿色所包围，让我想起了伊瓜苏瀑布，只是规模略小，气势不及。如果我能在阳光明媚的日子去参观，特别是在去伊瓜苏瀑布之前的话，我可能会更喜欢。在附近有一个鹦鹉养殖基地，鹦鹉们会被放生。除了鸟类，我在瀑布附近还看到了两只陆龟。作为一座城市，西乌达德尔埃斯特可说没有什么吸引力。许多阿根廷人和巴西人会在这里购买电子产品，例如电视、计算机等，这里的价格显著更便宜。有几个巨大的购物中心。

在5月3日，我离开了西乌达德尔埃斯特，乘巴士经过五个多小时抵达了位于巴拉那河旁的恩卡纳斯永，正对着阿根廷的波萨达斯，一个星期前我刚刚在那里。这个城市其实是相当美丽的，但这里也下着雨。5月4日天气稍微干燥，于是我去参观了两个古老的瓜拉尼耶稣会传教站，我在阿根廷时已经从波萨达斯参观了两个。我乘巴士前往特立尼达，参观了18世纪被摧毁的壮观遗址。之后我搭顺风车前往小镇耶稣，那儿也有耶稣会的遗址。可惜那天没有阳光，因此我拍的照片远不如阿根廷的传教站那么漂亮。返回恩卡纳斯永时，我发现了一家德国餐厅！在巴拉圭这并不算特别，因为7%的人口是德裔。如果我只是像在正常度假一样在这里待过，我可能会忽视德国菜，但经过十个多月后，这已经有所不同，我好好享用了带土豆饼的炖牛肉。不幸的是，过去三年里，也有几千名来自德国的疫情否认者、所谓的帝国国民等人来到巴拉圭。为什么特意选择巴拉圭呢？除了由于许多巴拉圭人有德国血统而且在这里有德国餐馆、德国食品等，最重要的原因无疑是巴拉圭在很长一段时间内几乎没有疫情规定，并且没有接种者也可以入境。再者，作为外国人在巴拉圭获得永久居留权相对简单。

在5月5日，我最终乘坐巴士前往亚松森，巴拉圭的首都，在接下来的两天里我在变化无常的天气中游览这座城市。亚松森确实有一些美丽的角落，还有几座可参观的小博物馆。在一家德国面包店里，我买到了非常好吃的苹果卷。第一晚，我在一家名为“酿酒厂”的餐馆里吃了猪肉配面包团！餐馆的老板20年前从德国移民到巴拉圭。在隔壁桌上，有几个人在用德语交谈，我只听到几句对话，但这已经足够了！德国正在因'伊斯兰化'而自我毁灭！应该枪毙让难民进入这个国家的默克尔，还有肖尔茨！在我看来，唯一能拯救德国的人就是爱丽丝·韦德尔，成为下任总理。我想了一下该不该插话，但无论如何都没有用。从那时起，在巴拉圭，如果有人问我来自哪里时，我总是强调我是来自德国的游客，而不是那些在过去几年里来巴拉圭移民的人。

在5月8日，我暂时带着少量行李离开亚松森，乘车三小时前往维拉里卡小镇，那儿有一个漂亮的公园，其中有水豚（Capybara），一些殖民地风格的房屋和两座可观的教堂。天气现在明显好转。我在那里待了两个晚上，然后经过可爱的小镇尤瑟比奥·阿亚拉前往城镇卡库佩，其唯一的景点是现代的教堂。我的住宿老板会说德语，是一位门诺派人士，属于一个在巴拉圭生活了几十年的基督教团体。当他在卡库佩时，他是为数不多的门诺派人士之一，而在巴拉圭的其他地方则有真正的门诺派殖民地，我变得好奇并决定参观其中之一。为此，我不得不返回亚松森，并在回程中参观了一个关于巴拉圭神话的有趣博物馆，以及在尤帕卡瑞湖上的阿雷瓜小镇，欣赏了科伊山的壮丽岩石结构。从亚松森出发，我在我以前的旅馆住了一夜，然后在一个十小时的旅程中前往格兰查科地区，这是位于亚松森与玻利维亚边境之间的一片湿地与严酷草原混合的地区。那儿几乎没有人居住。然而，那儿有一个小村庄群，有些村子的名字像奥斯特维克、花园庄、克利菲尔德甚至卡尔斯鲁厄，他们共同形成了门诺派殖民地费尔nh店。在主村菲拉德尔菲亚，我接下来的两天都住在那里。说明一下：门诺派教会是在新教改革时期产生于北德和今天的荷兰。与路德宗不同，他们最初主要是因为拒绝为婴儿和幼儿洗礼而受到区别。每个人都应该主动接受洗礼！此外，他们拒绝任何类型的军事服务。当他们在祖国被迫害时，他们搬到了普鲁士，在那里生活到18世纪末。随着他们的情况恶化，大多数人迁往俄罗斯，在那里生活直到1920年代，随后被斯大林迫害，数千人丧生。大多数人逃往美国，但也有一些人来到巴拉圭，到今天还享有特权：德语学校、免服兵役和限制酒精销售等。通过参观几座小博物馆，我了解到了许多关于门诺派的历史及其生活的信息。目前，巴拉圭的门诺派人士都是讲德语和西班牙语的双语者，生活水平远高于巴拉圭的平均水平。门诺派通常只在内部结婚，因此在外观上与原始居民有所不同。在第二天，我租了一辆自行车，提供自行车的女士名叫沃尔赫穆特，给我打开自然保护区栅栏的大妈叫克劳斯。这些人的德语在发音和词汇上与我们的语言有所不同。一位带领我参观博物馆的男士告诉我有关他孙子们的趣事，他是说他的孙辈！

两天后，我乘夜班巴士离开菲拉德尔菲亚，于5月15日早晨早早回到亚松森，在那里度过了我在巴拉圭的最后两天。最后，我终于可以在好天气下拍到亚松森的照片。5月17日早晨，我乘出租车前往机场，从那里飞往哥伦比亚。

巴拉圭是一个非常有趣的国家，拥有非常友好的人民，但没有显著的旅游基础设施。一方面，这里几乎没有游客，另一方面，去偏远地区的旅行需要私人导游，这使得费用非常高。因此，我不得不放弃丛林之旅。文化景点的数量确实有限，但这个国家拥有许多未经开发的自然景观。希望这一切在未来依然如此，尽管未来可能有更多游客会造访这个好客的国家！

我们度过了一个轻松的一天，重新打包了背包，晚上乘巴士前往巴拉圭。巴士晚点了一小时，但边境过境是我们经历过的最快的。由于只有我们两人需要上下车，因此在3分钟内我们各自在护照上盖了章。午夜1点，我们经过6小时车程到达了巴拉圭的首都。我们前往住宿地点，然后直接睡觉。

第二天早上，我们去了亚松森的市中心。这座城市的全名是“拉穆伊·诺布尔和忠诚的圣母玛利亚升天之城”。这个名字相当长，实际上只代表圣母的升天。我们正好赶上了，因为在城市中心的英雄广场上，有很多穿制服的人。上午10:15，在英雄殿举行了一个有乐队和换岗仪式的游行。那里是巴拉圭的地标和国家纪念碑。该建筑始建于1863年，于1936年完工，自那时起这里存放着巴拉圭战争英雄的遗骸。我们继续在城市中漫步。然而，今天的城市看起来几乎死气沉沉。几乎所有的商店都关门，圣母升天大教堂关门了，巨大的宪法广场公园被围起来并且关闭了，铁路博物馆的旧火车站也关门了。因此我们没能看到太多东西。在洛佩斯宫，即政府办事处，我们拍了一些照片，也发现了一些有趣的壁画，它们同样值得拍照。当然，巨大的“亚松森”字样在海滨也不可或缺。我们在巴拉圭河岸边沿着河走了一会儿，下午在一家不错但人迹罕至的咖啡馆喝了咖啡。

凌晨4点，我们已经前往机场。我们大约花了半小时穿过城市嘈杂且人流密集的街道。显然，这里的生活是在夜间而不是白天进行的。

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.

星期二 10.03.
我们在福音任务中有两个约会，其中一个在阿斯翁西翁，另一个在大约 40 公里外。为此，我们分开行动。我陪同在阿斯翁西翁的使命。这是圣拉斐尔基金会。它由一位意大利神父创立，我们不幸地遇到了他，现在他坐在轮椅上。在这里，包括重度残疾儿童在内的许多儿童得到照顾。这里还有一个老年人的机构，他们因重病即将去世，正在这里接受善终陪伴。此外，还有一所学校，给来自贫困家庭的孩子们提供教育，并提供校服和食物。2015年，教皇方济各在访问巴拉圭期间，临时参观了这一机构。这是之前未计划的。
晚上，由于巴拉圭与玻利维亚之间的道路状况，其余的旅行计划发生了变化。我们没有按原计划从巴拉圭的查科出发，而是通过阿根廷前往玻利维亚。还有令人担忧的消息传来，由于意大利的封锁，我们团体中的意大利人暂时无法获得从巴黎到罗马的返程机票。由于南美洲的疫情也开始逐渐升温，我们担心这里的边境可能会关闭，届时我们可能会被困在玻利维亚。因此，我们可能只会经过玻利维亚，首先前往秘鲁，因为我们的返回航班是从那里飞往欧洲的。

星期一，09.03。
由于今天没有安排任何活动，上午我们和昨天晚上骑行者之一的塞巴斯蒂安在市区转了一圈。他给我们展示了他认为的亚松森最重要的景点。下午的时候，我们又退回到住宿里，因为外面的温度再次达到了38摄氏度，实在无法忍受。

星期日08.03。
由于我们在亚斯unción大教堂有一个中午12点的约会，我们在清晨6点从城市德尔埃斯特出发。在出发之前，我们发现其中一辆面包车的导航仪和所有面包车的文件，包括南美的进口文件，都被盗了。Dino的平板电脑也在那个包里。显然有人忘记锁门了，因为没有发现破坏痕迹。我们在附近搜查过，看文件是否被小偷扔掉，但没有结果。酒店的外部摄像头录下了两名可疑人员。在路上，我们可以看到成群的白蚁丘。
我们勉强赶上了在亚斯unción的约会。大教堂里挤满了人，因为周日早上有礼拜。为我们在祭坛区准备了座位，我们受到了热烈的掌声欢迎。所有可用的教会荣誉头衔者似乎都在场。最后，主教还为摩托车进行了祝福。然后我们可以入住新的住处，这次是在一个天主教神学院。由于靠近巴西的马托格罗索，这里的天气已经变得难以忍受。我们在下午5点时测得38度，天气应用显示的感觉温度为47度。晚上我们得知，由于外部摄像头的监控，有人被捕，Dino的平板电脑也在这名嫌疑人身上被发现。晚上我们还与一些上午在大教堂欢迎我们的骑行者见了面，喝了几杯啤酒。

星期五 03 月 06 日。
我们在一样的7点从Paso de los Libres出发。从阿根廷到巴拉圭的边境检查大约花费了1.5小时。我们在巴拉圭的第一家加油站看到了一支私人保安队，武装着泵枪。对此的合法性我们无从得知。抵达东大街后，我们入住了一家由意大利领事馆支付的酒店。特别的是，每个人都拥有一个单人间。

我们在阿根廷和巴拉圭度过了最后的2.5周。我们的行程略显「混乱」(先在阿根廷待了6天，然后是巴拉圭5天，接着又花了4天在阿根廷，最后再待3天在巴拉圭)。这次「短途旅行」之所以发生，主要是因为我们一定要看到伊瓜苏瀑布。原本我们想在巴拉圭待更久，但后来还是很想去看看布宜诺斯艾利斯... 不过这就是长途旅行的美妙之处 - 我们的行程是灵活的。我们对这两个国家至少有了初步的印象，可以在这里阅读到：

最喜欢的地方/城市

蒂姆：布宜诺斯艾利斯，充满欧洲大城市气息的南美中心

塔贝亚：布宜诺斯艾利斯，特别是我们的居住区圣特尔莫

最佳住宿

蒂姆：亚松森的Hub Hotel，稍带奢华，非常好的早餐

塔贝亚：亚松森的Hub Hotel：我们在这里享受了一家不错的酒店，早餐一流，还有屋顶露台上的泳池。

最佳餐厅/咖啡馆

蒂姆：在东城的VeganGo，一家超级便宜的自助式素食餐厅，我们终于有了更全的选择，而不需要辛苦挑拣

塔贝亚：这次选择非常困难，因为我们发现了许多很棒的餐厅。最美味的食物是在Cafayate的酒庄“El Esteco”，而最美的氛围是在布宜诺斯艾利斯的“Tomate”。

本地美食/小吃/饮料偏好

蒂姆：Chipa，带有奶酪的小玉米球

塔贝亚：Chipa！这是一种来自巴拉圭的零食，由面粉、鸡蛋和奶酪制成，通常以球状出现。

最精彩的自然体验

蒂姆：绝对是令人震撼的伊瓜苏瀑布

塔贝亚：毫无疑问是伊瓜苏瀑布及其周边。

最美好的整体体验

蒂姆：对我来说也是伊瓜苏瀑布，尽管恩卡纳斯翁的狂欢节也带来了特别的体验

塔贝亚：环绕萨尔塔的风景，享受从绿色山丘驶入美丽的红色砂岩景观。

让我感到惊讶的事

蒂姆：巴拉圭确实非常少见游客，甚至连出租车司机都没有欺诈，价格公平...

塔贝亚：巴拉圭人的西班牙语难以理解，很多时候我们在这里没有机会，必须询问三次。

在阿根廷/巴拉圭的人...

蒂姆：对Dulce de Leche狂热，Dulce de Leche是一种甜奶油，几乎在所有甜食、冰淇淋等中都出现，并用作涂抹酱（类似于我们的Nutella，但远不如它美味）

塔贝亚：我们感到他们在阿根廷（智利）稍显莽撞和不友好，但在巴拉圭又非常热情友好。

巴拉圭/阿根廷是...

蒂姆：都是值得一游的地方。阿根廷无疑有更多的亮点和多样性，但这两个国家都没有让我们失望！

塔贝亚：巴拉圭确实几乎没有游客，这里的所有东西都显得更小、更宁静，这让我们感到很愉快。阿根廷是一个如此辽阔的国家，遗憾的是我们只能看到一小部分。我非常希望将来能再回来。

关于阿根廷和巴拉圭旅行的一个想法

蒂姆：即使在巴拉圭，公交旅行的标准也令人惊讶地高，与之前的担忧相比，实际上没有太大的区别可言。

塔贝亚：在三个月的旅行中，几天没有太多行程的休息非常有益，让人重新渴望新的体验和冒险。

在我们在阿根廷的最后几天之后，我们再次返回巴拉圭，因为我们已经提前在这里预定了前往安第斯山脉西侧的回程航班。 从布宜诺斯艾利斯到那里的巴士旅程是我们迄今为止最长的，花费了19.5小时。由于我们之前已经了解到亚松森并没有太多值得一看的地方，我们通过为在那里的三天预定一家稍微高档的酒店来弥补这一点。结果酒店并没有让我们失望，我们非常享受那里的美丽屋顶露台和泳池。

亚松森给人留下深刻的绿色印象，主要是由低矮的房屋穿插而成，而不是大型住宅楼或摩天大楼，这为我们在南美其他大城市的旅行提供了很好的变化。此外，整个城市都显得非常安静和放松，一切都显得小而舒适。因此，我们甚至能够舒适地用酒店的自行车探索整个市中心和几个小社区。在短时间内我们游览了这座城市的几处景点：总统府、武器广场、埋葬着国家英雄的圆顶墓和河边长廊。这里再次暴露了我们在南美多次观察到的垃圾问题，尤其是在水域和港口附近，这一问题似乎尤为严重。

周末的大部分时间我们都在购物中心闲逛，在泳池边以及在附近的电影院度过——在30度的户外温度下，仿佛真正的假期氛围浮现出来，让我们时不时想起佛罗里达。然后，我们也要向旅程中的第二个国家（阿根廷）告别。智利我们再见一小会，然后前往秘鲁进行最后一阶段的旅程。

在研究巴拉圭有哪些可体验的活动时，发现的亮点并不算多。然而，我们很快注意到，该国南部有一个被称为“狂欢节之都”的地方（据说仅次于里约热内卢）。这促使我们决定去巴拉圭第二大城市进行一次访问。恩卡纳西翁坐落在一条河旁，该河同时也是与阿根廷的边界。由于狂欢节旺季，住宿情况有些紧张，但我们运气不错，找到了一间新建大楼中的AirBnB公寓，窗外正好可以俯瞰到河流。尽管温度较高，我们只能在屋顶的游泳池中使用一次，原因是...

...在接下来的三天里，几乎整天都在打雷下雨。这让人有些沮丧。由于恶劣天气，我们原计划的情人节晚餐只能打车前往，我们也开始担心接下来周六的狂欢节会受到影响，每年二月的每个周末都会举行狂欢节。然而，奇迹般的，周六下午竟然放晴了，我们感到非常高兴。吃过晚餐后，我们前往“桑巴大剧院”—每周狂欢节游行的举办地。一年四季，这里都会设置固定的看台，环绕着一条封闭的街道，狂欢节游行就在这里进行。游行由众多不同的社团组成，各社团均有着精美装饰的花车、舞者，甚至还有自己的乐队（或音乐来自录音带）。竟然还有一个评委团对各社团的表演进行评判–这绝对不仅仅是为了娱乐！

根据票上信息，活动应该在晚上九点开始，我们在九点后不久到达了……不过这并不适用于大多数其他观众。直到晚上十点半，现场也确实是让人感到惊恐的空荡，而直到午夜后不久，仍然陆续有观众来到。不过游行从一开始就已经热火朝天。我（塔贝亚）尤其注意到参与者的多样性：不仅有半裸的女性，还有男性 – 各种身材，介于模特与普通身材之间。同时，年龄层次也相当丰富，参与的孩童年龄大约在4岁左右（当然衣着较为得体），也有一些老奶奶出现在各个花车上。观众也是参差不齐，从年轻到年长，绝对是适合全家一起参与的活动。

我们之前已经了解到，这个狂欢节上有使用雪霜喷雾的习俗。这在开始时就能观察到，我们自然不甘落后：我们买了两罐那个粘稠的东西，像许多人一样兴高采烈地在观众中喷洒。如果照片中看起来“下雪”或“下雨”，那是因为有观众在玩喷雾。

总的来说，巴拉圭的狂欢节是我们迄今为止旅行中绝对的文化亮点。看台上的气氛（当然是我们的看台）让我稍感失望，但游行参与者的创造力和舞蹈才能真的令人印象深刻，看起来非常美妙。顺便说一句，这仿佛天气之神也是狂欢者，因为第二天一早又开始打雷了。我们在恩卡纳西翁的最后一天就是呆在我们的公寓里，晚上动身前往巴士总站，进行迄今为止最长的一晚航行。关于这次旅行的目的地，我们将在下一篇文章中报告。

伊瓜苏瀑布以及阿根廷、巴西和巴拉圭三国交界地区是真正的护照盖章收藏者的天堂。单单去巴西一侧的短途旅行就为我们带来了四个新的盖章（阿根廷出境、巴西入境、巴西出境和阿根廷入境）。不过这一天的行程并没有就此结束。

从巴西返回后，我们取回了旅馆的背包，立刻踏上了新的旅途。下一个目的地：巴拉圭的东市！由于唯一通往那里的是通过巴西的陆路，我们开始有些担心护照上的空位。在阿根廷出境后（当天的第5个盖章），出乎意料的是巴士司机在巴西边界并没有停下，而是毫不停顿地驶过了。不幸的是，在巴拉圭边界我们也是如同穿越，没有停下。稍后的简单谷歌搜索告诉我们，虽然在这个边境口岸巴士司机喜欢直接通过，但对于外国人来说，这可能会在后续的出境时引发问题和罚款。虽然这样节省了护照上的空位，但我们面临下一个挑战。

尽管如此，我们之后还是先把东西放进了酒店，简单了解了这座城市。但实际情况与我们的预期大相径庭。在之前的旅途中，南美洲的人们一直告诉我们，巴拉圭几乎没有开发旅游，没人愿意去。然而在东市，情况却完全不同。尤其是在靠近巴西的边界口岸附近，购物中心、电子市场以及小摊贩一字排开。这里的商品应有尽有，从品牌服饰（无论是真品还是仿品，谁又能知道呢……）到价格便宜的杂牌。尤其是电器产品（从笔记本电脑到智能手机和耳机，再到厨房电器）更是丰富。不过，也公平地提到一下，东市享有一种特殊地位，并不能代表巴拉圭的整体情况。因为外国人在这里购得的所有进口商品都是免税的，因此对于前来购物的阿根廷人和巴西人来说，这里也是一个购物天堂，他们的人数众多，会来这里进行日间购物。我们当然也对这些购物中心有所了解，悠闲地逛了一会儿。令我们印象深刻的是一家巨大的“中国产品”商店。这里不仅出售电子产品，还有所有可能的产品类别，全球领先品牌（从Milka到Schwartau，我们认出了许多德国品牌）。因为我们到达东市的这一天恰巧是旅程的中途，我们还庆祝了一下，享受了一大袋Haribo作为对德国的怀念。

在购物之后，我们决定再次解决我们的盖章问题。因此我们再次前往边界，尝试正式入境。最终，这个过程出奇地顺利，没有进行太多的询问，我们便获得了必要的入境盖章。这样一来，我们的顾虑消失，晚上可以放松享受。第二天，我们再次早早起床，因为我们想去伊泰布大坝，这里是世界第二大水坝。看到人类可以建造如此巨大的建筑，尤其是在上世纪70年代建造大坝时的技术水平，真是令人印象深刻。同时，也能感受到巴拉圭人对这一工程的自豪感。如果考虑到通过这个大坝提供了巴拉圭90%（和巴西20%）的电力需求，那么其对于这个小国家的重要性便一目了然。

由于东市除此之外并没有其他大的旅游亮点，老实说，这里也并不太适合久留，我们将其视为继续前往巴拉圭的一个中转站。此外，我（Tim）还更换了坏掉的耳机，并补充了一些小电子产品的需求，比如电池。现在，我们可以全副武装地继续向狂欢节的方向前进了。不过更多的内容下次再说……

我们在巴拉圭的第一个真正的日子意外地比预期的早开始。这可能是因为小小的时差反应。在简单的早餐后，探险就直接开始了：我们被介绍给整个城市，所有人都很高兴见到我们！我们就像明星一样被对待！这真让人感到舒适。经过与甘尼萨的小小谈判，阿尔恰娜也终于克服了自己的顾虑，尝试午餐时的卡尔尼。而且她喜欢！就像我们所有人一样。然而，卡尔尼的因果法则没有让我们等太久，在锁自行车时锁竟然坏了。当邻居的狗向我们奔来的时候，我们非常感激有我们的自行车。以及我们的狗被牵着。总的来说，文化冲击似乎持续了一段时间：冲击1：土著居民住在自己的居住区，并在医院中设有专属病区。冲击2：菲拉德尔菲亚市在不到100年前的丛林中创建！冲击3：每个土著家庭讲的都是完全不同的语言，他们在文化上同样不同，以至于无法相互理解。

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.

我们第二天一早从维拉里卡出发前往恩卡纳西翁。市中心的酒店价格都非常高，因此我们在市郊预订了一处住宿。幸运的是，由于有车，这并非难事。事实上，这是我们在巴拉圭住过的绝对最好的住宿。尽管价格也不便宜，但性价比绝对合适。我们得到了一个漂亮的公寓，配有两个巨大的舒适床、一个小厨房和餐桌。我们完全可以在这里再待上几天，享受舒适的床铺。寄宿家庭也非常友好。女主人对我们的到访感到非常高兴，还问我们关于我们的祖国和旅行的问题。除了她们自己的住宅，他们还把这栋建筑改造成了可以出租的公寓，已经有四个公寓完全装好，第五个正在粉刷中。她自豪地向我展示了一切，并解释了建筑进展。他们通常把公寓出租给商务旅客，外国游客在这里很少。她的丈夫在城里拥有一家运动用品店，立刻看到了商业机会，因为他很兴奋地拿来了乔格尺寸的运动鞋和短裤。我们确实惊讶地发现这里竟然真的有乔格尺寸的东西，价格也不错，但我们还是得告知这位好心人，我们身上已经背负了太多行李（更别提那些该死的陶瓷鹦鹉），而且现在并不需要运动鞋和更多的运动裤。

在恩卡纳西翁，我们首先前往科斯塔内拉（Costanera）。实际上，恩卡纳西翁所有值得一看的地方都在沿着巴拉那河的滨海长廊。这里有著名的桑巴广场，恩卡纳西翁臭名昭著的狂欢节就在这里举行。由于门是开的，周围没有人，我们稍微四处走动了一下。显然，当桑巴广场可以容纳8500名观众时，它显得更加迷人，气氛也更热烈。但人们难免会怀疑建造这样一个庞然大物的合理性，因为它一年仅用于一次。

在科斯塔内拉旁边有一家古老的面粉厂，但可惜无法入内参观。不过，它是一些很好的拍照背景。
紧挨着海岸的是老火车站，在那里可以看到一辆生锈的火车。
在巴拉那河对面是阿根廷城镇波萨达斯，沿着长廊可以获得一个不错的视野。
此外，还有一些小沙滩，许多当地人聚集于此。这里似乎还有一家风景最好的汉堡王，就在海滩边上。

在我们游览了科斯塔内拉一段时间后，我们坐在码头上，欣赏美丽的日落。傍晚时分，沿长廊的气氛非常迷人。无处不在的当地人架起可折叠的露营椅，喝着特雷雷（Terere）。几乎没有人喝啤酒或类似的饮品，在我们看来，这似乎是不寻常的。这里就是喝特雷雷的地方。

我们也在恩卡纳西翁的市中心闲逛了一会儿，除了普通的广场和教堂，没什么特别好看的，且这些地方也不算特别好看。人们的活动确实集中在科斯塔内拉。

第二天，我们首先前往贾苏斯·德·塔瓦兰圭（Jesus de Tavarangue），参观那里的耶稣会传教所。与我们在玻利维亚见到的耶稣会传教所不同，这里的几乎全是废墟。该传教所成立于1685年，但直到耶稣会在1767年被驱逐之前，工程都没有完全竣工。传教所内还有一个小博物馆，展示着来自传教所的文物和艺术作品。正如耶稣会的惯例，最初建造了一座简单的临时教堂，然后才开始兴建真正的主教堂。在耶稣那里，1756年开始建造一座具有70米长、24米宽和12米高的巨大教堂。这座教堂原本将成为所有耶稣会教堂中最大的一座，但从未建成。除了雄伟的教堂废墟，游客还可以参观车间和“印第安人之家”，但现在只剩下地基。如今，主广场成了一片树木成荫的草地。

随后，我们前往特立尼达，那里有巴拉圭保存得最完好的传教所，成立于1706年。到1728年，这里已经居住着3000人。在耶稣会被驱逐后，多明我会接管了传教所，但也只是很短的时间。1776年，教堂被摧毁。1788年，特立尼达仅剩57户人家。经过耶稣会驱逐，土著人民失去了保护，开始流亡。1993年，巴拉圭的这些传教所被列入联合国教科文组织世界遗产。

这里同样只是一些废墟，展现在一片大片绿地上，其中包括用于防卫传教所的瞭望塔。这是我们在其他地方没有遇到过的新元素。这里同样有一个小博物馆，可以看到石材雕刻和雕塑。特立尼达特别值得一提的是那些保留在教堂墙上的音乐天使浮雕，这是一些非常美丽且细致地表现各种乐器的天使的形象。

下午，我们前往贝利维斯塔，报名参加“Selecta”品牌的耶尔巴·马特茶工厂参观。耶尔巴·马特是巴拉圭人制作特雷雷的茶。特雷雷杯几乎装满耶尔巴·马特茶，之后加入冰冷的水，水是从填满冰块的保温壶中倒入的。喝的时候用的是带有内置茶筛的吸管—Bombilla。今后，耶尔巴·马特将一直伴随我们，因为它不仅在巴拉圭被饮用，在乌拉圭和阿根廷也有消费，而在那里的名称则是马特（Mate），作为热饮享用。

在游客中心登记后，我们首先得到保护头盔。其实，没有人确切知道这些头盔的用途。接着，我们参观了一个小型的“露天博物馆”，可以看到以前加工的旧机器。随后我们进入工厂，了解生产过程。这里大约有500名员工。现在Selecta还生产其他产品，比如稻米、烤花生和袋装茶。

收割后，茶叶会从农场运送到工厂。Selecta的自给自足率大约为70%，其余部分由独立农业合作社收购。每天大约可以加工9吨茶叶。茶叶在400°下脱水1.5分钟，灭菌后保持20%的湿度。之后，它们在一个大型烤箱内经过24小时在90°的气温干燥，直到剩余的湿度降到3%。接下来是存储，存储时间至少为整整一年，优质产品甚至需要2年。最后茶叶会被磨碎和封装。就这样，巴拉圭人的最爱茶便准备好了。每个巴拉圭人平均每月消费惊人的7公斤茶，每天约250克！
我们也问我们的导游，为什么耶尔巴·马特在巴拉圭是冷饮。他告诉我们，这茶早在耶稣会时期就被种植。根据传说，因为在查科战争中“冷饮”的习惯开始，以此来避免生火，进而不暴露藏匿处的地点给敌人。

这次导览时间虽然不长，但很有信息量和趣味。毕竟这涉及到巴拉圭文化的重要方面。我们后来遇到的每位巴拉圭人都会对此感到惊讶和激动，当我们提到曾参观过Selecta工厂的时候。

傍晚时分，我们返回恩卡纳西翁，再次在我们的住宿中享用那张无比舒适的床，之后第二天与寄宿家庭告别，踏上了我们的第三段村庄参观之旅。

第二天早上我们继续前往阿蒂拉。这座城市被认为是皮革手工艺的中心。然而，我们仅找到在印第安霍塞步行街的小市场，那里没有太多选择。不过，我们在这里终于找到了一个新的皮带，正好是约尔格的尺码，因为他原来的皮带快要坏掉了。因此，这段旅程就已值得了。
这个小镇还被认为是巴拉圭最干净的城市，实际上确实非常干净。除此之外，这里是一个宁静、惬意且绿意盎然的地方，没有很多活动和景点。我们稍微停留在了拥有宏伟木质祭坛的方济各教堂，并在美丽的公园里休息抽了一小根烟。当地的宗教艺术博物馆我们没有参观，对我们来说足够的宗教艺术了。

接着我们前往托巴蒂。这个地方以其陶土作坊而闻名，那里生产砖块和屋顶瓦。这些作坊大多数都在马路旁边。工厂的种类从最简单的手工操作和靠马力支持的生产，到更大型的半自动化工厂。不过，由于那天是星期天，工厂没有运作，因此当地也显得冷清。老砖窯至少提供了一些不错的拍照素材。我们在托巴蒂的停留相对较短，基本上是匆匆经过而已。

我们的下一站是卡阿库佩，这里因其“卡阿库佩圣母大教堂”而闻名。教堂因其规模而特别令人印象深刻，似乎与这个小村庄不太匹配，不过在“设计”上我们见过更漂亮的教堂。尽管如此，这里似乎是巴拉圭的一大旅游亮点，我们在这里遇见了很多本地游客，甚至还有一个德国人。这里甚至需要从公园里一个和善的老先生那里购买停车票，而在巴拉圭其他地方则可以随意停放车辆。
对天主教徒而言，圣母玛利亚特别重要，有一尊60厘米高、华丽打扮的雕像，位于一个庞大的金字塔形石基上，基座上还有许多手印装饰。的确，信徒们会排队触摸基座并祈祷。教堂的圆顶可以攀登，内部可俯瞰教堂的内部，外部则俯瞰卡阿库佩小镇。在楼梯间的墙壁上画满了画，讲述着关于圣母的传说，这幅画是由一个归信基督教的瓜拉尼印第安人创作的，经过漫长的旅程才找到了在卡阿库佩的位置。有趣的是，瓜拉尼人是巴拉圭地区的原住民。实际上，95%的巴拉圭人仍然讲瓜拉尼语。瓜拉尼人也分布在今天的玻利维亚和乌拉圭，但那里几乎不再使用这种语言。
约尔格认为在教堂里模拟某种夸张的“传教士姿势”是有趣的，并以他向天主教会支付的高额宗教税为理由。可是，当他在圆顶的阳台上再一次举起双臂，假装自己是先知本尊时，底下的其他教堂访客并不觉得好笑。
我尤为喜欢巴西利卡中的华丽彩色玻璃窗。

随后我们继续出发，进行了一段较长的旅程前往维拉里卡。这种公路旅行，特别是在这种国家，常常带来有趣的轶事。严格来说，我已经无法记清这次旅行中，按照瑞士法律来说，我应该交出多少次驾照。
在巴拉圭让我印象最深刻的是，当我们再次驶出一个村庄时，突然发现自己在一条似乎无穷无尽的30公里时速的汽车队伍中。过了一段时间，我们才意识到，整个事情的“源头”是一辆灵车，后面跟着一群开着故障灯的葬礼车辆。尽管来往车流繁多，过车时还是很困难。我们就在一条长队伍中等待了一段时间，直到其他巴拉圭人开始觉得无聊。一个接一个，他们开始向右侧切换车道，并在应急车道超车。到某个时候，我也照着“入乡随俗”的理念，做了同样的事。我等到有缝隙出现，驶出应急车道，超过了葬礼车辆，也就是其中的一部分。但是突然出现了一座桥，显示应急车道结束。真糟糕。说实话，我已经忘记当时到底在想什么，在跟随前面的车辆，他们在灵车和后续汽车之间强行挤入，然后向左驶入对向车道，逼迫对面车辆让路，并在对向车流与灵车之间成功超车。在我意识到自己做了什么之前，一切已经结束，我的脉搏已经显著上升。不，我肯定不会在瑞士做这样的事情而保留我的驾照。

晚上我们到达了维拉里卡，前往我们住的地方，那里是一个年纪大的、身材微胖的老先生的家，他总是坐在阳台上，喝着他的特利米。由於路面非常陡峭而且狭窄，我在疲惫不堪的情况下无法将现代化的现代车驶过入口，最终由约尔格帮我接替了。根据他面带 amused 的表情，我们交换座位时，那个老头可能在想：是啊，女人就是不会停车。不过我无所谓，宁愿这样，也不想让车受损。

在卸下行李后，我们在镇上漫步。我们读到这里可以乘马车，但我们没有遇到这样的情况。我们经过市场，那里有大车的西瓜和其他水果和蔬菜可供购买。终于，雨停了，我们坐在曼努埃尔·奥尔蒂斯·格雷罗公园里，那里有一个大池塘，也是三只水豚的家。真是可爱。就在我们准备走过小桥时，它们向我们走来，越过我们。当时一只小猫也坐在台阶上，很难判断是因为这次相遇谁更加害怕：是那只猫，立刻跳起一米高，还是被猫大声吼叫的水豚。周围的所有人看来都觉得这景象非常有趣。

我们首先从菲拉德尔菲亚出发，前往 圣伯尔纳迪诺，并在那儿找了住宿。圣伯尔纳迪诺 位于伊帕西卡赖湖旁，是巴拉圭富裕市民的首选休闲胜地。 这意味着我们在这里的酒店比之前所有的都要更昂贵，也更糟糕。 与年轻的“主人”相处其实还不错，晚上我们在花园里一起度过了愉快的时光，有了有趣的对话。后来发现他是饭店老板的儿子，而这个家庭似乎真的生活得很好，毕竟他们除了这个酒店外，在亚松森还有另外一家酒店，儿子在附近的机场学习飞行，看上去也相当受宠，喜欢炫耀昂贵的汽车等。不过，我们偶然听到了他们家人的一次对话，父母抱怨我们支付的房费太少，因为我们在网上找到了一项最后一分钟的特价优惠。公平地说，我们并没有在网上预定房间，而是在抵达时议定了同样的价格，否则他们还得支付15%的预订平台费用。考虑到此时我们是酒店里唯一的客人，而我们的房间似乎再次远远低于价格-质量的要求，这实在是一种非常无礼的行为。更过分的是，第二天的早餐只有第一天的一半大小（每人仅一个面包和一片火腿），而且我们的房间门无法上锁，网络也无法使用，当我们退房时，突然又说信用卡终端无法使用，尽管我们在预定之前明确询问过是否可以刷卡。这确实太过分了，我们表示抗议，并要求给予相当于银行取现费用的价格优惠。对此的回答是：你们为什么在这里呆了两晚，难道不适合你们吗？谢谢你们。实际上，我们在回程中几天后还需在这一地区找一个酒店，但我们选择绕远路去另一个酒店。和再去这个地方相比，我宁愿在小车里睡觉。

在圣伯尔纳迪诺，除了没有什么好看的景点。镇上只有昂贵的酒店和餐馆。

从圣伯尔纳迪诺出发，我们去了周围的一些村庄。

在亚松森的旅游信息中心，我们了解了国内的景点，也看到了一个销售摊位，出售银制的精美首饰。我们对此表示了兴趣，并得知这些首饰是在卢克制作的。出于好奇，且因为我们认为这会是一个不错的圣诞礼物，特别是对于家庭中的女性，于是我们就驱车前往。乔格在他心爱的MapsMe应用中找到了一个名为“Don Mateo”的首饰店。由于没有官方的停车场，我们直接将现代起亚停在繁忙的主要街道旁，这在此地显然是常规做法，然后开始寻找Don Mateo的商店。然而，似乎并没有这个店。因此我们向街上的一位先生询问是否知道Don Mateo在哪里。事实证明他知道这个地方，和我们走了几步，然后按响了一个门铃。几分钟后，门被打开，Don Mateo迎接了我们，并邀请我们进去。于是，我们便在他的家中相遇，妻子在厨房里接待我们，儿子则只是从沙发上懒洋洋地打了个招呼，穿着T恤坐在电视机前。
Mateo，显然闻到了一个大生意，立刻拿着巨大的旅行袋走进厨房，向我们展示了大量的首饰。

当我们询问这些珠宝的制作方式时，他带我们去开放的洗衣房，那里也实际上是工作室，并给我们进行了一个长达1.5小时的关于他技艺的介绍。这确实非常有趣。精美首饰是用细银丝制成的。我原以为Mateo只是购买金属丝来制作首饰，但我错了。Mateo向我们展示了他的原材料，这些银子主要是来自波托西的银矿。简单的银珠，纯度为98%。他称量出少量的银，并加入一点铜。从30克银和1克铜中，他可以大约制作100米的电线。然后，他使用巴unsen烧瓶加热银，直到它变成液体，并将其倒入木制模具中。这样，他得到了一个小长方形的银锭。接着，他用手动滚轮反复压制银锭，以减少截面积并制造出电线。当电线变得太细，不适用滚轮时，他使用带有钻石涂层的拉模继续。Mateo 通常仅向我们展示整个过程的简短演示，甚至我们自己也有机会动手试试，拉扯一下。实际上，他需要通过不同尺寸的模具多次拉扯银线，直到电线不断变细，变得更长，并最终达到所需的直径。所有这一切都靠手工完成。
接着，他用较粗的电线制作所需首饰的轮廓。他用一只熟练的手将更细的电线用一种像螺丝刀的动作缠绕起来，并按压成外形。这样就形成了美丽的精致风格。

接下来，他用锉刀从融化的银锭中制作银粉。然后将其与硼酸混合。形成的混合物作为焊接材料，他将其放置于尚未固定的首饰上，然后用燃气焊炬加热，以便固定银线。他将焊接完成的首饰放入含水和化学物质的溶液中，并用气体燃烧器稍微加热，以去除硼酸残留物。在他用水冲洗后，他就将其放入一个装满金属小球的塑料容器中，摇晃以抛光银饰。

小工艺品就这样完成了。不同的设计他都会一次性制作100辆，以加快工作进度。根据设计的复杂程度，这样的一百件系列制作时间可长达10天。

Don Mateo告诉我们，他已经有54年以上的制作这种首饰的经验。10岁时，他从邻居那里学习了这种技艺。如今，他将这门技艺传授给了他的儿子（顺便提一下，他仍然坐在沙发上，毫不积极地显示出他的肚子）。如今，大约40人在卢克掌握了这种手艺。

我们对这种技艺的精湛和确实完全是100%纯手工制作的事实感到非常震撼。我们很乐意地从Don Mateo那里购买了一些首饰，作为送给朋友和家人的圣诞礼物。

告别时，Don Mateo还给了我们他的名片，并表示，如果我们在欧洲开店，他可以把他的作品寄到那儿。我们看看吧。:-)

在卢克拜访后，我们继续前往阿雷瓜，那里位于伊帕西卡赖湖的对岸，以陶瓷而闻名。实际上，在镇入口处的主干道上就有第一批销售摊位。在村中心有一个漂亮的市场，可以购买各种陶瓷制品。你需要一个真人大小的陶瓷天鹅吗？还是用来装饰花园的巨大基督像？而且由于正值圣诞前夕，自然也有各式各样的马槽，从微型到几乎真实大小的都有。这里各种美丽的花盆，绝对会让我们花费一大笔。在这里可以用几法郎买到。可惜它们不太适合放进行李中。然而我们仍无法抗拒，买了两只酷炫的陶瓷鹦鹉。我们会在接下来的几周里一直抱怨这个完全愚蠢的主意，特别是在每次得在巴士上把这些巨大又脆弱的东西带上数小时的时候。
由于天气实在太热，我们在阿雷瓜没有步行。我们把车停在市场旁边的街道上，这在典型的巴拉圭风格中。然后我们把鹦鹉装上车，驶向耸立在山上的阿雷瓜教堂。教堂的景观应该也不错，但其实并没有特别之处。
阿雷瓜的村庄、殖民房屋和鹅卵石小巷确实非常可爱。

最后，我们还去了湖边的Lido，这是一个设有野餐桌、遮阳伞、卫生设施、沙滩和餐饮摊位的地方。这里人不多，只有几个当地人，而且入口处的友好先生们甚至免除了我们的入场费用。在这里我们还第一次享用了自购的Terere，虽然冷茶有些苦，但我们非常喜欢。我们还和厕所的小女孩交谈，她开心地将她最近养的温顺鹦鹉拿出来放在我手上。这只可爱的鸟用力地向我打招呼，发出了“Hola”。

接着我们继续前往伊图古，那是以Nanduti的生产而闻名的地方，听说那也有车间可以参观。Nanduti是一种由细线制成的花边，技术上类似于蜘蛛网。然而我们并未找到这样的工作室，只发现在一些商店里有当地人推荐的Nanduti桌垫。我们并不需要桌垫，过去也没有，现在未来也不会有。
此外，伊图古这个小镇也很沉闷，并不特别值得一看。我们顺便探访了教堂，稍微待了一会儿在公园，然后开车离开。

晚上，我们回到圣伯尔纳迪诺，坐在湖边度过了一个美好的夜晚，观看日落。我们在网上读到，湖里的水肮脏，最好别游泳。我们也没有去游。

2019年5月1日 - 2019年8月1日

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.

从孔塞普西翁到亚松森的巴士车程大约持续了7小时，过程毫无波澜。到达亚松森后，酒店的噩梦才刚刚开始。我们最初预订了一间宿舍的房间，价格还算合理。根据描述，这间房应该会有自己的浴室，但实际上并没有。好吧，从表面上来看，这并不是那么糟糕，如果只是共享浴室，但浴室却感觉离房间有3公里那么远，在一层楼下，穿过庭院和超大面积的花园。每个房间只有一个浴室！在这绝望的边缘！对于我来说，每晚至少要去厕所一次，这简直是个绝对的禁忌。如果我半夜得起床穿衣服去经历这段漫长的旅程，之后我肯定会清醒得不能再睡觉。我们向酒店经营者投诉，因为这绝对不是我们预订的内容。这位友好的男士立刻表示愿意寻找替代方案，并为我们在附近同类价位的酒店预订了一个房间。乍一看，这是一个可以接受的选择，虽然房间也是破旧不堪，床垫薄得像纸，但最基本的设施还是有的，勉强能呆下去。不过，一旦开启空调，就完全不同了。此时感觉就像是在施工现场，与一台电锤并肩而睡。更别提在这种噪音下根本无法睡觉。因此，我们面临着电锤或房间40°C的选择。太棒了。这样的情况不能继续下去，经过一个糟糕的夜晚后，又得花预算搬到一家“中档酒店”。这家酒店虽然简单，但确实地理位置优越，位于市中心，还有一份出色的自助早餐，作为补偿，我们还顺便拿了一些面包作为午餐。毕竟得看着自己的生计。
另一件在巴拉圭酒店的奇特之处是浴室设施的安排。很多时候浴室都很狭窄。首先是洗手盆，然后是淋浴，最后是一旁的马桶。需要说明的是，淋浴仅由地板上的一个洞和墙上的淋浴头组成。这意味着，首先是不可能在不淋湿整个浴室的情况下洗澡，其次，如果你洗完澡后，要上厕所，就不得不在淹没的浴室中跋涉而过。

我们在亚松森的第一天是周日，我们发现，在这里周日什么都不需要。很少见到一个地方如此死寂，而这里毕竟是国家的首都。绝大多数餐厅和商店都关门，街道上空荡荡的，只有一些可疑的身影在公园中徘徊。因此我们很快对观光失去了兴趣，整天呆在空调的酒店房间里。

到了周一，事情终于有了生气，城市也开始热闹起来，我们开始了探索之旅。但其实能看到的也并不算多。

首先是英雄纪念碑（Panteon de los Heroes），这是一个位于英雄广场的陵墓，埋葬着马尔斯卡尔·弗朗西斯科·索拉诺·洛佩斯及其他危害国家的战争关键人物的遗骸，并由一队军警守卫。

此外，我们还参观了火车博物馆（Estacion Ferrocarril），这是一个小型的博物馆，实际上还不错，可供娱乐。亚松森-恩卡纳西翁的铁路是南美洲的第一条铁路。博物馆展出了这条线上的第一列火车，以及其他那个时代的物品。不过在巴拉圭，铁路早已不再运营。与博物馆的实际参观相比，更有趣的是我们遇到的两位年长的瑞士女士，她们在那里偶遇，结果有缘，在同一个地方见面。

接着我们参观了独立之家（Casa de la Independencia），这里是巴拉圭在1811年作为该大陆第一个国家宣布独立的地方。尽管听起来很有趣，但该博物馆即便经过了这位充满热情的员工的讲解，也没有什么值得推荐的，因此真的不值得一游。

我们也路过洛佩斯宫（Palacio Lopez），这是政府的所在地，但只能从外面看看。

尽管绝对热得让人窒息，我们还是兴致勃勃地在城市中游荡，参观河滨长廊、港口、城市公园以及英雄广场的小手工艺市场（在那里我们还碰到了一个圣诞老人）。

我们在火车博物馆遇到的两位瑞士女士还推荐了Escalinata，这是一条隐藏在一个色彩斑斓的小区里的石阶，装饰着五彩缤纷的马赛克。我们非常喜欢这条阶梯以及整个小区。这里几乎是亚松森最可爱的地方。

我们也碰到了一个摄影团队，他们正在拍摄模特的照片。具有讽刺意味的是，我们几乎在这一天去的每个其他地方都再次遇见了同一个团队。没办法，这让我们开始交谈，他们向我们推荐了英雄广场附近的Lido餐厅，可以品尝到典型的巴拉圭菜。
当然，我们听从了建议，享受了一顿美味的午餐，其中还尝试了Chipa，一种典型的巴拉圭糕点，一种用玉米、鸡蛋和奶酪制作的面包。当我订购Sopa Paraguaya时，天真地以为会端上来一碗汤。结果被上了一份玉米、奶酪、牛奶和洋葱做的烘焙菜。虽然味道不错，但至今我仍然想不明白为什么这道菜叫做“汤”。

从Bonito到巴拉圭的下一个边境口岸其实是Bela Vista，但很不幸的是，我们被告知那里没有可以办理边境手续和领取必要印章的机构。因此，我们别无选择，只能走更远的路去Ponta Pora。不过，愚蠢的是，从Bonito到Ponta Pora的巴士首先是经Bela Vista走的，这使得我们绕了一个大弯子。当我们终于抵达Ponta Pora时，已经很晚了，海关也已经关门。太棒了。于是，我们不得不在那里过夜。Ponta Pora（巴西）和Pedro Juan Caballero（巴拉圭）实际上形成了一座大城市。边界沿着一条主干道延伸。人们在城内可以自由穿行于这两个国家之间。事实上，在主干道的一侧人们说葡萄牙语并用雷亚尔支付，而在街道的另一侧则（终于又）说西班牙语并用巴拉圭货币瓜拉尼支付。
第二天早上，我们终于可以办理出入境手续。实际上并没有官方的边境通道。出境时必须在机场办理，而入境则是在城中一个不起眼的办公室进行。办理时只是在护照上盖章，根本没人关心你行李里有什么。

办完这些后，我们就去巴士站，搭乘下一班去康塞普西翁的巴士。

说实话，我们对巴拉圭没有具体的印象。如果有人问我们，我们可能会用一些刻板印象来回答：有点像西部，牛仔、马、马车、大牧场，还有很多牛，尘土飞扬，炎热，环境相当破旧。
事实上，能在某种程度上满足这些“偏见”的只有康塞普西翁，直接符合了我们对巴拉圭的想象。康塞普西翁确实是一个昏昏欲睡、满是尘土、炎热的小地方，几乎没有什么活动。在这个地区，“行动”意味着一匹马拖着一车西瓜经过或者一艘船靠近港口。实际上，这也是在整个巴拉圭唯一一个我们真的在街上遇到有马和马车的地方。

在这个国家等待我们的第一个坏消息是“酒店房间”的过高价格。如果这能被称为房间的话。这里的价格与其他拉美国家相比确实相当离谱，却提供了非常糟糕的标准。举例来说，我们在康塞普西翁的住宿费用约为每晚35法郎，换来的却是一个微小的小老鼠洞，没有窗户，墙壁漆面剥落，两个非常糟糕的旧床，一个小的公共浴室，以及一杯可怕的咖啡和两个干硬的面包作为早餐。与此相比，在玻利维亚同样的钱能够得到真的很不错、带独立卫生间、暖气或空调、良好早餐及各种设施的房间。好吧，巴拉圭总体来说，以及康塞普西翁特别不在外国人经常光顾的路线之上，因此那里选择并不多。但在整个国家的其他地方，我们也会再次遇到，如果想要一个半体面的房间，就必须掏出真金白银。除此之外，在这个国家旅行的费用相对便宜，确实主要是住宿花费让人觉得钱包大出血。

正如我所说，康塞普西翁并没有太多可看之处。亮点可能是Maria Auxiliadora的纪念碑，这是一个巨大的雕像，矗立在主街的中间。

还有工业考古博物馆（Museo de Arqueologia Industrial），这是一个“露天博物馆”，里面有一系列旧工业和农业机械的“收藏”。实际上，这个“露天博物馆”位于主街的中央隔离带上，而“收藏”则由一小撮古老设备和车辆组成。

除此之外，我们还在城中稍作漫步，看看那些部分坍塌的殖民建筑，闲逛在“港口”，并处理一些必要的事务，比如购买一张当地的SIM卡。看到路边那位聪明的汽车地毯和座位套售价者的“摊位”也很有趣。显然他生意不错。
另外，康塞普西翁到处都是摩托车，让人几乎感觉像是在越南。

一进入巴拉圭，你立刻会注意到：每个人。真的。绝对。每一个人......都带着一个保温杯。我们之前就听说过巴拉圭人热爱Terere，这是一种冷泡草茶。说爱真是轻描淡写。从商店里的售货员，到路边的警察，再到上学途中的青少年，甚至是和孩子在公园玩耍的主妇，甚至骑摩托车的人和公交司机，每个人都有着你可以迅速辨认出巴拉圭人的三个典型工具：一个巨大的保温壶，一个杯子（通常在保温壶集成的杯架上）和一个Bombilla（像带内置茶筛的吸管）。这些工具在每个角落都可以买到。我们稍后会再次提到这一非常有趣的文化特征。

实际上是一个漂亮的国家，但在我们两个人之间并没有产生火花。巴拉圭的旅游业几乎没有开发，这也是我们决定去那里旅行的真正原因。不幸的是，这也给我们带来了一些麻烦。

这里慢慢进入盛夏，白天40度，晚上25度。这对露营并不是最理想的。因此，我们想在这样的温度下始终保持附近有淋浴设施，所以决定只选择露营地。然而，在一个旅游几乎没有价值的国家，这就像在大海捞针。此外，通往露营地的道路常常在没有四驱车的情况下无法通行。这让人感到非常沮丧。

但幸运的是，我们找到了一些位于美丽地方的露营地。

偶然间，我们来到了Independencia。这里有一个靠近国家公园的露营地（我们因为那里的道路只能由越野车通行而无法进入国家公园）。Independencia是一个德国殖民地，所有的标识都是德语，还有炸肉排。所以我们想这一定很好玩，想错了！这里的人们生活在一个小小的德国气泡里。德国人只和德国人结婚，而年轻一代现在学习西班牙语则“其实没什么必要”。啊哈！作为一个外国人在一个国家，却不想学习语言？这可是我最不喜欢的！不幸的是，这还有更让人震惊的，常常听到当问到人们为什么移民时，他们会说是因为恐怖主义而离开德国，‘德国发生的事情真是疯狂’（听起来几乎就像德国人在谈论危险的南美洲）。在与几个这样的家伙交谈后，我们非常迅速地离开了。

接着我们去了‘基地营’Tres Kandu（巴拉圭的最高峰）。嗯，基地营这个称呼真是甜蜜，山高842米，对于平坦的巴拉圭来说确实是个不小的成就。在这里也可以露营。淋浴和厕所嘛，怎么说呢……是有的。

第二天我们攀登了这座山。尽管这更像是一个小山丘，但在40度和高湿度下（夜里有下雨），真是非常辛苦。峰顶给予了我们一个绝佳的巴拉圭美景。

之后我们前往下一个国家公园，去了一个由法国家庭创办的露营地。在经历了在巴拉圭的冒险旅行（德国傻瓜、糟糕的道路和桥梁）后，我们给自己放了一天的假。从一个月以来我们每天都在忙于旅行或修理车子，现在终于能够轻松一天，并能在我们的南美晒黑上努力，结果有两个地方变得更红而非棕色。干净的卫生设施也让我们很喜欢。

为了逃避这里疯狂的酷热，我们将开始前往南方的旅程，中途停留在布宜诺斯艾利斯，然后到达巴塔哥尼亚和火地岛。

¡Hasta luego!