Gran Hotel del Paraguay Asuncion

... Everywhere you go you´ll see people with their thermos filled with either hot or cold water (hot=mate, cold=tereré) sipping it from a mate cup trough a metal straw. This is a very social thing, and it is common to share the tereré as it gets passed around. You can also get some fresh herbs on the street like mint, anis and other medicinal leafs and grasses to spice up your mate. You simply pick what you want and it will get muchsed up into a thick paste and put into the ...

&#8220;When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.&#8221; - Clifton Fadiman<br><br>And in some cases, it doesn't seem designed to do even that. Such is the case in Paraguay, where my girlfriend Tamara and I have been for the past ten weeks or so. We came here in early June because I am working as a summer intern at a non-profit microfinance ...

... sake (you might hazard a guess at which expression I opted for). Despite being assured that this was a one off as she had consumed a full bottle of wine to herself (imagine) we took no chances, I managed to secure the room next door under the cover of darkness each night and leaving no trace whilst the other took the driver&#8217;s room (did I mention the visa-less one was only going to be away one night?), while he moved back into the cab of jack.<br><br>Early ...

... and awoke the following day keen to check out some of Asuncion.<br><br>2. Mosquitoes and knives<br><br>We walked out of our hotel for a few blocks and saw a very nice looking white building with armed guards out the front. We took some photos and then walked toward the river - Dave turned around to take a photo and then turned back around and he was covered in 50 mosquitoes - which was alarming given that Asuncion is the capital of dengue ...

... to put in money for her care, since her family cannot afford it. This week, there is a raffle for a pig to raise money, and tonight they will be selling hot dogs, beer, etc. Tomorrow will be the first game for 8 de Diciembre, the local soccer club that my host dad coaches. I went to a practice yesterday with him, and they loaded up 13 people into the back of our tiny Toyota pickup, yes, I counted, to take them to the field in Villeta. I'm excited to ...

... Reserve in PY back to the US (about 10,000 miles) to raise money for an organization called Guyra in Paraguay who are doing conservation projects all over PY, but specifically in the San Rafael Reserve. His web-site: http://www.rideforthetrees.com The other 2 are Joel and Karen, who are riding from Ushuaia, Argentina (Think the southern tip ...

... cards and trying to pass the time. At 6.30pm we went off to catch the bus and were surprised to find it was a local bus with no a/c and it was due to go all the way to Asuncion. The road we took was not really a road at all but a red dirt track. Now it felt as if we were back in Cambodia! We were on a rickety old bus and in for an overnight trip. Great! Luckily after 3 hours we stopped outside a sort of café and were told to get off the ...

... some overdue "travel blog" on the hotels internet facilities. Some of things I've noticed in Asuncion so far is ...... Firstly a lot of people are drinking the common South American Drink - the Ka'ayguá or Mate (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimarr%C 3%A3o) and sooner or later I must buy a Cup ("gourds") and Straw ("bombilla") to try it out; Secondly Paraguay is much cheaper then ...

... of the food you put on the plate. An interesting idea. We overheard an english speaking family at the table opposite ours. Peter thought he recognised the gentlemán from the SAMs website. After we had eaten he decided to go an introduce himself. The people turned out to be the SAMs missionaries that run the orphanage in Asuncion. The had already seen ...

I had called ahead to reserve a room, and she had one. When I arrived at the bus station, I asked a cabbie how much to the Pension, and I thought it was too much, so I jumped on a collectivo, and off I went. Luggage and all! I got off the bus too early and was lost, so asked at a fire station where to go. Well, a very nice young lady babysat me until the collectivo came, and I was let off about 2 blocks from ...