A wet but warm welcome
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2004
1
63
88
Trip End
Feb 01, 2005
Loading Map
Asunciòn,
Paraguay
Friday, October 22, 2004
Getting Here
So many people have said to me, "Why do you want to go to Paraguay? There is nothing there and no tourists" Well, I`m loving the fact that there are hardly any other tourists and I don`t need to see things on my trip, I just need to experience things!
As I got off the bus in Clorinda, Argentina, I was approached for a ride to the border by a taxi driver. Another passenger in the car was Marcos, an Argentinian flautist who plays in the Paraguayan Symphony Orchestra. He helped me find my way across the border and get on a bus to Asunciòn.
Marcos gave me lots of helpful information and showed me where to get off the bus. Our bags were in the boot of the bus and while the conductor was trying to get them out in the pouring rain, the bus driver took off! We then negotiated our way across a street that was more like a river, looking for the shallowest spots to jump and got splashed by the passing cars. Marcos flagged down a bus and we were told to get on the back. It took me a while to realise that I wasn`t able to get through the turnstile, and we had to throw my backpack over and then climb over the turnstile! It was all very funny!!!!
We went to Marcos`s street and went to a hotel there, where I have a room with shared bathroom for about AUD$6 per night. He then left to be with his girlfriend for her birthday but we planned to catch up the next day.
Avenidas de Asunciòn
Asunciòn is all set out in a grid, and you would think that since Mildura is the same that I would find it easy.
01 Hippo Lust
Well it`s not so easy. I have a habit of turning corners and forgetting which way I turned!!The streets are surprisingly empty, I don`t know where the people are, but I think most of the action happens in the suburbs and commuter towns outside. Mostly the centre is made up of government buildings and plazas.
I`ve discovered the joys of empanadas (little pie like things) especially the choclo (corn) ones!! Yummo!
I met Maximiliano in a bookstore and he offered to show me some of the sights and shopping centres. Ended up seeing him again at a bus stop and we had dinner together, but I think he harbors ideas that aren`t going to eventuate.....
I also got trapped by the shops. They like shops and shopping centres here, which is lucky, because I like them too! It`s such a relief to not have to go to a market to shop, but to be able to walk into somewhere and wander around.
After dropping off my camera I thought I`d see about getting new glasses so was quite happy when I found a street with about 6 opticians all in a row! Much cheaper than Australia and maybe I`ll invest in a much nicer pair than the ones I have.
Paraguayan Symphony Orchestra
I`d never been to the orchestra before, but Marcos invited me to a concert, so I went along. It was for the 9th birthday of Shopping del Sol (shopping centre) and it was outdoors. It was great and a fantastic first time!
At the end they set off heaps of fireworks, which made my day!!! I then went back to the city centre with Marcos and went to his place for a cup of tea. His sister grows lots of herbs and so I had tea with freshly dried herbs, so nice. He also talked me into singing some Australian songs (yes, how embarrassing, out came Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, and Give Me a Home Amongst the Gumtrees) and then I did the heel and toe, which always, ALWAYS gets a giggle. In return, he pulled out his guitar and played me some great Argentinian folk music.
Jardìn Botanico
Feeling sheepish at not having seen anything in Asunciòn (despite my new and stylish glasses and a fixed and ready to go camera) I booked a ticket to Aregua on the train for the weekend and went to the Botanical Gardens. Whilst they enjoy a splendid hectarage, they don`t have much of a team of gardeners, so the nicest bits of lawn were the median strip in the middle of the road.
Visited the Museum of Natural History which is inside the gardens. They had a great collection of indigenous artefacts and pickled snakes and mutant animals and a large collection of stuffed, painted and marble-eyeballed birds and animals. Why has the only pickled thing I`ve seen in Australia been a couple of snakes in the science room? Every museum here has something interesting like mummies and pickled or stuffed animals.
There is also a zoo in the gardens and I wandered around seeing some very lonely animals. They obviously don`t want any breeding happening, although I`m sure that the two hippos would have loved to go at it, given their affection over the wall. Not much of a zoo.
I almost got lost as I tried to escape school kids and screaming children. I`m sure I would have been rescued by one of the gun toting security guards who collared me on the way out and asked me a zillion questions, including "When are you coming back to the Botanical Gardens?" He was cute, but not that cute.
Things I Learned
* Everyone drinks yerba mate cold, and they all carry thermoses or water jugs full of it
* I like the orchestra
* People are friendly
