Paraguay

Remains of a church in the old Jesuit mission of Trinidad, outside Encarnación

Remains of a church in the old Jesuit mission of Trinidad, outside Encarnación

From Asuncion we caught a long bus down to Encarnación, a city of about 100,000 in the very south of Paraguay, just across the Parańa River from Argentina. We had two reasons to go to Encarnacion The main reason was to cross over to Argentina so we could go north to Iguazu Falls. Secondarily, as long as we were passing through, we figured we’d tour a couple of the old and long-ago abandoned Jesuit missions in the area. To our surprise the missions – UNESCO World Heritage Sites – were a great way to spend a day. More than just a place to stop over en route to the Falls, they were worthy of a trip to the area on its own.

The story of the missions is interesting; sufficiently interesting, in fact, to inspire the Academy Award-winning movie The Mission. Starting in 1609, Jesuit missionaries emigrated from Spain to build ultimately dozens of “reductions”, settlements for indigenous people. The Spanish Empire started the process to govern the then-nomadic Guaraní people more efficiently, but the Jesuits were more interested in Christianizing them than just taxing and controlling them. So in an area that now includes parts of Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil dozens of these missions popped up.

OK, not all of Encarnación was about the missions. We saw this strange ad in town, what looks like a Chippendale stripper-type with cute little kids. Not sure what they were suggesting unless it was making your next birthday party a little livelier...

OK, not all of Encarnación was about the missions. We saw this strange ad in town, what looks like a Chippendale stripper-type with cute little kids. Not sure what they were suggesting unless it was making your next birthday party a little livelier…

These religious settlements existed largely outside standard Spanish colonial experience and ultimately the authorities came to believe that the Jesuits were more of a problem than they could tolerate; they were, after all, interfering with the slave trade. Thus in 1767 the Spanish banished the Jesuits and the missions were evacuated. Scattered ruins remain and in 1993 UNESCO declared two of the best preserved sites in southern Paraguay World Heritage Sites.

Off we went to see them, not really knowing what to expect. The first one we came to was La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná, the Most Holy Trinity of Paraná (the local river). It was stunning. The mission was built relatively late in the Jesuit period and was the biggest of them all. I particularly loved the setting, up on the crest of a hill with great views over the region. And unlike so many tourist sites we had the huge space all to ourselves. Just a very beautiful and peaceful experience.

Next up was the ruins of Jesús de Tavarangue. In this case construction didn’t begin until 1760, just a few years before the Jesuits were expelled. The church was being built as a replica of the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Italy and would have been one of the biggest churches of its time, measuring 230 feet by 80 feet. The Jesuits were expelled before the mission was completed, but what remains is impressive.

Mark in the ruins

Mark in the ruins

I loved the isolated locations with huge views of the surrounding areas

I loved the isolated locations with huge views of the surrounding areas

So that was Encarnacion. The town itself was … OK, nothing too special. The city has recently invested in building a big parkway along the Paraná river – second in length in South America only to the Amazon River and which, after later merging with both the Paraguay and Uruguay Rivers, becomes the Rio de la Plata – opening up a big area for biking and running and all that good stuff. We found a restaurant we liked, so we were happy there for a couple of days.

Enjoying our time in Trinidad

Enjoying our time in Trinidad

The church at Jesús had a distinctly Moorish quality

The church at Jesús had a distinctly Moorish quality

Some of the recovered architectural ornaments

Some of the recovered architectural ornaments

The plan was that the next morning we would take a bus across the river into the neighboring city of Posadas, Argentina. It was really hard to get information in Paraguay about our travel options in Argentina, but we figured one way or another we could get to the bus station there and take a bus six hours or so north to Puerto Iguazu, near Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian side. In theory we could have gone north in Paraguay to Ciudad del Este, on the Paraguayan side of the of the Falls, but it wasn’t clear that we could get across to Argentina from there without going through Brazil. And since getting a Brazilian visa is exceedingly difficult for Americans – except, we’ve read, from the Argentinian side of the Falls, where it can be done – we figured we’d first cross to Argentina, then go north, see the Falls, get a Brazilian visa, and continue on.

Didn’t quite work that way. We got the bus across the river into Argentina, got through immigration and all that, and then got on a local bus that we thought would take us to the bus station where we could continue on north to Iguazu. Instead the bus just kept taking us further and further out of town, away from everything. And by “everything” I mean in particular away from all ATMs. Since we didn’t have Argentinian pesos, we were starting to get desperate. So at one point the bus stopped at a traffic light and we just got out, walking back nearly an hour (in 90-degree heat with our luggage) into town. We got a hotel so we could get online … and discovered that we had been no more than two or three minutes from the bus station when we bailed out.

Now, a day in Posadas isn’t all bad. Again, we found a nice restaurant with great Argentinian beef and got tickets for an early morning bus up to Iguazu. The problem was that getting the visa is a two-day process. Had we made it without the overnight stop in Posadas we’d have gotten to the Brazilian consulate Thursday morning and picked up the visa Friday afternoon. Instead we wouldn’t get to the consulate until Friday morning and thus would have to hang around until Monday to get the visas. Not the worst problem in the world, but not ideal either.

At any rate, Encarnación was great, the missions were quite the site, and now we’re finally off to Iguazu.

Mission ruins

Mission ruins

The ruins were very cool to explore at leisure, particularly with no one else around

The ruins were very cool to explore at leisure, particularly with no one else around

Mark again

Mark again

It was like having your own Roman relics to explore as slowly as you wanted

It was like having your own Roman relics to explore as slowly as you wanted

I hope you're not tired of these pictures, because there are more

I hope you’re not tired of these pictures, because there are more

Big open spaces

Big open spaces

Great architecture

Great architecture

Headless saints

Headless saints

One last shot of the remains of the church

One last shot of the remains of the church

The main square in Encarnación had an unexpected Japanese garden

The main square in Encarnación had an unexpected Japanese garden

Sunset across the Paraná River

Sunset across the Paraná River

And finally, one night in Posadas, Argentina. That's a skewer of chicken that we're going to share for dinner. Just a taste of what Argentina - Spanish for "Land o' Lotsa Meat" - is all about.

And finally, one night in Posadas, Argentina. That’s a skewer of chicken that we’re going to share for dinner. Just a taste of what Argentina – Spanish for “Land o’ Lotsa Meat” – is all about.

A main street in Asuncion with beautiful flowering trees. We had to remind ourselves that down here April is not spring, though these trees certainly looked spring-like.

A main street in Asuncion with beautiful flowering trees. We had to remind ourselves that down here April is not spring, though these trees certainly looked spring-like.

From Santa Cruz de la Sierra we caught a flight down to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. We had little idea of what to expect, as there is limited information available about tourism there; to our surprise a couple months ago when we started to plan this segment of our trip there is no Lonely Planet Paraguay. To our surprise and delight, we loved the city. After one day we decided to extend our short two-night stop to a third night, and after three days we decided to make it four. That’s always a good sign.

First the basics. Asuncion is a city of a little over half a million people, part of a metropolitan area of perhaps two million people, on the banks of the Paraguay River. It is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country and the landlocked country’s primary port. There are a few things that stand out about Asuncion.

A mile or two from our hotel was a huge and sometimes beautiful botanical garden. Lots of people walking, running, playing soccer, and just enjoying the big open spaces. I loved it.

A mile or two from our hotel was a huge and sometimes beautiful botanical garden. Lots of people walking, running, playing soccer, and just enjoying the big open spaces. I loved it.

Asuncion had some cool architecture and buildings with lots of atmosphere

Asuncion had some cool architecture and buildings with lots of atmosphere

Another cool and colorful building

Another cool and colorful building

The people. We certainly noticed in Santa Cruz how different the people were compared to those in the Bolivian and Peruvian highlands, but in Asuncion the difference was just astounding. People were taller, fairer, and obviously wealthier. Unlike other South American countries the indigenous people – the Guaraní, who inhabited the area for at least a thousand years before the Spanish conquest – maintain an important cultural and linguistic presence. In the Paraguayan census most people identify as mestizo (mixed Spanish and indigenous heritage) while Guaraní is, along with Spanish, an official language of Paraguay. Even the currency here is called the Guaraní.

Also noteworthy about the people and language is that even when they’re speaking Spanish we find it almost impossible to understand them. Mark, of course, has been studying Spanish off and on for a few years now, and he’s picked up quite a bit during our three-plus months in Latin America, and I can understand a fair amount even if I can’t really speak Spanish. But to me when the Paraguayans speak it sounds as though they have mouths full of marbles; it’s almost completely unintelligible. It’s almost as though we’re back in China!

OK, what else about Asuncion? It’s hot here. Really hot. As in over 90 degrees by 10:00 AM and staying there until 6:00 PM or later. Mid-April here is well into fall, but damn it was hot. Maybe it was just a hot streak, since the climate chart in Wikipedia says that the average April high in Asuncion is 83 degrees and the record high is 97.5. That seems strange to us, since the daytime temperatures were often up around 95 degrees. So whether that’s global warming or just unusual – or it’s always possible Wikipedia is wrong – it was hot while we were there.

Mostly we just walked around a lot. Paraguay has a long history of dictatorships, though they seem to have settled into something representing a democratic state since the mid-1990s. One thing dictators are good at, though, is promoting public safety (for those who don’t object to the dictatorship, at least). Maybe that’s why the city just felt so safe to walk around in, unlike some big South American cities we’ve been in. So we took advantage of it, walking to restaurants and parks and really just all over.

So there you have it. Asuncion is a lovely, lively city (except on Sundays, when everything closes), with good restaurants, nice shopping, and some nice parks. More people should discover it!

One lunch we had at a pretty fancy Italian place. Besides these glasses of grappa two things were memorable. One, the food was surprisingly bad. Two, in a private room next to the dining room - but with windows so you could see a little bit of what was going on - some guy was giving a lecture to what looked like a lot of beautiful women. Every so often another woman would walk in or out and they were all the same - relatively tall and thin; long, straight hair; insane spiked heels; tight-fitting clothes; and beautiful. As it was breaking up we asked our waiter what the story was and we learned it was a modeling agency, soliciting talent. Crazy how they all had the same look.

One lunch we had at a pretty fancy Italian place. Besides these glasses of grappa two things were memorable. One, the food was surprisingly bad. Two, in a private room next to the dining room – but with windows so you could see a little bit of what was going on – some guy was giving a lecture to what looked like a lot of beautiful women. Every so often another woman would walk in or out and they were all the same – relatively tall and thin; long, straight hair; insane spiked heels; tight-fitting clothes; and beautiful. As it was breaking up we asked our waiter what the story was and we learned it was a modeling agency, soliciting talent. Crazy how they all had the same look.

Then there was lunch at La Taverna Espanola. A nice enough Spanish tapas place with an amusing, funky, older decor. And then this trio walks in - an ordinary guy, a little choir boy, and her. A beautiful plus-sized woman wearing tight clothes, four-inch pink spiked heels with rhinestones (!), huge false eyelashes, and more makeup than you've ever seen in your life. As though she saw Tammy Faye Baker one day and said "I can do better than that." It was like a train wreck you just couldn't take your eyes off of.

Then there was lunch at La Taverna Espanola. A nice enough Spanish tapas place with an amusing, funky, older decor. And then this trio walks in – an ordinary guy, a little choir boy, and her. A beautiful plus-sized woman wearing tight clothes, four-inch pink spiked heels with rhinestones (!), huge false eyelashes, and more makeup than you’ve ever seen in your life. As though she saw Tammy Faye Baker one day and said “I can do better than that.” It was like a train wreck you just couldn’t take your eyes off of.

And now back to more prosaic topics. This is the Palacio de los López, the Paraguayan presidential palace.

And now back to more prosaic topics. This is the Palacio de los López, the Paraguayan presidential palace.

The city beach on the Paraguay River

The city beach on the Paraguay River

We were there on a Sunday when EVERYTHING was closed. Fortunately, everything except that tapas restaurant, that is.

We were there on a Sunday when EVERYTHING was closed. Fortunately, everything except that tapas restaurant, that is.

And a picture of me with the grappa, included here because I realized otherwise there wasn't a single picture of either of us in Asuncion.

And a picture of me with the grappa, included here because I realized otherwise there wasn’t a single picture of either of us in Asuncion.