We took a local bus to the Brazilian border with Paraguay and walked across the bridge into Ciudad del Este. John changed to his UK passport as it does not need a visa for Paraguay saving us US$140. There was a helpful tourist office lady at the border who gave us a map and directions for the ATM and bus station.
Ciudad del Este is a duty free city and there are huge shopping malls selling everything and anything from China. It was difficult walking from the bridge to the ATM because the stalls selling copy brands overflowed onto the edge of the street and we had to walk on the road and dodge the cars and touts thrusting piles of acrylic socks and tee shirts at us. Leaflets were shoved in our faces for shopping at Tokyo, America Mall, and Mona Lisa Mall. The buildings for these malls are enormous.
We had no problems getting money from the ATM, just a lot of difficulty trying to get us and our bags inside the glass boxes that the ATMs are in.
We took a local bus to the bus station and were quickly jostled onto a rickety bus to Encarnation. It stopped at every little community where locals stood on the side of the road and waved furiously for the bus to stop. The earth was bright red and the small towns reminiscent of villages in Africa with little stores lining the middle or sides of the streets.
Encarnation is on the banks of the Parana River and has a gorgeous beach which is packed in the summer but we were the only ones strolling along the promenade. This sun UV sensor told us we had a moderate UV day and was a great idea at the beach. Our beaches could do with these. Burger King and Mc Donalds were popular on the beach.
The beach area was developed four years ago and under it is the old town that was destroyed by flooding. This camel is advertising a restaurant that sells Arabic food.
We stayed in a lovely hostel that was originally a family home and was converted to a hostel so it had a lot of extra comforts that purpose built hostels do not have.
Ciudad del Este is a duty free city and there are huge shopping malls selling everything and anything from China. It was difficult walking from the bridge to the ATM because the stalls selling copy brands overflowed onto the edge of the street and we had to walk on the road and dodge the cars and touts thrusting piles of acrylic socks and tee shirts at us. Leaflets were shoved in our faces for shopping at Tokyo, America Mall, and Mona Lisa Mall. The buildings for these malls are enormous.
We had no problems getting money from the ATM, just a lot of difficulty trying to get us and our bags inside the glass boxes that the ATMs are in.
The red earth also reminded us of Australia. There were lots of crops growing including corn/maize, sorghum and soy.
At various intervals along the road were lines of trucks and police. We later learnt that it was a protest by the truckies. The small operators were being squeezed out of the market by the large operators and they wanted the same cartage rates as them.
Encarnation is on the banks of the Parana River and has a gorgeous beach which is packed in the summer but we were the only ones strolling along the promenade. This sun UV sensor told us we had a moderate UV day and was a great idea at the beach. Our beaches could do with these. Burger King and Mc Donalds were popular on the beach.
The beach area was developed four years ago and under it is the old town that was destroyed by flooding. This camel is advertising a restaurant that sells Arabic food.
We stayed in a lovely hostel that was originally a family home and was converted to a hostel so it had a lot of extra comforts that purpose built hostels do not have.
We made a day trip to the World Heritage Jesuit Mission site at Trinidad. There were only two other visitors there so it was very peaceful.
Some 30 missions were established in South America and this one is from 1706. The King of Spain expelled the Jesuits from the country in 1767 as they would not submit to Spanish rule.There were remains of the square, church, school, workshops, housing for the Indians, a cemetery and an orchard.
In the middle of the square was this little owl showing off to us that he could stand on one leg and swivel his head more than 360 degrees.
We had a lot of problems with the Word programme on our computer and it would not let me publish so I had to spend a long afternoon chatting to a tech support person and fixing it up. It's all go now.
Next stop is Asuncion
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