Over the last 5 years, I got used to the fact that life on the road is unpredictable and therefore it did not surprise me that Paraguay surprised me a lot. I did not know much about the country before, hadn't even met anyone from there in my entire life so far and I entered the country pretty much with no idea on my way crossing from Argentina to Bolivia. And guess what, Paraguay ended up being my best time in South America so far.
But before heading to Paraguay I spent three days with Sol in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. Since we were already in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina it was only a 30 minute bus ride to the border. Brazil is a country I wanna travel around at a different time since I would easily need 3 to 6 months for that. We couchsurfed for three nights with Gabriella & Adriano, had a Churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) with their family, visited a Buddhist temple and got our first impressions of Brazil.
From there I just walked to Paraguay by crossing a bridge from one side of Rio Parana to the other. I spent one week in the East, one week in the capital Asuncion and one week in El Chaco. My 3 weeks in Paraguay were so diverse, happening and fun that I can't wait to visit again.
With more than 400,000 km² Paraguay is larger than Germany but only has less than 10 percent of its population. It lacks famous attractions and is therefore overseen by almost all travelers in South America. Besides at a Couchsurfing meeting in Asuncion, I did not meet any other traveler in my entire time in the country. While Eastern Paraguay is very humid, wet & green, the West is very dry with a very low population density. The entire country is really flat and together with Bolivia the only landlocked country in Latin America.
Ciudad del Este was my entry point to the country, quite an uncharming rough city that is well known as a paradise for shopping electronics. Vast groups of Brazilians enter the city every day to buy new phones, furniture & clothes. I replaced my 5-year-old phone in Paraguay too, the prices there are really good and tax-free. I met Denis, a super nice guy living in Presidente Franco who let me stay at his place for two nights and was the first Paraguayan person I met. I ended up my entire 20 nights in the country in people's houses.
Asuncion is really quite a small & sleepy capital (People in Paraguay call it big "with crazy traffic" hahaha) with a very young population and some really nice parks, cafes & restaurants. I enjoyed walks along the river & around different districts of the city, met a lot of nice people and attended a football match between Paraguay & Colombia to see one of my favorite footballers ever live (James Rodriguez). I stayed for 5 nights with Veronica and 2 nights with Bryan & Claudia from Honduras & Taiwan. It was an awesome time with plenty of great conversations, good food, a day trip to Aregua and walks around burning Asuncion. Thank you so much for turning Paraguay into an unforgettable time for me!
My highlight of Paraguay was El Chaco, the huge, empty, vast and empty plains in the Western half. It gave me incredible insights into farms & wildlife, indigenous culture and prosperous Mennonite colonies. I have stayed 2 nights with Christine in Loma Plata and 5 nights with Rudolf & Juli in Filadelfia. Thanks to them I have learned so much about the history, current life and way of living of Mennonites in Paraguay. While most of the Mennonites in Loma Plata originated from Canada, the ones in Filadelfia arrived a few years later from Russia. They all speak German or Plautdietsch (a German dialect) and it was pretty strange to hear my mother tongue all around me in the middle of South America.
Before arriving in El Chaco I had heard (as you often hear many things) from a few people that the Menonitos communities are quite closed and that it's hard to be involved there as a guest/traveler. Bulshit. The Mennonites in El Chaco were among the warmest, most welcoming & friendliest people I met on my entire trip and I got treated like an own son. They took me to gatherings with friends & families, spoiled me with best quality meals just from their own farms, showed me around their lands, helped me with hitchhiking and answered the hundreds of questions I had about that unique place of the world. I learned about their migration history, current life with an economic model based on cooperative work (that provides a much higher standard of living than in the rest of Paraguay).
I also had the opportunity to meet people of several indigenous groups, saw their homes and learned about the life between those two very different groups. One day I drove around several indigenous communities with Rudolf to buy food for his cattle, which allowed me to see how they live and interact with each other. In the history of Filadelfia, only 2 bad incidents occurred between Minonitos & Indigenas: 1. A murderous robbery in the house of a Mennonite family and 2. Kornelius Isaak, who tried to get in touch with an Ayoreo group got killed by a poisonous spear.
Besides that, they live a peaceful coexistence with a great exchange of work, knowledge, food and help. Most indigenous people I met shifted from hunting animals & growing plants to enjoying Coca-Cola, Lays & beers. They purely live day by day and whenever they obtain any money it needs to be spent NOW, which is quite the opposite of the lifestyle of the Mennonite communities. Once Rudolf showed photos of starving, undernourished children in Western Africa to some Indigenas and they asked him "They don't have Menonitos in Africa?" :D
I really enjoyed experiencing the way of life of both groups for some time and trying to learn a lot of things from them. My week in that isolated region of El Chaco became one of the most interesting times of my entire world trip and I could continue for hours telling more insights & stories about that unique region of our planet.
From Filadelfia, I then started a 2-day hitchhiking adventure to Tarija Bolivia. It took me one day to reach the other side of the border and one more to reach Tarija. Some photos of the first day are down here, the rest will follow in the Bolivia post. Thank you for reading my small articles here, all the feedback I got from many of you really motivated me to continue blogging, uploading photos and exploring more of this beautiful planet we call home.
3 Highlights:
- Spending a week with Mennonites & Indigenous groups in El Chaco
- a two-day hitchhiking adventure from Paraguay to Bolivia
- the interesting capital Asuncion full of nice people and crazy experiences
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| Visited places in Paraguay |
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| Bus from Argentina to Brazil |
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| Bom dia, Brazil! |
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| Churrasco in Foz do Iguacu |
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| Sol & me sampling homemade liquors |
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| Chen Tien Buddhist temple |
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| Walking to Paraguay |
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| Ciudad del Este in the background |
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| Rio Parana |
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| Shopping capital Ciudad del Este |
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| One of hundreds Terere in the next weeks |
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| Presidente Franco |
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| Breakfast with Denis |
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| Gracias por todo, Denis! |
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| Couchsurfing in Ciudad del Este |
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| Professional welcome in busses in Paraguay |
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| The engine of my bus broke down and had to wait 3 hours for a replacement on the highway |
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| Palace in Asuncion |
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| A telescope from where you can see the dangerous areas of the city |
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| Rooftop pool with beautiful view of Asuncion |
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| Cafe de Aca, a beautiful restaurant in Asuncion |
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| Tomito!! |
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| Christmas stuff for sale in Aregua |
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| Lago Ypacarai in Aregua |
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| Tortilla Paraguaya made by Veronica |
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| Enjoying bubble tea with Claudia after a long walk in the heat |
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| Bryan & Claudia, among the best CS hosts I ever had |
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| Paraguay vs Colombia, World Cup qualifiers |
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| With Veronica, Jacob & Paul finally managed a seat in the second half-time |
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| That interview went viral after the match and had a few million clicks in total |
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| :D |
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| TV, newspapers and magazines |
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| Good memories :) |
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| Arriving in Loma Plata |
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| Museum of Loma Plata |
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| Migrations of Mennonites in Paraguay |
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| Post office in Loma Plata from where I have sent a couple of post cards |
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| The empty town center of Loma Plata after indigenous people collected their social money |
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| Comunidad indigena pesempoo |
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| Library of Loma Plata |
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| With my host Christine |
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| The rainy streets of Filadelfia |
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| My first church service after 15 years |
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| The two only bad incidents between Mennonites and Indigenous people in Filadelfia |
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| Rudolf's & Juli's home in Filadelfia |
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| Rudolf showing me his lands |
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| Cows, cows and cows |
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| Buying pods in the Indigenous communities |
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| Preparing lunch |
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| A gathering with delicious food I got invited to |
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| Start of a 2-day hitchhiking adventure from Filadelfia, Paraguay to Tarija, Bolivia |
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| 1. A bakery worker from Brazil who took me for 30 minutes and gave me a huge bag full of different buns and breads |
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| 2. A Mennonite guy taking me an hour on his pick up truck |
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| 3. The longest ride, 3 hours with a Mennonite and his Guarani worker. He drove 130 km/h and I had to hold myself 😂 my clothes were full of oil afterwards |
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| 4. A Bolivian couple taking me in their construction car for 30 minutes |
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| 5. And the last and best one, this truck driver from Bolivia who was chewing coca leaves and drinking beers with me. Rolling into Bolivia in style |
