Moto Country

After my adventure into the Paraguayan countryside, I am happy to say that I feel more acquainted with the country as a whole. I went toward the northern half of the country following the Rio Paraguay, to a very old city called Concepción, and then to a city on the Brazilian border called Pedro Juan Caballero. Concepción was quite different than Asuncion, especially in that the pobreza of the country is more evident. The border town was similar, though, and it is quite a dynamic city. They speak three languages pretty much interchangeably – Spanish, Guaraní, and Portuguese – which made for an interesting lingual atmosphere. I went across the border to Brazil one of the evenings and ended up at a great pizza place, where I dined outdoors.

Went to see a few museums and libraries and such, also. In Pedro Juan I talked with the librarian working at the municipal library, which I was elated to see, and ended up meeting the next day with the Jefe de Cultura for the city. He was very interesting, and treated me to lunch at the supermarket nearby, where he knew just about all of the patrons and workers. He has a project with a member of Rotary International to install computers and the Internet to the library there, which would be a great advance. They have a pretty good structure, but the donor wants it up to par before he will donate. In the next few months I hope to offer help to similar projects.

I also went to a National Park near Pedro Juan. As you can see from the photos, they have several busts – impeccably white – which memorialize the deaths of soldiers in the War of the Triple Alliance. Francisco Solano López, the leader of Paraguayan army died here and ended the conflict. It really was a terrible war, and some question whether he should be such an extraordinary martyr; in every city there is a street that bears his name. A very humble, and thus powerful, monument. Definitely worth seeing if you’re in northern Paraguay sometime; otherwise here are some pics. Don't you like my unkempt look?

I learned on this trip that you really have to be backpacking to be backpacking, as I missed some of the comforts of the house and the routine that I have in Asunción. I got more into the rhthym of it after the first few nights, though, and found so nice hotels in each city. The place that I stayed the first night was pretty dumpy, but a taxista brought me to the place – I took one instead of walking because you never know how big a city is from the bus terminal. I checked into a place called Hotel Center the next day, which was more suitable for international travelers. The place in Pedro Juan Caballero was not even roughing it; they had breakfast and everything. I would have gotten more used to it after a couple of days, as you start to learn where and when to eat, to take a hotel where they have free water, and that you can bargain a bit with the bus lines. Isn't this great: delivering the "soup of the day" por moto.