Paraguay

Everybody has told me there's nothing to see in Paraguay. "Why do you go there - there's nothing for tourists." But I wanted to see it with my own eyes, to form my own opinion. I didn't have much time, but I wanted to go there, even just for two days, to have some kind of an idea of the country. Learning about a country is so much more interesting by going there than just reading in a book.

There's "nothing" in Paraguay - and exactly for that I think I love the country. It's a humble little country without spectacular, highly advertised jewels of nature or culture, there's no biggest this and that: the biggest waterfall, glacier or mountain - they don't have any mountains or glaciers - or the biggest theme park. There are no "you must do this, you must see that"-things. Nobody wants my money (well, the souvenir sellers do), nobody wants me to eat at their restaurant or take their tour. Tourism is not a big industry in Paraguay and the facilities are not very developed. People drink their mate and tereré, mind their own business and let me mind mine. But they are not indifferent, they are ready to have a conversation with the foreigner: a postal worker makes a friendly comment about my cold, a taxi driver talks to me all the way to the bus station. There's only one person who has told me Paraguay is the best country in South America. He was a Polish hitch-hiker who had enjoyed the originality of the country and the hospitality of its people. In the words of my guidebook "what really sets this country apart is the warmth and tranquility of its people".

People drink mate everywhere and anytime: at home and at work, in the streets and in the parks. I saw a guard in front of a bakery shop with a thermos flask and the special cup and straw for mate. At the Ciudad del Este bus station in the morning all the taxi drivers waiting for customers were drinking mate. I also tried the mate and traditional cheese bread chipa in Asunción while waiting for my bus. Now the people drank mostly mate, to keep them warm in the chilly winter weather (around 10 ºC, warmer during the day). In the summer, when temperatures rise up to 40 ºC or even more, mate is drank cold and it's called tereré. In Ciudad del Este I noticed the fans at a restaurant and in my hostel room - which also had a tropical smell, I think it's mold - but freezing in my warmest clothes it was a bit difficult to imagine the summer heat.

Chipa and mate sellers at the bus station in Asunción:

My first, and only real stop was Asunción, the capital. My Couchsurfing host Javier picked me up from the airport. He was a very nice guy, confident and easy-going, which I knew from the first phone call and could tell the first minute I saw him. After staying a lot at hostels it was nice to do couchsurfing for a change, and I really felt like home at Javier's place - even more than I normally do. In the afternoon I went to explore the center of the city alone. Other travelers had told me it's dangerous, so I was being careful, almost paranoid. I was looking at the people a bit suspiciously, and they did the same to me, I guess because they are not so used to foreigners. But there was absolutely no danger, I was safe all the time, even when walking home alone in the dark. I took the warnings of my host seriously and didn't go to La Chacarita, a shantytown where a lot of poor people live right next to the center. (But I did have a peek from a safe distance.) I spent my afternoon by having a nap by the river Paraguay (the cold I had made me feel tired and I hadn't slept much in the aeroplanes at night) and photographing the beautiful colonial buildings, some of them nicely restored and some in a bad shape. The following day I continued from Asunción to Ciudad del Este, where I stayed the night at a cheap hotel before heading on to Argentina for visiting the Iquazu Falls.

Old and new in Asunción:

On the way from Ciudad del Este in Eastern Paraguay to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, the South American reality hit me. First I talked with an Argentinian man who was searching for his 5-year-old daughter who had disappeared on their holiday trip six days ago. Kidnapped? For adoption? For child prostitution? For illicit organ trade? Is there a European couple who's happy to save the world by adopting an "orphan" and to finally have a child, a beautiful Argentinian girl? The man showed photos in his camera and yes, she was a very beautiful girl. So maybe some perverts..? I was thinking to myself, but didn't say it aloud. Suddenly my loss of camera (which I even got back) and 60 USD felt like such a minor thing. "They can take my car, my money, my land and I will survive, but my daughter..." says the man and continues: "I will never stop searching for her." I felt powerless. What had happened was absolutely horrible, and I wanted to help, but there was nothing I could do.

The other thing bringing me back to the reality after all the amazing sight-seeing I've done in South America was a 40-year-old woman in the bus telling that she couldn't read. I don't think that in Finland there's a single adult (except some refugees from Africa) who doesn't know how to read.


p.s. I was curious and did some googling about the missing girl, Eva Luna Montivero, 5 years, and seems that it might be "just" a family tragedy, divorced parents... Mum wanting to have the girl to herself... Sad and horrible anyways, especially thinking about the innocent little child.