asunción
The border crossing we took was through Ciudad Del Este (City of the East) which styles itself as a duty free mecca. More like a nasty, dirty little dust bowl of a place. A real feel of the wild west about it. And so I was in Paraquay. The continents second poorest nation. And boy, it shows. Having come from the relative affluence of Brazil, the roads are no more than dirt tracks and there is seemingly no infrastructure. Years of corruption has seen to that. And the politicians and rulers of Paraquay have an impressive record in cocking up everything and swindling everyone.
So after a bumpy, long 200km ride we arrived in Asuncion. We would stay two nights. It was nice to get back to a hotel, albeit a shared room. I immediately liked Asuncion as it felt and looked like a South American capital. The ladies all attired in traditional dress ( a big filly shirk, colourful shirts and a strange little undersized hat that sat to one side on their head). The blokes dressed like western knackers. The music, the atmosphere and smells. The city has some impressive colonial era buildings and given its compact size, the city is easily walked and explored.
My main priority was to sort out my camera. I found an outlet run by some old geezer called Adolfo Von Kliest or something like that. When I showed up, I tried my very poor Spanish but thankfully he sought to help me by asking whether I would prefer to speak German, English or Ukrainian . So you´re a Odessa file escapee´s, eh! I knew some of nazi´s had made their way to South America. But in fairness he did fix my camera for $50 (a months salary here but it saved me buying a new one) It´s maybe unfair to label him a nazi as he was probably a just a grunt or such like. I reckon he was elderly enough to have seen some action though. And he did have an authoritive teutonic air about him. So much so that I was expecting to hear him click his boots at any moment and then I would receive a slap across the face with a leather glove!
Given the camera repair chasing thing I didn´t get that long to enjoy the place that much. I would have prepared to stay longer but such flexibility is not part of an organised tour. So the following morning at 7am we set off again on the big yellow truck.
So after a bumpy, long 200km ride we arrived in Asuncion. We would stay two nights. It was nice to get back to a hotel, albeit a shared room. I immediately liked Asuncion as it felt and looked like a South American capital. The ladies all attired in traditional dress ( a big filly shirk, colourful shirts and a strange little undersized hat that sat to one side on their head). The blokes dressed like western knackers. The music, the atmosphere and smells. The city has some impressive colonial era buildings and given its compact size, the city is easily walked and explored.
My main priority was to sort out my camera. I found an outlet run by some old geezer called Adolfo Von Kliest or something like that. When I showed up, I tried my very poor Spanish but thankfully he sought to help me by asking whether I would prefer to speak German, English or Ukrainian . So you´re a Odessa file escapee´s, eh! I knew some of nazi´s had made their way to South America. But in fairness he did fix my camera for $50 (a months salary here but it saved me buying a new one) It´s maybe unfair to label him a nazi as he was probably a just a grunt or such like. I reckon he was elderly enough to have seen some action though. And he did have an authoritive teutonic air about him. So much so that I was expecting to hear him click his boots at any moment and then I would receive a slap across the face with a leather glove!
Given the camera repair chasing thing I didn´t get that long to enjoy the place that much. I would have prepared to stay longer but such flexibility is not part of an organised tour. So the following morning at 7am we set off again on the big yellow truck.
posted by Ciarán at 9:30 p.m.
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