But somehow I found myself in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay - probably THE most despotic of all the South American regimes - with nothing in my passport to show I was actually there.
This is what is generally known as ¨not good.¨
Somehow I had caught a local bus from Iguacu in Argentina, crossed through a tiny bit of Brazil and entered into Paraguay without the bus stopping at customs.
Once I reached Asuncion, I ended up splurging on a taxi as it was getting dark and I knew the hotel was a long way from the bus terminal.
When the taxi pulled up in front of the hotel I was sure he had taken me to the wrong place.
It looked... well... too nice.
the hotel
The following morning, after meeting another solo traveller, Paolo from Milan,over breakfast, we both went to the immigration office a few blocks from the hotel and with Paolo´s Spanish had it all sorted in a blink of an eye.
No seriously - and remember this is South America - they issued me with a letter for customs really quickly. I can only think that a lot of stupid poor saps like me do exactly the same thing. (Go with it - I´m trying to alleviate the embarrassment)
I´m afraid to have to say that the nicest thing about Paraguay (or at least the few square metres I experienced)was the hotel. The countryside was...well...like a cup of really milky weak tepid tea.
scenic paraguay
Asuncion had so little to offer that Paolo and I felt we had done it very good justice in 3 hours.
Currently I am now in Montevideo in Uruguay and loving it. I liked the place 5 minutes into the bus trip from the airport. I have just returned from 7 hours of walking around town. It is fascinating with some excellent pieces of Art Nouveau and Deco architecture. The sun is shining, and the people are smiling, and I finally worked out how to get some damned money out of the automatic teller.
iguacu falls
more falls
yet more falls
ho hum
bored yet?
overlooking one of the cascades
...well they keep kerb-crawling
No comments:
Post a Comment