Day 1: Asuncion, Paraguay
To get to Asuncion, we flew to Atlanta, then overnight to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and then to Asuncion.
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| Changing planes in Sao Paulo |
Paraguay is one of the poorer countries in South America, and one of the only two (along with Bolivia) that is landlocked. For over 35 years (1954-1989) it was
ruled by a military dictatorship. It's still recovering from that period, and gets very few tourists. We stayed in downtown
Asuncion, the capital.
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| Proof that we made it to Paraguay! |
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| On the way to our hotel |
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| A slum area on the way to the hotel |
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| View of downtown Asuncion from across the river |
We stayed at the Hotel Guarani, which was built in the 1950's, but maintained reasonably well. It kind of reminded me of hotels we stayed at in Cuba. It was one of only 2 or 3 decent hotels in downtown Asuncion.
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| Picture of the hotel at twilight |
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| A view of part of central Asuncion from our hotel rum |
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| The pool and surrounding buildings at our hotel |
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| A large bank headquarters, across from the hotel |
After getting settled in, we walked around central Asuncion. There was a big park across the street from the hotel.
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| A statue in the park |
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| Social activity in the park |
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| I think this was the old train station |
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| Typical commercial block |
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| The park at sunset |
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| The National Pantheon, where several national heroes are buried |
Eventually we had dinner at the Lido Bar (in the middle of the picture below), and enjoyed some typical Paraguayan food.
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| Add caption |
Day 2: More of Asuncion
We had most of the day allocated for Asuncion, with an early evening flight to Buenos Aires. There's not much of a tourist industry in Paraguay, but I managed to book a half-day private walking/driving tour of the city with a local company.
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| Asuncion Cathedral, built in 1845 |
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| Inside the cathedral |
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| Cultural Center of the Republic (which was closed) |
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| One of several monuments to those who suffered under the military regime |
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| The new legislative building, built around the shell of the old building |
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| New and old legislative buildings |
Other than some of the government buildings and churches, central Asuncion is not much to look at.
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| Presidential office (front view) |
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| The Presidential office |
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| A wider view of downtown |
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| Asuncion port area (it's on a river) |
We eventually walked back to the
Pantheon of the Heroes (in the park across from our hotel), and stumbled into the changing of the guard ceremony.
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| Inside the Pantheon |
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| Upper level of the Pantheon |
About 20 tourists showed up for the changing of the guard.
From the Pantheon we drove to another part of town to visit the main municipal market.
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| Neighborhood near the market |
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| Entrance to the market |
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| Street outside the market |
From there, we drove out to a suburban area with malls, hotels, and some nice houses.
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| A suburban mall |
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| Along one of the main streets in the suburbs |
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| Well-to-do housing in the suburbs |
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| Another nice house |
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| An office building in the suburbs |
Eventually we were driven back to our hotel, and had lunch at a nice restaurant. Fortunately, I didn't have to ask the waiter for a t-shit.
After lunch and a little more wandering, we got a taxi to the airport and headed to Buenos Aires.
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| Asuncion Airport |
Next: Days 3-4--Buenos Aires and Montevideo
