paraguay
Asunción began life as a Spanish mission intended as a
settlement spot for the Guaraní natives back in the early
decades of the 1600s. Today, the striking church that was
raised by the Europeans here to make their mark still stands
on the grassy fi elds where it did all those centuries ago. It’s
one of the prime examples of the Franciscan tradition in
the country and is a fi ne cultural addition to an exploration
through the exhibition rooms of the nearby Gaspar Rodríguez
de Francia Museum – the onetime home of the Paraguayan
dictator, located just a stone’s throw away down the road.
in all of Paraguay. Only recently established, it encompasses
a great swathe of undulating savannah and highland terrain,
where otherworldly hills peak above the swaying grasses
and the armadillos playing hide-and-seek. Muralia peak is a
great place to start here; off ering sweeping panoramas of the
region’s arid forestry and plains, while there are also curious
cultural encounters to be had with the indigenous tribespeople
and a smattering of mysterious ancient petroglyphs to evoke
the curiosity.
4. Ciudad del Este
Like a Moroccan bazaar, the markets of Ciudad del Este
sprawl out along the courses of the Parana River, the sounds
of Middle Eastern hagglers and Taiwanese electronics
hawkers echoing between the rows and rows of blinking
electronics and branded clothes. Yes, there’s a reason why this
unashamed hub of the Paraguayan black market is hailed as
the “Supermarket of the Americas”. Thousands of Brazilians
cross over to the town every day to catch bargains amidst
the emporiums of Camilo Recalde, while visitors typically
make a beeline for the colossal engineering masterpiece that
is the Itaipú Dam – another of Paraguay’s major economic
generators.
7. Itauguá
Famed for its distinctive tribal art and traditional
Paraguayan folk music scene, the small city of Itauguá is
a great place to while away a few days as one makes way
through the very heart of South America. Its inner streets
come lined with swaying, shady eucalyptus trees and there
are countless workshops where it’s possible to buy ñandutí
– a beautiful and intricate form of Paraguayan embroidery
that originated in this region long ago. Every year in March
a festival is held in honour of this centuries-old art form.
8. Filadelfi a
Filadelfi a sits just on the edge of the Gran Chaco, where
the forests and undulating hills of the Región Oriental give
way to the great boreal plains that form the very heartlands
of the continent as a whole. That makes this far-fl ung town –
the so-called “Capital of the Chaco” – a very diff erent place
to the small southern cities of Aregua and Itauguá. But the
curiosities don’t stop there either. Filadelfi a is also German-
speaking, and plays host to the people of the Fernheim
Colony, a transplanted Mennonite community that fl ed here
from Stalinist Russia in the 1930s. Add to that a dairy farm and
an earthy agricultural vibe, and one has got a truly interesting
spot smack bang in the middle of the nation!
5. Ybycuí National Park
Capuchin monkeys swing through the canopies while
howlers scale the tree trunks at Ybycuí National Park, a
small and tight-knit protected section of what’s remaining
of the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest. Most travellers make
the relatively short 150-kilometer drive here straight from
the capital, eager to see the gushing waterfalls that cascade
down through the rocky undergrowth of the forests in steps
and plunge pools. Another attraction is the ruins of a onetime
iron foundry, where the forces of the hard-fought Paraguayan
War once created weaponry and munitions while hidden in
the hills. 9. San Estanislao
Named after a Polish saint founded by Spanish Jesuits,
intended to convert the native Guaraní Indian people of
San Pedro in central Paraguay and infused with the cultures
of immigrants from Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe
throughout the last two centuries, the pint-sized yet interesting
little stop-off of San Estanislao is like the history of the
country writ small. In the 1800s it boomed with tobacco
production, while today soy and pulses is the main crop raised
in the surrounding fi elds. Travellers can come and see pretty
tree-lined plazas and wallow in the bucolic feel of the place,
all whilst meeting a lively crowd of students, beers in tow,
during the later hours.
6. Yaguaron
This small backwater town set in the shadow of the
bulbous cliff s and rocky hills just south of the capital at 10. Concepción
Located just on the cusp of the Grand Chaco and
benefi tting from great river connections to the larger cities
38 • PARAGUAY 2019