Paraguay! I’ve been weirdly and inexplicably excited about going to this country for a while now and I’m finally here. We crossed the border from Guaíra in Brazil to Salto del Guairá in Paraguay. And no, those áććéńt́ś are not a typo on my part, and the name Guaira is apparently in the Tupi Language, and not in Spanish or Portuguese. There used to be waterfalls here on the Paraná river, but they disappeared after the building of the Itaipu Dam. That’s a little heartbreaking.
Hitchhiking is fairly easy. Yesterday Jonas and I did 400 kilometers in seven rides to hitchhike from Salto del Guairá to Asunción. For your information: Asunción is the capital city of Paraguay. Perhaps 400 kilometers doesn’t sound like a lot of distance. But you must factor in the road quality in certain places. Jonas hitchhiked his first cargo bed of a pick-up truck, which he liked. The big advantage of Paraguay over Brazil is that I can finally speak Spanish. What a relief! I feel a little guilty about not trying harder to learn Portuguese for hitchhiking in Brazil.
Why doesn’t this country get more tourists? The people are so friendly, the landscape is nice and calming and the (street)food a good mix of familiar and new. I hope to pick up some Guaraní (the major indigenous language) words in the coming days of hitchhiking here so I can add that to the mostly empty HitchWiki page of Paraguay. Happy hitching!
If Paraguay spikes your interest, have a look at this Paraguay Guide Book to get inspired!
Jonas took this photo while walking out of Salto del Guaíra, Canindeyu Department, Paraguay.
Really really really your working is amazing
Paraguay is een erg leuk land. Ik bereisde het tweemaal, eenmaal Asuncion-Concepcion-Juan Caballero en dan ook de Chaco in het Noorden (Filadelfia oa) en in het Zuiden tot in Pilar. Ondergewaardeerd dit land. Leuk dat je erover schrijft. Misschien trekt het wel een aantal extra toeristen naar dit land. Ik schreef er zelf ook een reeks blogartikels over.
http://reizenginderachter.com/2015/04/04/paraguay-onbekend-maar-onterecht-onbemind/