Guaranis from Asunción
Where did I leave you the other day ? Oh, yeah I remember, Iguazu falls. Well, our clothes are dry now (I actually had to buy new trousers, very cheap !) and we´ve crossed the Paraguayan border through Ciudad del Este (the Eastern city). Crossing the border is kinda fun. The bus drops you just 5 meters from the country, you enter a small building, the custom officer stamps your passport and you get on the very same bus on the other side. And that´s only to leave Argentina. Then you´ve got to get the stamp in Ciudad del Este. Quite complicated... I´m glad the EU made it easier in Europe.
I´m writing these lines from Asuncion, capital city of Paraguay, where we´re staying until tomorrow. It took us only 6 hours to cross the country from East to West to reach Asunción. The country is slightly bigger than Germany. The bus wasn´t quite as good as the ones in Argentina, but that was OK. We had read the guide and Paraguay was pictured as dangerous, corrupted and with angry mosquitoes only too willing to inject you dengue... No need to tell you I wasn´t that happy to get there at night time, with no hostel booked in advance. However, we found a very nice hostel with the best room we´ve had so far (no insects, almost no mosquitoes, reasonably clean, with TV). Great ! We watched an american movie subtitled in Spanish (they don´t dubb movies in South America). It almost felt like home. I said almost !
Today we´ve wandered in the city center and visited a few museums, monuments and galleries. There 
was a show in the tourist office, a few bands playing traditional music and little girls dancing in costumes (the Paraguayan "American Idol" :). All in all the city center is fairly small. Maybe that´s only because we´ve walked in the same streets, those with the main places of interest... We do not feel insecure here. Paraguayans are very nice and helpful. Of course there are some beggars (unfortunately mostly Guaranis, native indians) but they don´t follow you. We found a restaurant where you pay according to the weight of your food. It´s some kind of carvery. You help yourself with anything you want, they weigh your plate and you pay accordingly. It´s great ! (if you know me, you know food is important to me, yummy ! :) I was also surprised to see people drinking "Maté" in Paraguay also, I thought that was only in Argentina (cf "Previously in Lost South America"). I definitely have to get that cup and tube. Oh, did I mention the currency ? That´s fun also. One US Dollar is about 5300 Guaranis. Are you good at maths ? I´m not...
Well, that´s it for today. We confirmed our flight, so we´ll be in Rio tomorrow. I can´t wait to see Copacabana ("Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl, with yellow feathers in her hair..." thank you Barry Mannilow).
See you there.