Ciudad del Este

We got up and quickly packed up our few things. I went to have breakfast earlier, Julia started walking to the bus terminal already and I followed shortly after. We bought the bus tickets to bring us to the main bus terminal in Ciudad del Este. Then we crossed once again the border to Brazil and were stuck in traffic to Paraguay for around 45 minutes. When leaving Brazil it said something about registering if you're a foreigner 😬 Not sure if we've done something wrong there 🙈
When we were getting closer to the Paraguayan border though, I said to Julia that we need to get off for the stamp. A fellow traveler had told us about that they had an issue when returning to the border without an entry stamp. They probably wouldn't have told us either that we need to get off the bus. So we got our stamp in the passport and then waited for the next bus of the same company to pick us up and continue to take us to the bus terminal in Ciudad del Este. We would've also had the options to take a taxi or to walk but we didn't have any guaranies and walking would've taken more than an hour. But luckily the next bus arrived just about half an hour later, so we didn't have to wait long and it was still quicker than walking 😁 At the bus terminal we withdrew some guaranies and then booked the next bus to Asunción. This was scheduled for an hour later so we had time for a little lunch. At a small booth we got some sandwiches but the Milanesa was tasting pretty bad 🤢 The bus we had booked has its own waiting area with TV and WiFi, where we spend the remaining time until departure. The departure was later than we had planned/expected and shortly after 12 we started the journey further West.
The views we got from Paraguay after leaving the - quite big - city of Ciudad del Este was very green. The journey (through almost the whole country) was very rural and scenic. The heavy downpour was followed by long periods of sunshine. Also the clouds have been super pretty with all kinds of different formations. We were excited to be in a new country that was different in terms of food, customs and even language. On the way a vendor had entered the bus and offered the local speciality, chipas. They're like bagels but a little bit drier and with anis. It tastes a lot better than it sounds 😁

The traffic into Asunción was pretty bad and we arrived about an hour later than anticipated. Then we took a taxi to our hotel, checked in and went directly into the nearby city center to explore. We had already prepared a rough plan what we wanted to see and there are only a few highlights. It was an interesting experience because the streets were almost empty when we started walking in direction of the riverfront. There is actually a nice little sandy beach which looked pretty inviting in the evening with more than 30 degrees. On the way back we saw a little booth selling tereré, the local paraguayan specialty, made with yerba mate and ice cold water. We got a large water spender and a cup with mate to sit on a nearby bench and enjoy ☺️ I liked it a lot and I think it might be even better than the traditional mate... With new energy from the drink we continued our exploration of the city visiting the highlights at night. It felt pretty safe walking later in the evening and many buildings had a pretty lighting. But there are also quite a lot of run down buildings around the center.
For dinner we went to a restaurant recommended by the receptionist that offered a huge menu and also the typical Paraguayan dishes. So we ordered a tasting platter and two mains and were surprised by the uniqueness and great taste!
- Sopa paraguaya: Corn flour, onion and fresh cheese (cornbread style)
- Pastel mandi'o: Beef filled manioc flour empanada
- Mbeju: Starch cake made with manioc flour (yucca) and Paraguay cheese
-Vori-Vori: Chicken stew with corn flour balls filled with cheese
- Arroz Kesú:
Rice with Paraguayan cheese

Then we finished with desserts and a pitcher of Caipirinha (not a good one though) at the rooftop terrace of our hotel. All outdoor activities were accompanied by a very annoying bunch of mosquitoes 🦟 So we went to our hotel room soon after to go to bed early as we have more plans for tomorrow...Read more