We usually don’t pass by a country without stopping for even a short visit. Everething indicated that Paraguay would not be on the list of the most interesting places we visited, but we ignored it. And you know what? Although in fact nothing specific impressed us here, we don’t regret coming. At least we saw it with our own eyes.

Road to Asunción

We hitchhiked a 700-kilometer route from Ciudad del Este (near the Brazilian border), through Asunción, to Encarnación, where we planned to re-enter Argentina. In the first of these cities we didn’t see neither of the two attractions, i.e. the Itaipu dam and Saltos del Monday waterfall. Today we regret it, but then we were really exhausted by the heat, crowds on the streets and looking for an ATM that would dispense Paraguayan guarani without a horrendous commission.

We went by public transport to the outskirts, from where we stopped… a long-distance bus. The driver noticed our cardboard box with the inscription “Asunción” and decided to stop. When asked about the price of the ticket, he just waved his hand and said that we should not worry about it! Already then we became convinced that the nice people are the greatest asset of Paraguay.

The most non-touristic capital of the world?

Sorry for the obvious exaggeration. It’s obvious that we didn’t see ALL the capitals in the world, but of those 27 that we did visit, here we actually met the least tourists. They may have masked themselves well, but we passed literally 3 people looking like foreigners.

The sad fact is that Asunción is not on any popular tourist route. You have to come here on purpouse, and if you have limited time in South America, you can certainly spend it much more interestingly. However, we like to get off the beaten paths, and we’re in no hurry. We simply absorb this continent piece by piece, including places that are not very thrilling, but authentic.

Visiting Asunción

We stayed in the city for 3 days, during one of which we did not go further away from the hostel than to the supermarket, because after a month of travel we needed a lazy day.

The remaining time we used to wander from monument to monument, with breaks in the shade, because thermometers stubbornly indicated almost 40°C.

Cathedral and National Pantheon

We list them together because they are close to each other and we don’t have much to say about them - both turned out to be closed, so we only saw them from the outside. The Cathedral is a nice, neoclassical, unremarkable church. The Pantheon is the place of burial of Paraguayan heroes, including the first president. The building resembles its counterparts from Rome and Paris only in name.

Playa de la Costanera

The sea is far away, but you can sunbathe on the bay of the Paraguay River. The cleanliness of the water clearly leaves a lot to be desired, because we saw no one was bathing here, but Playa de la Costanera itself is a really nice place for a walk or rest.

Palacio de los López

The Paraguayan presidential palace is probably the most photogenic building in this absolutely non-photogenic city. Is it only us, or does salmon pink warm the image of the head of state?

Loma San Jerónimo

Following the “best for last” principle, sightseeing in Asunción ended with a walk around Loma San Jerónimo. The inhabitants of this neighborhood adjacent to the center decided to attract at least some tourists, by changing the walls, facades of buildings and even stairs into colorful works of art. The project really impressed us, especially since we could enjoy street art without all the tourists around.

The capital of Paraguay may not sweep you off your feet, but it would be unfair to say that there is nothing interesting here. If the city were more “along the way”, it would certainly attract more travelers. On the other hand, it would probably lose some of its nice ordinariness in favor of the tourists… We wish you all the best, Asunción.

Practical information

• The main bus station is surrounded by very cheap hotels and hospodajes, i.e. guesthouses. The prices are very affordable - we paid 60 PYG for a double room
• Street food is not very diverse, but it is nutritious. Vendors mainly offer grilled skewers, ribs, empanadas (large, stuffed dumplings) and chipas (manihot and cheese bread)
• It’s almost impossible to find your way around the city bus network without the moovit app. We don’t recommend asking pedestrians - everyone is happy to show you the way, regardless of whether or not they have any idea what they’re talking about (we’ve heard that this is typical of Latinos)

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