Without my heavy load, I'm able to enjoy the chaos of the city. Almost the entire city appears to be devoted to retail. Most of it is electronics, but about a fifth of the stalls are dedicated to selling either jackets or thick blankets. It's over twenty-five degrees out here. I've no idea who's buying that stuff.
At the tourist information, it's explained to me that the city is a duty free zone, and comes narrowly behind Hong Kong. I haven't owned a computer since 2008. I replaced an MP3 player with a record player, the production of which was discontinued in the sixties. And, my phone dates back to the turn of the century. Despite studying computers at university, I have almost no interest in technology. I'd been pushed into buying that camera, and we know what happened to that. I was tempted enough a look at the prices for a phones, watches, and cameras. The Nokia 1616 is about gbp20 here, but my phone and my watch work just fine, and as for the calls for me to buy a camera, fool me once...
Tourist Information also tells me the sight for seeing is the Hydroelectric Dam. My first reaction was to wonder why I would want to use my spare time to see a concrete dam, but on a second though, versus a church, or shopping, a dam suddenly makes sense. Then on a third thought, The falls of Iguazu are all very well, but it's not anything that I can practically relate to. I relate to Playstation and my massively, massively overpowered amplifier. The dam is, in fact, the only logical interest.
I'm welcomed at the dam and ushered onto a bus tour, with just two other locals and our guide. It's an impressive piece of water and a more impressive piece of concrete. Man, one, Nature, nil.
The next stop is the zoo. I don't really need to see another zoo, but it's nearby the dam, and I've got little else to do. On asking where the zoo was, I'm offered a bus ride to it, so seems rude not to. At the zoo, I join a group following another guide, albeit for a tour in Spanish. I was wrong, this isn't another zoo. It's the best zoo I've ever been to. The animals here understand that it's a show, and they need to be front-centre. There's two types of silly monkey, rats the size of pigs, actual pigs, a big anteater with a funny cartoonesque walk, a turtle riding a crocodile, big beak toucans, and even the good kind of parrots - the ones that you see in the movies. There's a couple of fierce looking panthers that are posing for pictures. Man, two, Nature, nil.
Last year was Paraguay's two-hundredth birthday, and I wander into the zoo-adjacent museum, revamped for the occasion. All the two-hundred year history of the country is translated into English, and somehow made interesting to read. Alas, the story is a familiar one. The indigenious people were having a super time, living sustainably off the fat of the land, free of disease, and generally minding their own business, until those dreadful catholics turned up. As was the case in Tierra Del Fuego, the catholics played out their standard game plan - mass genocide, enslavement of just enough people to squeeze the land dry of anything worth taking, and some complimentary heavy-handed brainwashing. Real bastards, those catholics.
The grande finale today, is back at the dam. Twice a week, they bus a load of locals, and for some reason, just twelve tourists out in front of it, and light it up to music. There's hours to burn before the light show, but rather than leaving me twisting in the wind, there's a local band playing a set peppered with CCR, Sting, and even finding time for the Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony - who knew that one ever got out of England. The light show isn't a Las Vegas styled affair, but is impressive nonetheless. Finally, the tour guide and one of the drivers offer me a ride back into town.
Throughout, the entire afternoon and evening, noone has asked for a single peso. None of the guides have so much as edged a hand out with some expectation. Paraguay isn't on the standard tourist trail - the Inca trail, the death road, Iguazu, etc. None of the travellers I met had been, nor heard anything about it, but for me, Paraguay is knocking balls out of the park, left, right and centre.
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