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Ciudad del Este (Paraguay): beyond rumors
The news about Paraguay is frankly not up to date. On blogs, Ciudad del Este is talked about as a dangerous or chaotic city. Even if it has less charm than Encarnacion, Ciudad del Este is neither dangerous nor chaotic. Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Day 1 : The route Encarnacion – Ciudad del Este is a total #fail. All this because we let our guard down, we simply asked for information from a salesman at the terminal who showed us another ticket salesman and we ended up at the Sao Juan company. The guy sold us tickets for a 7am departure. And then…
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Encarnacion (Paraguay): carnival & Jesuit ruins of Trinidad
If we are in Paraguay, it is mainly to attend the famous carnival in Encarnacion, a border town with Argentina that has absolutely no border town look. Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Day 1 : The trip to Encarnacion is an endless series of #fail. Even if there isn’thing serious, it just shows that we are a little tired of moving all the time, under an overwhelming heat as a bonus, and are less demanding in our choices. We take the bus with NSA from Asuncion at 1:30 pm, for 6 hours. Arriving at the terminal, we take a cab to a hotel reserved…
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Asunción (Paraguay): Travel Diary
Paraguay is a country added to the itinerary, just like that, to the piff. Geographically, this allows us to reach Iguazu in a more or less economical way. Culturally, Paraguay will allow us to attend its superb carnival in Encarnacion, less wow than Rio de Janeiro but just as fun. And then, it’s rare to have the opportunity to visit a country with so little tourism. Part 1: Travel Diary Part2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary We arrive in Asunción last midnight, after taking the plane from Santa Cruz and a 5 hour stopover in Sao Paulo. It is much too late to take a local bus. We withdraw…
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Santa Cruz, Sao Paulo and Asuncion: the clash of languages
To go from Santa Cruz (Bolivia) to Asuncion (Paraguay), we had to make a stopover in Sao Paulo (Brazil). I know, the way isn’t the shortest but it is the cheapest (250$/person).In these 3 cities, I had a little trouble understanding what people were saying.In Santa Cruz, people often “forget” to pronounce the “s” sound and it adds a big difficulty of comprehension. This is the first time in Bolivia that I have so much trouble understanding Spanish. Luckily, my teacher in Sucre warned me that the “s” was missing, so I have to make people repeat it several times. This worries me a little bit because I was told…
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Where to buy tickets for the Encarnacion Carnival in Paraguay?
If you come to Paraguay for the Carnival, you should know that the Carnival takes place in Encarnacion every weekend at the end of January and at the end of February. Less grandiose than the one in Rio de Janeiro, the one in Encarnacion has the merit of being fun with its water and foam battles the day after the carnival.If you are reading this article in February 2017, you should know that there are only 2 dates left in February to enjoy the Carnavales Encarnacenos 2017 : the 18th and 25th of February. On line You can buy the tickets online here: http: //www.ticketea.com.py/evento.php?evento=507 Be careful, the prices are…
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Bolivia in 20 days: Review, itinerary, guide and advice
That’s it! We have just left Bolivia, a real “coup de coeur ” for us who did not expect much from this country (due to Antoine de Maximy’s report: I’ll sleep at your place). Our itinerary is a little chaotic since we had to go very quickly to visit Machu Picchu to take advantage of the last sunny days before the rainy season. Enough chatting, let’s go to the content. If we had to do it again, we would have visited Peru first and then go back down to Bolivia. Itinerary Uyuni and the salt desert (3 days): 9h bus from Calama in Chile. Visiting the salt desert flooded mid-January…
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Epic fail in Santa Cruz (Bolivia)
Rarely has a day been so rotten.It starts with a long wait at the airport of Sucre: because of the heavy rain in Santa Cruz, our flight is two hours late. Having a flight to Paraguay the next day, our only wish is to arrive in Santa Cruz on time and not to miss our flight to Asuncion.The landscapes seen from the plane are incredible. I have never seen so many mountains (as far as the eye can see). Unfortunately we also see a lot of dry rivers.Arriving in Santa Cruz we discover a huge city, very very big compared to La Paz or Sucre.On Saturdays, life comes to a…
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Sucre (Bolivia): one week to learn Spanish
Sucre, the white city, is world-renowned for its Spanish courses. Sucre is also home to Bolivia’s best university, which even attracts many Brazilians and Argentines. Sucre is the Bolivian capital but this pretty city is in a cold war with the current government, which prefers La Paz. Compared to La Paz or Santa Cruz, Sucre has a country feel, quiet, traditional, very pleasant to live in and not too polluted. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary 12 hours from La Paz We take a cama bus (El Dorado) from La Paz at 7pm and arrive in Sucre around 7am. The bus stops near the…
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Round the world budget (2/3): Spend smart during the trip, Earn money & Security
We have seen how to put aside money and manage his payment cards for the world tour, we continue this series of articles with the management of money during the world tour. During the round-the-world trip, you can (1) continue to earn some money, but most importantly (2) spend it wisely and (3) protect your money. I’m sure you already know most of these tips, but there’s no harm in listing them here. Part 1: How to keep making money As a freelancer By applying for working holiday visas and/or doing small jobs (fluency in the local language is obviously a strong point) By giving language courses: Anglophones have many…
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Learn Spanish in one month to travel in South America: Tips, Tricks, Addresses
Even before I left on my round-the-world trip, everyone was telling me that I had to hurry up and learn Spanish. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get started before, so I had to learn Spanish in express mode, just one week before arriving in Chile. Speaking a bit of Spanish is a real advantage here, since it was clear that few people spoke English here, even at the tourist office I found thatin one month, one could acquire enough vocabulary and grammar to travel safely in South America and deal with all situations related to travel. In addition, the French have the advantage of having a grammar and words quite close to…
