Last week I took a walk to downtown Asunción. It took about an hour and a half to get there, and two hours to walk back. The next time, it will definitely be a taxi or bus ride.
Here’s a video of a few of the nice spots you can find in downtown Asunción, Paraguay.
Now, I do have to admit that this is only some of the more appealing parts of Asunción. Just a few blocks away from where I shot most of this video, there is a park filled with families of squatters, living in tents.
I didn’t take any videos of that, but you should know that there is real poverty in Paraguay. While walking by the park, I didn’t feel worried about my safety, and wasn’t approached by anyone begging. However, it’s the kind of thing that some people may find a bit disturbing.
The video only has one little bit showing a street vendor. If you walk around Asunción, you’ll find street vendors everywhere. You’re never far from someone who can sell you a cold soda, a bag of grapefruits, handmade jewelry, sunglasses, bootleg movies, or a fake Rolex.
Many of the vendors sell handcrafted items. You can find guampas and bombillas (gourds/horns and metal straws for drinking tereré – the local, cold-water version of yerba mate tea). You’ll find lots of leather items, and some beautiful pieces of lace. There is a unique style of lace that they make in Paraguay. It’s called Ñandutí, which is the Guarani word for spider web.
You can also find people selling moringa. It’s an incredibly useful plant. The leaves are high in protein, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. The plant serves as food for livestock, and it can be used as a natural way to purify water. From what I’ve heard, moringa is starting to become popular in some of the health-food stores in the US. You can find out more about moringa at Wikipedia.
I hope this gives you a bit of a feel for Asunción. Expect to see some more videos (hopefully, better quality, as I get more practice), as I travel to more places and see if they are good for people who want to move overseas.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice video. Liked the music. Very relaxing – made Asuncion seem very peaceful, which I’m sure it’s not most of the time!
Planning on moving to Paraguay next year if everything goes according to plan. Read your ‘About’ section. Interestingly, I also read Hill’s book on the ‘PT’ lifestyle back in the 90′s and have been plotting my escape ever since.
Keep up the good work on your website.
Thanks. I’ve found Paraguay to be pretty peaceful. There is the occasional strike or protest in Asuncion, but they don’t seem to get out of hand. The times I have seen them get bad are usually out in the countryside, where there are disputes over land ownership with the native groups. Oh, and expect things to get loud when the local football team wins their game.