We had made it into Paraguay the previous evening on a fairly chilly bus (I wore a pullover and fleece and did feel shivery – don’t ask me how those ones of us survived who just wore shorts and t-shirt).

Now – Paraguay is an interesting country; it used to be governed under a dictatorship until that government came down due to internal problems – Paraguay got democracy over night and out of its isolation. Today tourism is slowly restarting, however the consequences of history are still visible.
Paraguay is also interesting from a money perspective – 6000 Guaranis are 1 US-Dollar, 7500 Guaranis are 1 Euro (per November 2005) – it is easy to be a millionaire in Paraguay – and still daily goods (food, drinks) are inexpensive. Higher priced items will be charged in USD anyhow.

Only option for our first day was an organized city tour; as usual my room opted out. So we started the day with the necessary things, like changing money, ATMs or internet. For lunch we went to a small local restaurant, where we paid a mere 10000 Guaranis each for a huge portion of pasta with chicken and soft drinks. Afterward we started to walk around town basing on David’s South American Handbook and looking for the sights.