Trinidad Y Jesús (Yep, That's All Spanish An Stuff)

Trinidad and Jesús are the main reasons I came to Paraguay on account of the fact I saw a picture of Trinidad in a mate's book and what can I say. I'm a sucker for a glossy photo.
I'd also met a guy called Luca in the hotel the night before which meant I had someone to go with and he knows quite a bit of Spanish which made it easier to negociate the buses. But first stop was Hotel Tirol for some walking through trees and stuff and generally getting in touch with our hippy nature sides.
This is another reason I came to Paraguay; I just wanted to chill out for a bit before I threw myself into the madness of Brazil with my various Brazilian mates promising (or threatening?) to lead me astray with daily parties. I wanted nature and relaxation and to gently break my poor, out of shape carcass back into walking because Paraguay is relatively flat compared to the uphill monster walks I was wanting to do in other parts of the continent and the only walking I'd been doing in Auckland was from one side of K'Rd to the other to get a kebab.

After we'd checked out the grounds of Tirol and sat down for a mate it was on to Trinidad, the Jesuit ruins about 30kms from Encanación.
I loves ruins, me, but there's not much I can tell ya about them. It used to be a building til the Spanish threw the German Jesuit missionaries out of Paraguay. The building crumbled over time. Now people pay to go look at it. It's wicked. We spent quite a while here taking photos and pulling poses that'd make even the most hardened tourist weep. Security had told us that we could climb the tower but nothing else because it wasn't safe but we found some steps round the back of one of them, out of sight and climbed all over them. Once we were around the other side a guard advised us to stay away from the wall as it could fall in at any time.

Oops.

Trinidad. Part Of It, Anyways.

Next stop was the infinately less impressive Jesús which used to be almost a building til the Jesuits were forced out then it crumbled then it was restored and people go and look at it because the admission price is included in the entry fee for Trinidad. And why not, it killed a bit of time and I'm glad we went. It's heaps smaller than Trinidad so it doesn't take long to wander round and photograph it from every angle.

Jesús

Man I was buggered ay, early start plus walking and being a tourist and all kinds of energetic things. So much for all my relaxing I had planned. We headed back to Encarnación for a feed, rolled our fat bellies back through town, drank some mate with a couple of traffic cops Luca had stopped to chat to then it was back home to bed before I collapsed under the weight of my own stomach.

MATE (Mah-Teh)

Tis a herbal infusion drank from a special cup called a mate through a metal straw called a bombilla. The taste ranges from more bitter than watching ur ex hook up with your best mate to much milder and drinkable without risking permanantly wrinkling your nose with lines of disgust. Everyone in Argentina and Paraguay wanders round clutching their thermos and their mate, it's not unusual to see people sipping it on buses or in parks, behind the counter in shops, where ever they damn well please, really.

Takes some getting used to but hey, it's better than what they try and pass off as tea over here init and as an Israeli guy I met in Buenos Aires pointed out; Good mate is like good coffee. It's gross.

written by

Koala Bear on May 13, 2010 from Encarnacion, Paraguay

from the travel blog: Tourist, Rincewind Decided, Meant "Idiot"

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