Testing my patience with Asunción

What does is take to crack a Finn for 15 minutes?
A lovely Friday morning full of sun shine on Ilha do Mel.
+ Boat ride to Pontal do Sul.
+ Bus to Curitiba, a dinner and waiting for 5 hours.
+ 10 hour night bus to Foz do Iguacu.
+ Local bus to the Brazilian border.
+ Walking across the bridge of friendship with my backpacks to the Paraguayn border officials.
+ Local bus to the long distance bus terminal.
+ 6 hour bus ride to Asuncion.
+ 1 hour local bus to the centre.
+ the bus driver doesn't tell you where to get off like he promised, the hostel isn't where their website said it would be and 5 people give different but all false instructions on how to find the hostel, any cybercafe or the street hostel is on and got you to walk around aimlessly for almost two hours dead tired carrying two big backpacks
= time to take a seat by the side of the road and weep

After 15 minutes I took out my Lonely Planet 2007 looked up the closest hotel (Hotel Miami, 60000 guarani, 9€ per night) and checked in. After having a long hot shower, and discovering that my bed in confy, I've got a cabel TV and wifi in this room for 4 all for me, my hate for Asunción was becoming a vague memory. After going out to see a Guns n' Roses cover concert with a local CSer Rodrigo and having a way too sugary Piña Colada for 15000g (2€) I had already forgotten why I ever hated it in the first place.

Asunción
Sunday was sunny and after having my last skype call with Erik before his arrival to Brazil on Tuesday I took a long walk around the empty streets of Asunción. Empty, because absolutely everything is closed on Sundays, supermarkets and cafés too.

The parks were pretty, but surrounded by small very shady looking huts on the sea shore and at least 5 militaries guarding every decent looking building nearby. The incredibly amount of poverty and military power didn't look too good for me, but Rodrigo told me, that's how the people want to; they long for a new dictator who would make the streets safe again. No matter the price. Pigs running around in the trash piles and little kids flying their kites right next to them just one block from the city's top tourist attractions. Many streets look like those of a war zone filled with piles of rocks and dirt, while closed for repairs for 3-6 months depending on the weather. How many world capitals could close central streets for months and months just like that?



Lame pics?
Sorry, ran out of batteries and all the stores are closed. Use your imagination.

Food thought of the day
This, my cheap (5 reias, 2,5€) plate of the day dinner in Curitiba, shows you exactly how good Brazilians are at deciding what to have. Either they'll have an all-you-can-eat or a pay-by-the-kilo buffet or the dish they've chosen served not only with fries, rice, pasta, cassava, beans or vegetables but with ALL of those. Every kids dream, but the adult in me is not that convinced.



There and back
I have a love-hate relationship to this trip. Just when I had reached this sound patch in my life, simply loving every minute of it, I'm back on the rollercoaster. Every other day, or hour, it's heaven and every other hell (kind of reminds me of a certain engagement). And something evoking such conflicting emotions is of course incredibly addictive...