Paraguay
Asuncion was a lovely city, modern but also with beautiful colonial buildings on the side of the Paraguay river. My friend Lenner from Salvador de Bahia was a wonderful guide and showed me round the city. We found places that were not even in the guide books. He exhausted me as we walked for miles and miles every day but it was great fun! Our conversations were a mish mash of Portuguese, Spanish and English.
The Jesuit missions were beautiful but were not in use for long as the Jesuits became too powerful for the Spanish authorities. Although they tried to convert the indigenous population they also housed them and fed them and protected them. The Jesuits were deemed to have too much influence so the missions were destroyed.
Encarnacion has a great beach with wonderful views across the Parana river to Posadas on the Argentinian side. Paraguay people are friendly and the cities felt very safe.
