08.51 Christer has just climbed down from his bed. I still sit on my bed. The rest of the people in the room are off to have breakfast or doing anything else. Today there will be no great adventure. We are still in Brazil and will see more of Foz do Iguaçu.

09.53 Well, once again most of the things are packed. We are about to put the backpacks in the storage room here at Klein Hostel. Our bus to Asunción in Paraguay is leaving around 18.30 this evening.

10.32 We're back at the nearby long distance bus station. From here we will go down to the center with a local bus. Before we left Klein Hostel we paid for our stay, was offered a ride at departure in the evening and now the backpacks is in the storage area until further notice.

11.16 We have by bus reached the center of the city. There is rain in the air even today. Outside a small shopping mall with stores there is a small dog looking inside. Is there someone or something he is interested in, maybe his owner?

Avenida Juscelino Kubitschek in Foz do Iguaçu.

A faithful dog waiting.

11.43 Around us we have a post office. We have walked here to send postcards to our family, friends and acquaintances. It's not so smart to send them to strangers. They do not know who I am and I don’t have their addresses.

12.27 We found a small exchange office where it has been arranged with guarani, Paraguayan money. These can be helpful to have the next couple of days. Now we relax on a green stone bench. It is overcast today and chilly. We have also seen the little dog again. He remained outside the store.

13.17 I just finished a quick lunch at Mary & Mary Confeitaria (http://www.mariasemaria.com.br). I had Pastel de Carne and a Coca Cola. Christer who was not hungry for food is a bit farther along the street visiting an internet cafe. Christer is out of shape. He has suffered some kind of stomach problems, possibly enabled by the fact that he was cold at the waterfalls yesterday.

The long street Avenida Brasil.

13.26 My order and bill were stapled together as I had paid for the meal. The stapled papers were left by the door when I went outdoors. Now we are reunited on the internet cafe Handy Café. It went so-so with surfing. Just today there was something wrong in the whole state of Paraná and the internet connection was slow to say the least.

14.16 The rain which has hung in the air for a while has now started to fall. We had plans to visit the zoo today but Christer's condition and the bad weather made us change our plans. Now we are on board a local bus heading for a shopping mall which is located halfway on the way to the bus station. Here on the bus there is one guy in a red shirt and a girl in a yellow shirt who are communicating with sign language.

14.35 We left the public transportation and we´re now sitting inside Cataratas JL Shopping. Here it´s dotted with shops and the floor is slick. Moreover, it is nice and warm.

The hotel Golden Tulip is visible throughout the center.

Christer is walking towards the warm mall Shopping Cataratas.

15.48 We are still mall benched. I've been away and bought some food for the journey. Now Christer is away to buy water. We have made an attempt to call our friend Roberth home in Sweden because he has his birthday today but the phones did not work. You never know if mobile phones are working in Brazil. It varies from city to city.

16.09 Dinner Time! I ordered a Mex 2, burrito, strips and Cola Soft Tacos. Christer takes yoghurt and some water on the bench. He is slowly recovering strength and energy without making his stomach upset.

16.37 We have reunited after dinner and we´ll now go to a bus stop.

17.12 The bus from the mall to the bus station near the accommodation was crowded and full of standing people. When it stopped the driver just opened the rear door and not the middle. It was hard, very hard to squeeze out at the right stop, the bus station. However, we have been able to make it back home and will now have a half-hour break before the shuttle trip we booked.

17.33 Christer took a hot shower and regained some energy and heat. Outside the rain is pouring again. Now we say goodbye to Klein Hostel. There is now a short drive to the bus station.

17.54 Many people are waiting for their buses. We are back at the bus station. Here, there are people with far more luggage, clothes and beards than we have.

We leave Klein Hostel behind us. Time for new adventures.

18.21 It's time for downstairs sitting on the bus from the company NSA, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (http://www.nsa.com.py). We will cross the border just west of the city. Then it will be a bus change inside Paraguay. There are only a few passengers on the bus, not more than 5-10 passengers.

CHANGING TIME ZONE

PARAGUAY

18.03 We are stamped out from Brazil, have travled across the border river, are stamped into Paraguay and have switched to Paraguay time. Clock conversion on land may be something new. In all cases in a bus I think. When will we change bus? Ooops, now the engine stopped. We are in the country's second largest city, Ciudad del Este. The border passage was a story in itself, lots of trucks, cars, motorcycles and a perpetual honking. It all took place in the rain. To jump between the puddles and the honking vehicles back to our bus was a drama in itself.

18.29 Now we have changed bus. Before we boarded there was a quick check of the luggage and we were checked with a portable metal detector. I have the coffee machine next to me but the seats are lower, narrower than on the previous bus. But we are in this trip’s fourth new country, Paraguay!

22.14 The bus stopped at a petrol station. Aboard stepped a lady with a basket. The bread basket was wrapped in light blue bed sheets. The lady just said something that sounded like "chips".

22.28 Immediately after the lady a guy came on board with two big thermoses. I think it was mate tea in them but he said something like "conci".

22.47 Paraguay is a bilingual country. Besides Spanish some speak the native language guarani. We've heard it on the bus and some places we passed had anything but Spanish names. Some examples are Caaguazú, Caacupé and Ypacarai.

23.48 Finally, we arrived at the bus station in the Paraguayan capital Asunción. Now we need to find a taxi, any time before we fall asleep. Asunción means ascent, ascension, and is linked to Jesus as so much else here in South America.

Saturday 24th of July

00.24 A yellow taxi took us to the Black Cat Hostel (http://blackcathostelparaguay.blogspot.com). The driver who probably could not read had some trouble finding the right house but in the end we made it. We had expected a quiet deserted hostel at this hour but it was a hive of activity inside the door. We were greeted by a black cocker spaniel, and also by Violeta who registered us. They had been waiting for us.

00.54 The teeth have been brushed, the most significant things have been unpacked and we've checked into a room which is also inhabited by six other tourists. Good night! Now a well deserved sleep awaits.

08.01 Most of the dormitory is still asleep. However, I am about to go out to the patio and read in my book. Now a bell tolls. During the night my blanket fell down in the space between the wall and the bed. The blanket is now in the bed under mine. I wonder if I get it back.

Black Cat Hostel has a nice patio.

10.03 It was self service at the breakfast. Coffee, juice and toast was what our breakfast consisted of. Good bread but it was too hard toasted. Now the bell tolls again. It is time to seriously get started with today's tasks. The blanket is returned to me. A night's sleep and a new effective stomach medicine has also made Christer feeling better.

10.23 We have walked out on the sunny streets of Asunción. Nice with sunshine again! Yet another a cathedral has been photographed by us. This is located just behind our hostel and is not too advanced but it is beautiful. It was the cathedral's bell that we heard toll.

Catedral Metropolitana de Asunción.

The danger zone ("red zone") that we could not visit.

10.37 Between the cathedral and the river is a run-down poor area where we absolutely must not go. Both our guidebook and a map we got at the hostel strongly recommends against this. "Do not go here!" it says on the map we had. Curiosity led us in all cases, peek over the wall there. All we saw were a few young children who shouted at us.

10.58. We walked along one of the city's main streets, Palma. There are plenty of vendors selling native American crafts and lots of guys who cried about changing money. We have also bought postcards inside the tourist information. Now I stand and look at a very tall man. He walks around on some sort of stilts under the pants.

We strolled along the street Palma.

An extremely tall man in Asunción.

11.23 It's really hot today so it was both hot and sweaty to walk around the city. We have now made a stop at the park Plaza Uruguaya. We have been looking after an open bus company office. It was not the perfect time to buy a new bus ticket when we reached the city at midnight.

11.45 We're back at the hostel. On our little tour we had time to exchange more money. It´s easy to get rich here, 5000 Guarani on a dollar. Now a white (not black) cat jumped on the table and is enjoying itself in the sunshine.

12.23 It's time for lunch at Restaurant Munich. We are next door to our hostel. Here at the restaurant, we have after some attempts managed to order something to eat. They had run out of one dish after the other. However, there was enough meat for a pasta dish. Drinks are proposed in large-scale form.

Black Cat Hostel, Asunción.

A white cat at Black Cat Hostel!

Christer is waiting for his lunch at Restaurant Munich.

13.24 It was just the right amount of everything. Now we have returned the short distance home. Christer wants to gather some energy. We also need to know if and when there is a bus to the next town tomorrow. For the first time, we have no advance purchase.

14.03 The nation's flag flies from a flagpole at the presidential palace, Palacio de Lopez to my right. In front of me I can see a river, the Rio Paraguay. Between me and the river there are a few simple houses. Here some of the poorest in the city are living. Talk about contrasts, the presidential palace and the small houses so close together. Down by the river it´s easy to catch dengue fever. I hope that we come clear from both mosquitoes and fever.

14.49 After much sorrow and many more tribulations, we finally found an open active internet cafe. Earlier on the trip, we surfed the internet to get warm. Now we do it to cool off instead. Here and there along the streets there are men shouting "cambio" (exchange).

The presidential palace in Asunción.

Rio Paraguay.

Christer is walking through Asunción.

16.04 We finally went and did some shopping at the grocery store El Pais at Plaza Uruguaya. There we made the staff pleased, and locked the small backpacks in the storage box number 92. At the store we purchased drinks for now, tomorrow and the home's drinks cabinet. To chew on, it became a piece of chocolate for now and bread as breakfast reinforcement. Now I'll write postcards and Christer is going to take a shower. We have come home again to the "black cat".

17.21 It was dusk and it gets harder to read in our books by Ian Rankin. Right now we´re sitting talking to some newly arrived guests in our room, a man and a woman. He is from Mexico City and she is from Germany. As we understand it, they both study in Argentina and are now here in Paraguay and will continue to the Iguacu waterfalls where we had just been.

Pantheon de los Heroes, built in memory of the fallen in the Paraguayan wars (which they always lost).

Peter on his way home from the supermarket.

19.27 Singapore, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Uruguay and now Paraguay. We are back out there having dinner at Burger King. There have been some Burger King countries for us over the years. Out on the streets there is a "cambio-man". He does not sound as enthusiastic anymore. Here, as in Uruguay there is a shortage of guests at Burger King. Is it too expensive, 19 000 for a Big King with fries and drink? It's a bit more than 4 US dollars. Maybe people eat at other places at other times?

20.40 After returning home, we managed to do some different things. When I tried to leave the dormitory one of the loops of the pants hooked in the door handle. It became a grinding halt but I was helped to escape. When Christer washed his hands, his elbow touched a light switch. This meant that the lights went out inside the shower and surprised the screaming woman who was in there. After that, everything passed quietly and normally. We have been reading and relaxed.

21.08 Some of the guests who live here seem to prepare for a night on the town. They shower, dress up and warm up with drinks. Others use laptops to listen to music and do some writing. We are delighted to find clothes in our luggage that do not smell. Because of that we´re surprised that some female tourists manage to travel around with a set of fresh clothes and related party shoes. How is that possible?

22.25 Most of the hostel's guests have left. It is the two of us, a Japanese guy and an old man left. Here at the hostel there are a few different characters. Here's the old man who mostly walks around smiling. He has been seen with an ancient book, and most recently he was seen in pajamas. Another patron is a man from San Francisco. He smokes, walks back and forth and talks about going away soon. He do not know when and how.

23.15 I have re-familiarized myself with the dog from last night. The cheerful female dog really liked to be scratched. The dog showed up when the owner came by with tomorrow's breakfast. The house cat stretched out to its full length on the desktop in the lobby. Now we´re going to sleep.

A black-haired female came to visit us late at night.

Sunday 25th of July

08.35 The people who went out on town came home around 1 AM. Some went to bed directly, among them, the Mexican guy and the German girl. Others thought it was fun to keep talking half the night. Now when most things are packed, we mostly take it easy.

10.17 Everything is ready, well almost everything. We just need to pay for our stay here and arrange with a taxi. We must purchase tickets when we get to the bus station. But otherwise, everything is clear.

10.52 I sit as a backpack guard while Christer will arrange with bus tickets. We have a number of departures to choose from so there should be tickets for us. There is full activity at the bus station but not in my pen so now I have changed to a better, working pen. Two ladies next to me are drinking mate tea, this drink has followed us during a large part of this journey. Black Cat Hostel was a nice place. The staff was wonderful and the pets as well, but then it is as it is with lots of people in a dormitory. You´re never on your own and there are strange smells.

11.35 We're going to travel with a bus that departs at 12:00. There was no problem to get ahold of tickets. Now we will kill time at the bus station. There is plenty of things to buy here but there is not much that we can carry home in our backpacks.

At the bus station in Asunción.

12.04 It smells like freshly baked bread in the bus which has just started. The bus is from NASA, not the American space agency, but rather Nueva Asunción SA.

12.12 We are standing still with the engine running outside of NASA's office. The driver just went in the back of the bus and brought a large thermos. The seat numbering in the bus is mysterious. In the first row from left are three, four, aisle, 1, 2. The second is 5, 6, center aisle, 9, 10 and the third is 7, 8, center aisle, 13, 14. We are sitting on positions 13 and 14.

13.06 We are standing still with the engine running outside of NASA's office. However, it is a new office this time. The driver, the real one is fetching a normal-sized thermos of mate. The one who carried the large thermos earlier is some co driver. Here it is more important to have filled thermoses than to be on time according to the timetable. We are in Asuncion's northern suburbs.

13.40 The landscape outside the bus window is monotonous flat and marshy. It is overgrown with grass and occasional some trees. I am pretty certain that this habitat type is called "chaco". Much of Paraguay consists of Chaco.

15.34 The chaco is still around and so are we. It does not happen much. We pass huge livestock farms and small roads covering several kilometres in all directions. A while ago the bus was filled with people but most of them got out at a local football match in the middle of nowhere. What awaits us in Concepcion? What kind of accomodation will it be? We have a lot of clothes that need to be washed.

16.08 There is a stop again, this time in Pozo Colorado. Beside us there is a truck with trailer. On the trailer there are some animals. Recently a man walked through the aisle with a white plastic box with sandwiches. The bus might be filling up with petrol. I can see the petrol pumps on the left.

17.13 At Pozo Colorado, we turned east and precisely at junction we passed even the Tropic of Capricorn. We must put this under "curiosities". Unfortunately, the road was under construction for a long distance so it goes slowly, very slowly.

A boring bus trip through the "Gran Chaco".

18.44 It is dark on many levels. We are still on the road. Sometimes we see houses and street lights and joy appears. Just as soon, house, light and joy disappear. The standard of living here in the wilderness is not high. In several places we saw people who lived in some form of tents and warmed themselves at fires outside in the compact dark.

18.50 Light has been lit inside the bus. Light is visible even far away to the left. Is it finally time?

19.36 Yes, we were not quite there, but finally we came to Concepción. Our taxi took us very very slowly to the Hotel Frances (http://www.hotelfrancesconcepcion.com) and this is where we stay now. The taxi car´s parts were held together by various ropes. As the city's streets do not have a higher quality the taxi driver had to drive about 20 km / h. A higher speed could have killed the vehicle. We are still privileged because the taxi businesses are to some degree run by horsecarts here.

21.29 We're back after eating dinner here at the hotel. It was really good, beef and pork. It felt like genuine local meat, no such thing as mass-produced. Now we are back in the room and are counting how much money we have left in this currency.

After a long trip it´s nice to have a room.

Monday 26th of July

08.46 A new week has begun. The ceiling fan is spinning on and dries the clothes we washed yesterday. I have just had a shower and there was hot water. Today we'll go to the post office and send our postcards. We will also go to the bus station and arrange for tickets and go sightseeing. I wonder which the biggest challenge is.

10.37 We're sitting out in the open courtyard inside of the hotel. It's sunny but no direct heat. Right now we are writing a "to do list" for the rest of the day. That includes notes on everything that we should keep up with and do not forget. We are not alone out here. In a small hammock two happy stone frogs are sitting. There is also a saint's image here.

Frogs and a saint at Hotel Frances.

Christer is relaxing.

11.01 Here at the hotel, there's plenty of room and here is also an old stove from the Swedish company Husqvarna. It is a model of N0 133 I wonder when and how it got here.

12.10 We have embarked out on the city streets. Here it is peaceful. There is little traffic and the traffic is made up largely of motorbikes. We've searched, found and entered an internet cafe. Here we have updated us on things we want to know, including where the post office is. It has apparently moved since the map we got at the hotel was made. The building was singled out as the post office on the map is now something completely different.

Concepción

Christer is walking along the street Presidente Franco.

Peter is exploring Concepción.

12.53 The office was found and the postcards were sent. It was expensive, much more expensive than anticipated. Postage went to over US$2 per postcard. Now we have to make a new economic calculus. I had also forgotten to write the address on one card. Luckily, it was discovered before the cards were sent.

13.08 On the way home we stopped at the Plaza de la Liberdad. There we took pictures of the yellow church and a monument. The city streets are either packed with red earth or paved with stone slabs of different sizes. Now we are back in a chlorine-scented, fresh clean and freshly made room here at Hotel Frances.

The yellow cathedral in Concepción.

White paint are supposed to protect the trees from insects.

13.53 We're not much wiser when it comes to the economic situation. However, we are hungry. Now it will be lunch at our hotel restaurant. Much good can be said about this city but there is no large variety of restaurants.

14.52 It was a good lunch followed with a short subsequent rest inside the room. Now we're off to the bus station to try to get a ticket out of here tomorrow.

15.53 You do not walk very far until the streets are replaced with hard red earth. There are also a lot of puddles and mud holes. The city streets are not the best you have seen. Bus tickets are now finally purchased inside a small office at the bus station. Tomorrow we´re off again. The ticket selling lady was very anxious that we would come to the right bus and pointed even out a bus from the same company for us so that we would recognize it. Now it will be a short bench rest until we see more of the city.

Hotel Frances, Concepción.

Concepción doesn´t have the best streets in the world.

We made a short visit at the bus station.

16.17 I sit inbetween a locomotive and a steam roller. Christer is now in the supermarket Super Gran Avenida doing some shopping. A little farther to the left is a church and a large statue of Mary and her little son. The steamroller and the locomotive are here for people to view. However, it is not OK to climb into the vehicles.

17.31 The shopping went just fine. We got hold of the necessary drinks, something to chew on, and even new laundry detergents. We’ve used little detergent this year, probably because of all the cold days when we didnt sweat in our clothes. However, the jar needed to be filled, a jar which has been around since well I think it was around 2001/2002. Now we will go out in the courtyard to enjoy the afternoon.

18.25 We have walked around the block one last time and been down to the river. The sunset was absolutely stunning and it was beautiful to see all the small boats came into the harbour.

Peter is walking past the horses and donkeys on the way home from the bus station.

A green monument on the red earth.

The traffic flows on Avenida Pinedo. The building shown is the church/school, San José de los Salisianos.

20.08 It's a lazy evening, the last in Paraguay. There is no panic with something. We are now looking at various TV shows.

21.34 We're back after yet another delicious meal here at the hotel. The meat here is incredibly good, dense, tasty, perhaps among the best we've ever eaten. Some of the pieces of meat we eat would have cost a fortune at home. There were also horse steak on the menu but none of us ordered it.

23.06 We have listened to the radio and heard the typical South American radio stations with various messages and greetings. It was about everything from sports activities for poor children to information on music education.

View of Rio Paraguay and Puente Nanawa (Nanawa bridge).

The sun sets over Rio Paraguay.