The Jesuit Missions of Encarnacion

Our zig zag journey in a generally northerly direction had temporarily taken us further south. Encarnacion is known for being a smaller more laid back town and we were looking forward to experiencing a slightly different side of Paraguay. Kerana Hostel looked like a good choice, location wise being only a few minutes walk from the bus station is always a winner. Being directly opposite Habib's which is highly recommended for the local delicacy the Lomito Arabe. A twist on the Shwarma / kebab with less chili and a delicious heavy on the garlic mayonnaise, washed down with a cold Brahma we were all set. The main reason people visit Encarnacion is to see the UNESCO world heritage site of La Santisima Trinidad de Parana and Jesus de Tavarangue, Jesuit missions dating from 1609, and given world heritage status in 1993. They are apparently the least visited of all UNESCO sites. Given the lack of guide book information on how to get there this seems likely. There are no tours available (business opportunity : note to self) so it is back to good old local buses. At the bus station the touts soon sussed out the gringos and pointed us in the right direction, opting again for the 5,000 rather than 10,000 option we knew what we were getting by now! Once again pidgin Spanish conversation was struck up, and we were thrown off the bus in the right spot.

Starting at the mission itself we were offered the promo video which was perfectly timed to give a taste of the history and available in three languages. Wandering up to the missions themselves, the red each of the landscape had given the missions a stunning hue. Trinidad, the first mission we visited is the largest of the sites, containing houses for the missionaries, the local guarani people who were being introduced to the new religion as well as important buildings needed for a settlement of it's size. We were also able to see the stone walls laid out for garden and crop growing areas.

Dating from 1609 the Trinidad site was the earliest of the two we visited, along with two other tourists, amazing for a site with World heritage status. When we were ready to move to the next site of Jesus de Tavarangue, 12k away the ticket office called us a taxi as there was no other way of getting there. How many countries would the top tourist site either need or be able to offer that service? A few minutes later a dodgy looking tuk-tuk appeared at the end of the cobbled street, oh, please be our transport I exclaimed and wasn't to be disappointed. The three of us piled on for the 12k journey and what a way to see the countryside.

Arriving at Jesus we were this time the only visitors, the remaining buildings have been largely restored giving a real feel for how imposing these buildings would have been in the 1600's. This site on a hillside overlooking the surrounding area would have been a very powerful message of intent.

Paraguay, has continued to impress and delight, this was another day when the people couldn't do enough for us, and were great fun, the tuk-tuk driver even took our picture for his publicity shots. Again we looked forward to moving on, this time to Ciadad del Este to see the Itaipu dam, only recently beaten by the Three gorges dam in China as the largest in the world and still the largest hydro electric generator.