Worth Your Exploration – Asuncion, Paraguay
Asuncion is the capital city of Paraguay. It is also one of the unexplored gems of South American travel. For some reason the city has not been discovered by mainstream tourists yet and it might even be hard to find destination guides for Paraguay at your local bookstore, and it’s even more difficult to find specialty resources such as a gay destination guide.
The location where Asuncion is situated today was most likely visited by the Spanish conqueror Juan de Ayolas n the 16th century. He was searching for a way to get to the silver mines of Bolivia. He was eventually killed by the aborigines on one of his return trips. Later, a Senor Juan de Salazar was dispatched to search for his lost countrymen, but alas this was in vein. It was the year 1537 when Senor De Salazar visited the present day location and decided to build a fort. He called it Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion.
A city soon developed around the fort from where explorers went on to found other cities in the region, including Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz (in Bolivia) and Santa Fe. Asuncion is therefore one of the oldest cities in Latin America and is also the area in the river Plate Basin that has been continually inhabited for a longer period than any other.
Asuncion is located next to the river Paraguay. The old part of the city, including the harbor, looks out over the Bay of Asuncion. This is a natural harbor and from here numerous boats sail up the River Paraguay to outlying destinations – including Brazil.
For those who love charm and character – this part of the city offers it in abundance. It has an assortment of beautifully restored colonial buildings as well as some art nouveau architecture. A harbor city must also have some dilapidation and this is what gives the area it’s nuance. As you stroll past the many quaint artisan’s shops you start to feel it’s heartbeat and very quickly you will be intoxicated by the smells and sounds of Asuncion. Soon you will be offered chipa bread – which is famous in this part of the world. You will want to stop and explore the beautiful lace articles on display, like Nanduti spiderweb lace for which Paraguay is well known.
Staying at the atmospheric old Hotel Armele is an experience in itself. You will have a view across the harbor and the Bay of Asuncion from most rooms. The sun setting over the Chaco is a sight you will remember for a long time.
At night the city comes alive. South Americans love music and there are a large number of locales where you can listen to live bands playing everything from traditional Paraguayan music to rock. The city has a wide variety of restaurants. While buffet restaurants are very popular, especially around lunchtime, there are a diversity of restaurants available to suit every culinary taste.
The eastern part of the city, especially Villa Morra, forms the new face of Asuncion. Here you will find numerous shopping malls with all the latest movies and international take-away restaurants. You will also find the modern and sophisticated concert hall built by the National Bank of Paraguay where the Asuncion symphony orchestra and other artists regularly perform.
Asuncion has hotels in all price ranges. The cheaper ones tend to center around Plaza Uruguay. There are several five star hotels in the vicinity of Plaza de los Heroes.
Since destination guides for Paraguay are hard to find, the above information should be useful to visitors who plan to visit Asuncion – the Mother of Cities.
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