Faltan dos dias! 2 days remaining!
I'm sitting in a typically dodgy border town on the Paraguayan edge and should cross into Brazil tomorrow morning. You know there's something not quite right about a town when every shop has private security guards at its entry bearing heavy guns against their chests including toy stores and shoe shops. I'm about 1,000km's from Cuiaba which leaves me a bit of time to arrive rested ahead of Friday night's match.
A visit to Iguazu Falls was my last stop in Argentina, for now. Unfortunately the day I went out to the park it was quite foggy with limited views but there's no mistaking the width, depth and power of these waterfalls, tonnes and tonnes of water rapidly flowing then free falling before your eyes and far beyond the mist below.
My best shot of the Devil's throat
The following day there's a second quick entry and exit into Brazil before entering Paraguay at Cuidad del Este. It's a horrible town, full of shopping malls supposedly offering duty free and knock off electronics capitalising on the Iguazu tourism. Despite Luis and his family insisting I avoid it, assuring me I won't just have my bike stolen but also the clothes off my back, I passed through with plenty of hassle but no real concern. I've only spent three days in Paraguay so it's difficult to gather an opinion on the place. It houses the largest dam in the world which I didn't go out to see, and is also the largest exporter of hydroelectric power. At times it feels a little like Bolivia but friendlier and looks a lot like central America with the tropical landscape, mud and street food vendors.
More interestingly, it's indigenous language and culture is said to have remained more influential than any other South American country. It survived the bloodiest war in South American history and one of the most destructive in global modern warfare, from 1864 to 1870, losing 60 to 70 % of its population through war and disease, and about 140,000 square kilometers of territory to Argentina and Brazil leaving less than 30,000 adult males and having to rebuild a country which beforehand was striving and not reliant on the world beyond its borders.
I read a recent study by Gallup which measured positive emotions of nearly 150,000 people in 148 countries that declared Paraguay to be home to the happiest people on earth. The survey reviewed whether people experienced a lot of enjoyment the day before the survey and whether they felt respected, well rested, laughed and smiled a lot, and did or learned something interesting. I notice people smiling, laughing and relaxing more than the average I guess, very relaxed by Latin standards I would say, even the customs officials needed convincing to write me out a temporary vehicle entry form. I can't say people are doing anything too interesting which is subjective of course and if experiencing enjoyment means playing bad music far too loud in your car then they're definitely enjoying themselves here. A Paraguayan ambassador explained it well - ''It's a feeling of contentment that derives from following a natural way of life. We follow the flow of the river, the green of the forest, the warmth of the sun.'' Nice, helpful and positive people but a difficult place to find a good meal.
Sixto turned 50,000km and 423 days old today in north eastern Paraguay. He's in good form for the long distances in Brazil.
