Five Days in Asunción, Paraguay

Months ago we booked six nights at El Nómada Hostel in Asunción because we needed to show accommodation on our Paraguay visa application.

The first night after our sweaty bus ride, we ran into Jonathan and Danielle in the kitchen, the first Americans we’ve seen since we left Buenos Aires. While we aren’t particularly focused on finding Americans on our trip, it was fun to meet them. We are doing our trips in opposite directions, so they had lots of tips about Colombia, and we could tell them about Encarnación and getting Bolivian visas in Buenos Aires. They had spent three days in Asunción and were leaving the next day. They warned us Asunción is weirdly empty and there isn’t much to do.

With that introduction, we began our five-day, six-night stay in Asunción wondering if we would regret having booked so many nights. In the end we loved Asunción. We’re not sure we would make a special trip there, but we’re really glad we got to see it. We met tons of incredible people in the hostel and we suspect Paraguay might attract a certain kind of cool traveler. We spent most of the evenings chatting with fellow travelers: Jen from Sydney, Australia; Roderick from Boston, Nathan from the U.K. Asunción allowed us to slow down. We came back to the hostel every day to have lunch and a siesta before going out again and having so much time meant we could explore more than just the historic center near our hostel.

Here’s how we spent five days in Asunción:

Monday

Museo de las Memorias – Free

This museum is housed in a location where people opposed to the regime were held and tortured during the Stroessner dictatorship. It outlines the history of the dictatorship which lasted from 1954-1989, the longest rule in South America, and displays mechanisms of torture used to repress the opposition. Three of the cells where people were held remain.

Walking around old town Asuncion – Free

We walked to the Iglesia de la Encarnación which is a beautiful, large brick church that is entirely surrounded by other buildings. We walked all the way around the block before we figured out how to get in and then discovered it was closed for siesta. Next we walked to the Panteón Nacional de los Héroes which is a beautiful building constructed in 1936 which contains the remains of Paraguayan heroes. Unfortunately, it was closed for construction so we could only admire it from the outside. Then we walked to the Cathedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Senora and found ourselves on the edge of what looked like a shanty town. We started to understand why Jonathan and Danielle had so much trouble.

The Plaza de Armas which would normally be a tourist destination was filled with makeshift plywood houses for people who were displaced when the Paraguay River flooded in 2015. The temporary town is hooked up to the electrical grid and they have water, so it seems to be a semi-permanent solution. Flooding has become more frequent, so many people are not able to move back home, and there is little space to build in Asuncion above the floodplain. A little further along there were people sleeping in tents created with massive black tarps and police everywhere. We felt uncomfortable enough because of/in spite of the massive police presence that we left and circled around to the Palacio de los López which is also a spectacular building.

After this rather strange tour of the old town, we started to understand what Danielle and Jonathan were saying. The old town has beautiful architecture and street art but otherwise feels sort of forgotten.

Casa de la Independencia – Free

This museum is located in a small house from which a group of Paraguayans emerged in 1811 to declare Paraguay’s independence. The museum contains furniture dating to the period of independence. We wish there had been a bit more explanation of the history, but it was interesting to walk around.

Street Art – Free

The street art in Asunción is beautiful. A section of Calle Estrella is lined with beautiful art, but some of the most impressive pieces appear on a totally random side street or up high on a building.

Centro Cultural Manzana de la Rivera – Free

We stopped at this place that is supposed to be a “cultural block” where there are different exhibits that are free. It mostly seemed to be abandoned, but there was one interesting art gallery with scenes from nearby Asunción and a harp museum with lots of old harps.

We’ll admit after this first day, we weren’t really sure what we were getting ourselves into, but it got better as the week went on.

Tuesday

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Asunción – Free

On Tuesday it was raining, so we weren’t feeling particularly adventurous. We waited for the worst of it to pass and then Jess and Louisa (German friend who we met in Ciudad del Este) ventured out for the morning. The Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1909 and houses the collection of Silvano Godoy. There are about five rooms filled with paintings and sculptures, mostly from French, Italian and Spanish painters. It is small but nice to wander around.

Mercado Cuatro – Free to explore

After siesta, we went with Louisa and Jen to Mercado Cuatro, which is a sprawling market that goes on forever. We thought you could buy anything you wanted at the street market in Montevideo, but here you really can buy anything. There are food stands, clothes, wedding dresses, electronics, and more. Jen bought some shoes, and we bought a pen knife to augment our eating-on-the-go kit. Luckily Louisa had been to the market before and magically knew where she was when we exited. We got some chipá and meat on a stick and headed home.

Wednesday

Cerro Lambaré – Free

Having spent a few days in the old town, we wanted to venture further out to see what the rest of Asunción had to offer. The hostel told us we could get to Cerro Lambaré, the highest point in Asunción, with the line 23 bus which picked up a few blocks from our hostel. At only 156 meters, the hill is not very high, but it’s a nice walk up, and you get a good view of the city from the top.

Botanical Gardens – Free

After our daily siesta, we woke Jen up from her hammock nap and went off to catch the bus to the Botanical Gardens. Eric had discovered a website that gives bus information for Asunción (Caminospy.com), so we decided to test it out. Caminospy said we could take the 46 bus, but after waiting for a while, we asked someone who told us both the 46 and then 5 would take us there. The 5 came next. The Botanical Gardens is a great place to wander around for the afternoon. It’s not what’s we would typically think of as a Botanical Gardens, but there are a few fun sculptures and some really impressive trees. We stumbled on a large pond which turned out to have caimán and turtles.

Some people came with bread to feed the caiman, just like feeding the ducks. The pond was very picturesque and there were tons of people doing professional photo shoots (quinceañera, engagement, etc.) with drones, smoke bombs, and bubble guns etc which was pretty funny to watch. There is apparently a zoo in the same area that you can enter for a small fee, but we didn’t go.

Food Park Mburucuya – Cost of food

We read about this food park in the NY Times 36 Hours in Asunción article. Since it was only a 20-minute walk from the botanical gardens, we decided it was a fun spot to check out for dinner. The food park opens at 7pm and is a cool area with a nice ambiance filled with food trucks. We got some shawarma and craft beer and then grabbed a taxi home.

Thursday

Asunción Sign – Free

On Thursday it was raining again so we stayed in the hostel for most of the morning waiting for it to pass and then headed out to find the Asunción sign. It’s behind the Palacio de los López near the Costanera. We think the president must have been in town because there were tons of armed guards outside one of the nicest hotels in town and quite a few Jeeps with armed soldiers behind the palace.

Empanadas – 3000 guaraní each

On the way back to the hostel we noticed a bunch of locals crowded around a tiny stand in a hole in the wall. We discovered the guy behind the stand sold empanadas for 50 cents each so we got two: one meat and one ham and cheese. We’re pretty sure the meat empanada was the best one we’ve had anywhere.

Escalinata José de Antequera y Castro a.k.a. The Most Boring Staircase Ever – Free

After siesta, we went out in search of these vibrantly painted steps that show up on Google Maps. The image that accompanies the location shows beautiful white steps with rainbow colors painted across them. Unfortunately, the steps are actually grey. Asunción strikes again.

Fundación Texo – Free

On the way back to the hostel, we stopped by Fundación Texo which is an exhibition space that displays various cultural and art exhibits. There was only one exhibit open when we went: Variación y Autonomía, which displayed print art by contemporary Japanese painters in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of Japanese- Paraguay diplomatic relations. There were some very interesting art pieces in the exhibition and the museum was free to enter. It is only open in the evenings on certain days of the week.

Friday

Recoleta Cemetery – Free

Having seen the Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires and the Central Cemetery in Montevideo, we thought it was only fitting to see the Recoleta Cemetery in Asunción too. We got there on the line 30 bus. This cemetery was similar to Buenos Aires’ Recoleta Cemetery in that there were rows and rows of mausoleums, but many of these were beautifully tiled, and some were so close together they looked like little row houses. Some of them are in really good shape while others are very run down with broken coffins and piles of bones. At one point we saw a guy enter one large crypt with a gate and lie down for siesta. Not our first choice for a nap, but cemeteries are quiet. We explored the cemetery for an hour or so until we got to a part that seemed like zombies could emerge at any moment and decided we’d had enough.

Hepner – Free, but possibly closed

After the cemetery, we walked to where the Hepner gallery was supposed to be. We had read about this museum in The NY Times article too, but even though the sign on the door suggested it should be open now, a young guy came to the gate and told us it was closed. We’re not sure if it was temporarily or permanently closed.

Parque de la Salud – Free

We continued to the Parque de la Salud which is a funny park with a health theme. There are signs throughout the park with advice like “don’t eat fatty foods”, “exercise for heart health”. We had to register with our passports in order to enter the park even though it’s free. We wandered through the park and found a nice spot for maté and cribbage while we waited for the Museo del Barro to open.

Museo del Barro – Free

Museo del Barro is repeatedly recommended as the best museum in Asunción and we have to agree. It’s a rather eclectic collection of art, pottery, and relics, but the exhibits are all interesting and there are so many rooms, the museum seemingly goes on forever. When we thought we’d seen the whole museum, we stumbled on two new exhibits. After the museum, we asked where to catch the bus back to the old town and were directed to the line 30 bus two blocks away.

For some reason, all of the buses we took on Friday cost only 2,300 guaranís instead of the normal 3,500 guaranís per person. We asked at the hostel why the buses were cheaper on Fridays and it turns out it was just a coincidence. If you get on an older bus without air conditioning, the fare is lower and all of our buses on Friday were of the older variety.

We also noticed all the sidewalks here are different outside each house or store front much like we observed in Concordia, Argentina. Now that we’ve seen it one place, we see it everywhere and we realize it’s a common thing in this part of the world.

After exploring Asunción for five days, we discovered there are some really nice parts of the city and some less nice parts. While we were glad we stayed in historic center because much of what we did was accessibly by foot, we suspect staying in a more vibrant part of the city would give an entirely different impression of Asunción. We’re pleased we were there long enough to explore some of the other neighborhoods.