A terrible day in AReguá, Paraguay

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with its lake view, the cobblestone streets and colonial houses seemed to be the perfect place for a day trip. Oh, how did we get wrong ...

in Paraguay we were in a rare situation: instead of having several weeks to explore the country, we only stayed for days. Time and money became scarce and we wanted to go to Brazil before we went home. So we could only see one city outside of Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.

We considered the UNESCO ruins La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue, but they were not exactly economical in a distance of 400 km. Instead, we opted for AReguá, a small town 28 km from the capital.

AREGUá is described in the travel guides with a variety of seductive adjectives: "Historical Paving Colonial Houses" in the middle of "Green Hill" with a "enviable location with a view to Lake Yparacaí".

We read about the village atmosphere, the picturesque pier and how "all kinds of artists and writers have attracted over the years". Sure, it was perfect for a day trip.

We arrived at the Terminal de Omnibus in Asunción in the morning and asked a security guard where we could find the bus to Aryeguá. He sent us to the second level of the station. There we asked a ticket seller who sent us down again. There we asked at the small tourist office and were sent outside and across the street.

We stopped a passing bus and asked the driver if he was going to AReguá. He shook his head and pointed back to the train station.

Maybe we should have taken it as a sign that Arygu should not be, but we held out. When we crossed back, we discovered a bus with "AReguá" on the front. We ran between vehicles passing by and ran to capture it. We managed to get in, pay and find two places.

The bus was full, so we assumed that AReguá is a popular day trip for locals, just as stated in the travel guide. We got ready for the 28 km long journey and expected it to take about 40 minutes.

Alt = “La Candelaria de Aregua, Paraguay”> Atlas & Boots la Candelaria de ARegua, Paraguay

Almost two hours later we were still sitting in the hover on the bus. To date, we don't know why it took so long. There was no traffic and it was not like the cursed Ipiales Quito bus in Ecuador, which lasts every 10 minutes to collect road sellers. I can only assume that it has entered a strange space-time continuum and spit out on the other side.

After two hours I asked the driver again. "Areguá was 10 minutes back," he told me in Spanish. "What!? We have to stop!"

He came to a standstill and let us - only we both - out of the bus. We were completely disabled. On the bus stood on the front, we had told the driver that we would go to Aryeguá and that it was supposedly a popular destination for locals, and yet we had somehow managed to land on this dusty old road alone.

We went back to the city for 10 minutes and held confused. "Esto Es AReguá?" We asked a small group of men who put themselves together in one place. "Si," they confirmed. "Dónde está el Centro?"

We followed their directions in the center and came across a small courtyard and a church. We had a look at Lake Ypacara, but not much.

"Is that?" I asked Peter. "I think so ..."

We considered going to the lake, but could not get a consistent directions and suspected that it would not be exhilarating anyway. We drank a flat cola in a tiny street café and took a fleeting walk through the city. It had to be more than that?

alt = “”> Atlas & Boots See Ypacaraí

After an hour we came across the somewhat more lively Avenida Mariscal Estigarribia. This was clearly the tourist center. If we hadn't traveled two hours to get there, we might have appreciated the handicrafts and ceramics a little more, but we were sticky, exhausted and disappointed.

We discovered a sign for Paella and made our way there with growling stomach. As we learned in Asunción, the restaurant service in Paraguay can be confusing, and AReguá was no different. When we entered La Cocina de Gulliver, we didn't find anyone nearby. We waited patiently and then called a few times.

A corpulent woman came out with a broom in her hand and was completely confused why two customers were looking for Essen in a restaurant. We asked about menus that there were none, so we asked what was offered. She led us through a list.

We checked the price for Paella and she said: "Noventa Mil." "Noventa Mil?" I checked. "Si. Noventa Mil."

with $ 15 it was a little more expensive than our budget allowed, but as I said, we were sticky and exhausted, so we decided to treat ourselves to something. She led us to a table on the back where another lady came out and took our order. We chose the paella with seafood.

In the course of the food, we a) waited a) 45 minutes for our food, b) found that Paella comes with seafood with large chicken pieces that I do not eat, c) Our jug ​​was spilled over us with drinks, our clothes and the table, d) were placed at a table directly opposite the toilet, even though the restaurant was completely empty and e) Were jug.

Our polite British smile threatened to slip seriously, so we decided to get out of it. We asked for our invoice, which amounted to unexpected $ 40.

Now when you consider that our daily budget included food, travel and accommodation was $ 60, we were completely horrified. We rarely pay, if at all, so much for a main course in London, not to mention a tiny street restaurant in Paraguay!

alt = “”> Atlas & Boots handicrafts and ceramics

I asked why the bill was three times as high as stated. The woman who served us claimed that her colleague - who was now conveniently disappeared - would not have told us that the court was Noventa Mil because it was much more.

It was completely pointless to argue, so we paid and went, we were bad that we had paid many times over from what was already an extravagant price.

We spent the next half hour looking back to Asunción for the right bus stop. As we were waiting, we decided to check our photos when we found that the SD card was damaged. In the sun sweaty, we prepared for re-entry into the space-time continuum and sworn that we would never come back.

And that was our day in AREGUá.

Lonely Planet South America contains a comprehensive travel guide for Paraguay, ideal for those who want to explore the most important sights and take less busy roads.