On The Road

It arrived. 

We said goodbye to Inge the German:

And Mark the Englishman:

We paid our bill and got on the road.

Our destination was a campground an hour away between the towns of Coronel (Colonel) Oviedo and Villarica. Oviedo, a city of 55,000 was founded in 1758 and was first named for our Lady of Garlic. Would I kid about such a thing? Apparently garlic was a massively important crop when the city was founded. In 1931 they renamed it for Colonel Oviedo, a hero of the War of the Triple Alliance (which he miraculously survived). I do know it has a first rate supermarket according to the campground owner Attilio. 

I defy you to find anyone who has visited this country and who will tell you Paraguay should be a noted tourist destination. 

I’ve never met anyone who said that. It’s inexpensive, it’s not heavily developed, the people are very welcoming but tourist sites are not very obvious if they exist at all. 

We saw some hills in the distance but mostly we drove through untended ranch land. 

But the highway was a proper freeway and that was a pleasure to drive. And the second alternator was generating amps.

Paraguay Highway 2 is a four lane toll road between Asunción the capital and Ciudad Del Este (East City) the industrial center. 

The tolls are nothing to worry about, around $2:25 and payable in cash.

We zipped past the town of New London next to New Australia. I had no idea but Paraguay has been a magnet for immigrants forever. While we’ve been ignoring it, people moved here to make new lives. 

The campground is an event space and hangout for locals on the weekend. We have it to ourselves, flat parking on grass, shady but with enough open sky to operate Starlink and our solar panels.

Rusty was extremely reluctant to leave the campground where he got beaten up. It takes him a while to get used to a new place so he stuck close to home but usually he likes grass and shade and not being bothered by big dogs. 

There are a couple of people staying in the hotel rooms but we have this to ourselves. 

$12 a night with proper toilets and showers, a jacuzzi and a restaurant on site. 

 

A swimming pool for our use: 

It’s like camping at a Roman villa. 

And cats. They have  small white dog and an army of cats. 

It was cool and overcast in the afternoon. As we retreated to GANNET2 the rain started. Not too hot, fans blowing, the three of us snug at home for the night.