As I do like to do I recently took a day trip into the Paraguayan countryside.
There are many sights to see in the countryside and visiting them can both make for enjoyable days out and be a bit of an adventure.
Apart from for a few of the major sites there will be most likely to be no mentions in travel guides and almost certainly no literature. Any form of signage is also most unlikely. So almost anything can turn into a voyage of discovery.
The lack of tourist infrastructure does also mean that away from summer weekends places are deserted. All the more rewarding for those who make the effort to find them.
Almost everywhere in Paraguay has things that are a well worth a visit. On this trip though I travelled just to the towns of Caacupe and Piribebuy. Places that I know very well, but where even after 20 years I have been able to discover new attractions.
The town of Caacupe is the largest town in the Cordillera Hills area and a couple of hours travel from Asuncion.
It is best know as a religious centre but there is plenty more to it than that.
There many places to eat in town and being a regional centre it also has plenty of retail offerings.
The town is surrounded by countryside which is thickly coated in green. From any high point in Caacupe the ring of hills that surround the town is visable.
Caacupe sits in the middle of an old extinct volcanic caldera. Head out in any direction from the centre and you will find hills.
The best know of these is Cerro Cristo Rey (Christ the King Hill) which sits at the enterance to Caccupe.
The climb to it’s summit is fairly easy with just a few rocks to clamber over at the top. On the very top there are the ruins of a tiny chapel and from there a good view over the town and countryside.
A path winds it way up the hill and lacking any sort of fencing care needs to be taken by anyone climbing the hill as to where they are stepping.
That was not though the hill I intended climbing as I had found a more obscure one of the other side of town.
That hill was named rather unimaginatively Cerro Antenna ( Antenna Hill). Large antennas on top of the hill rather than anything historic have given this hill it’s name.
I found the base of the hill to be just a few hundred metres from the main road, so easliy accessable. Of course there was no signage of any type anywhere to be seen. I could though see the antennas and so knew I was in the right place.
This hill is not accended by a winding path, instead there is a metal stairway up it’s side. A steep stairway that is not far short of being a ladder.
The stairway heads straight up and apart from a small platform halfway up the climb is relentless. Certainly quite a stiff climb.
When I reached the summit (a little short of breath) a man appeared from amongst the bushes. It turned out he was the keeper of the antennas. As such he has to climb the hill every day.
He directed me passed the antennas to a viewpoint that I eventually found after pushing through bushes.
The viewpoint was a rock ledge that stuck out from the hilltop giving a panoramic over the surrounding countryside. Quite a view from up there.
Then it was back down the hill. The steepness of the stairway was visable in the way that looking from the top it disappeared from view after just a few steps.
Once I got back to the base of the hill I headed into Caacupe for lunch.
I was ready for lunch by then and had no trouble finding some good quality and inexpensive food.
Once refreshed I headed over to Piribebuy for the second half of the day.
Piribebuy is a pretty little country town. It is a clean and peaceful place which being a resort town is well used to the needs of visitors.
It is also a historic town. During the Triple Alliance War in the late 19th century it was for a while the capital of Paraguay and was the site of one of the last battles of the war.
The main attraction of Piribebuy is the countryside that surrounds it. Here there are hills for walking in and clear cool upland streams.
I was staying though in town looking for something I had never previously visited, and had only recently discovered existed.
Through the town flows the River Piribebuy. There is a dam across it in the town centre which when closed forms a lake that is the town swimming pool. I had heard that a little way upstream there were the remains of an older dam.
This older dam I discovered was a few hundred metres upstream on the edge of the town.
Climbing down a sandy path that wound it’s way through the undergrowth I found the dam. Or the ruins of it.
It turned out to be a solid structure a couple of metres high and about fifty centimetres deep. A large section of the central wall however was missing.
The dam I found had been built in 1942 and protected the town from flooding until the 1980s when it was washed away in a storm. That must have been quite a storm to have torn the dam down.
Now this historic site sits largely forgotten. Other than local families who know it is a quite spot to bathe in the river on a summer weekend it is largely abandoned.
A very nice secret spot in Piribebuy. The dam is worth seeing and in front of it the river winds it’s way into town between large flat rocks and small beaches.
There are places like this to be found all over Paraguay. They are the rewards for anyone who is prepared to do the work necessary to discover them.
Almost always the visitor will have these places to themselves. No tour groups, no noise, just the peace and quiet of the Paragauyan countryside.
Paraguay is a land that is bountyfull for the adventurous traveller. It has much to give anyone who is prepared to look beyond the tourist trail and who wishes to feel like they are the first person to discover some new hidden gem.
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