I may not actually live far from Asuncion. However any trip there is guaranteed to fill a whole day. many hours must be spent in transit on buses.
And so it was earlier this week when I took a trip to the shopping centers. It was the time of year to treat myself to something for Christmas and Asuncion is by far the best place to do that.
With a bit of forward planning though there is no reason why a trip to Asuncion can’t be a good one. A lot can be done in a day with just a little organization.
My day started early. To get the most out of a day trip the earlier it starts the better. So I was up before seven and after breakfasting out of the door by half past.
From my house I rode on my motorbike through the local town and as far as the main road to Asuncion. That was a twenty mile trip to catch a bus that made the journey to and from Asuncion much simpler.
There I left my bike along with many others parked outside a garage and headed over to the bus stop. Fortunately I only had to wait a couple of minutes for a bus to come along.
That luckily for me was a long distance bus. Those buses are coaches that are a little more modern than the little local buses. Also it even had working air conditioning. Very welcome on a day not much short of 40. A further advantage the long distance buses is that they only stop at major bus stops and not every few metres when someone flags them down.
All in all then it was a smooth comfortable journey into Asuncion. With less stopping and starting the bus pulled into the central bus station not long after ten.
The bus station was a busy place. Far more busy than normal as families headed out in the countryside for Christmas.
A short walk outside and I was at the bus stop waiting for a local bus towards the shopping centers.
Several buses passed. All heading towards different places. Eventually one turned up that was heading in vaguely the right direction. Having had enough of waiting I took that to get me near where I wanted to be.
I was not sure how close to my destination it would take me, but in the end I found myself little more than a fifteen minute walk from where I wanted to be. That was fine.
Despite the heat after a long time sitting on buses a walk was very welcome.
So it was then that eventually I reached Shopping Del Sol. My first target.
Shopping Del Sol is a modern shopping center and for many years was the most up market in Asuncion. It contains a good mixture of department stores and boutiques. And a large food hall with a wide range of options to choose from.
The shopping center like everywhere else I visited was much busier than normal. I was not the only one out doing Christmas shopping.
In an hour or so going in and out of the various stores I started to collect together my purchases. Books and some clothing. Books in English are hard to find outside Asuncion and even there the choice is not overly wide. They are always a little over priced, but when buying just two or three books that is not really a problem.
Once that had been done hunger said it was lunch time.
Many flavours were on offer in the food hall. Paraguayan, Mexican, American, Italian and Oriental for example. I chose one of the smaller and less crowded restaurants and enjoyed a very nice Japanese meal.
After that there was time for one more circuit of Shopping Del Sol before heading out into the hot sunshine.
It is fortunate that in Asuncion many of the shopping centers are in the same district of the city. So I had little more than a ten minute walk under the blazing sun up to Mariscal Lopez Shopping.
Mariscal Lopez was the first large modern shopping centers built in Asuncion. even after its recent extension it remains a more mass market sort of place. far fewer boutiques and more stores large enough to explore in comfort. I find it the best place in Asuncion for finding things to buy rather than just window shopping.
I knew which stores I was looking for and visiting those two or three places was able to comfortably complete my purchases. By then my little backpack was looking a little full and it was getting towards mid afternoon.
Shopping all done there was just time for a snack and a cold drink before facing the buses once more.
A local bus back to the bus station. Paid for with my electronic card and then a bus back out into the interior.
Having left my bike up at the main road I could catch any bus that was heading along it. The first to look like it was leaving the bus station was one to 1st Marzo. Somewhere I’ve never been, but that did not matter.
The trip home took far longer than the trip out had.
Firstly this was not a long distance bus and so stopped to pick up passengers whenever someone waved their arm and secondly the traffic out of Asuncion was very heavy.
It looked like the whole of Asuncion had taken to their cars and was heading out of the city. The road which was never designed for heavy traffic was solid with vehicles and crawled along until it left the last of the suburbs.
So the first fifteen or twenty miles to Capiata took an hour and a half.
In addition to the road being full so was the bus. Soon it was standing room only with people squeezed two deep along the aisle. This type of bus does not have air conditioning so it was also rather warm.
In Paraguay such conditions are made more tolerable by the sellers who constantly jump on and off the buses with their wares. Many seemed to be selling fresh pineapples. Of more use to me were those with drinks. A couple o bottles of water and a fruit salad helped pass the miles and hours away.
Eventually we were beyond Asuncion and out into the open countryside. There traffic flowed more freely. The bus though was just a crowded.
I was though quite comfortable. Shortly after seven and about three hours after leaving Asuncion I was able to wave good bye to the bus and walk over to where I had left my bike.
It was still warm but the fresh air rushing past me as I headed towards Piribebuy was cooling.
Once I reached the town I did a quick loop though it to see if anything interesting was going on.
In front of the church I could see an open air nativity play being performed. I did not stop to investigate as I was keen to get home and from the road had no way of knowing if the play was starting or finishing.
I left then Piribebuy for the final leg of my days journey. Out into the countryside. Along the metaled road and then down the dirt track back to my house.
It was just gone eight and almost dark by the time I finally got home.
A long, full and rewarding day out.
Finished off with cold drinks under a clear starry sky.
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