The largest religious festival in Paraguay is the of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is held in Caacupe where the Virgin of Caacupe is kept.

It takes place every year on the 8th December. Everyone in Paraguay who is able travels to Caacupe for the celebration. They are joined on their pilgrimage from many others from outside Paraguay.

That all goes to make Caacupe, for a short while, a very crowded place.

The traditional way to make the pilgrimage is on foot. It is a walk over a little over 50 km from Asuncion and may be spread over a number of days. Those walking even greater distances have to allow for even longer.

Whilst walking is still the preferred option these days many people travel by road. A seemingly endless stream of buses and cars arrives in Caacupe on the days surrounding the 8th December.

From where I am in Piribebuy the distance by road is 35 km. That road takes a meandering route around the largest of the hills. However on foot over the hills the distance is much less.

From Piribebuy many people travel every year to Caacupe. The few that know the pathways travel cross country, but most walk along the sides of the paved roads. Many in fact catch a bus as far as the main road leading to Caacupe and just walk the last 10 km.

That though does rather miss the point of making a pilgrimage by foot.

I have only made the journey on foot once. Many years ago when the English school was still in operation. We had a local guide to lead the way and so were able to avoid the roads until we reached Caacupe.

At the time there were just a few of us running the English school but we all chose to take the opportunity to make the pilgrimage.

December is summer time in Paraguay. Very hot and not the weather for long distance day time walks.

Accordingly we made the journey at night when it was much cooler. It was dark most of the way so having both torches and a guide were important.

We got ourselves together, dressed for walking and with several bottles of water in the grounds of the English school.

From there we set off early evening as the sun started to go down.

Straight away we headed up into the hills behind the school and over them into the next valley. Beyond this stood another range of hills and then another valley this time called Paso Hu. From Paso Hu there was another lower line of hills and then the town of Piribebuy.

It was almost dark by the time we descended into Piribebuy.

On this first section of the walk we had passed several isolated homesteads and had to remove shoes a number of times to ford streams.

It was dark by the time left Piribebuy behind so any further homesteads we passed would be hidden from view.

From Piribebuy the paved road heads north for 10 km and the west for a further 10 km before finally arriving in Caacupe. Our shorter and more direct route was north west straight across the countryside.

It is a well trodden route with paths all the way rather than just fields and forests. All the same without lights and a guide to lead us we would never have remained on the correct path and arrived as planned in Caacupe.

Although it was dark there was a path to follow. This made it quite a pleasant walk. Far better than doing the same thing under the heat of the sun would have been.

We had allowed plenty of time to make the journey so we could approach it a a leisurely pace. This allowed for many short breaks along the way for sips of refreshing water.

There was not much to see beyond torches and starlight so it was just steady walking and not sightseeing. This section also contained gentler hills than the section leading up to Piribebuy. As such it was a long but not difficult walk.

It was still dark when later on I heard people and vehicles away in the distance. This meant that we had almost arrived and were on the outskirts of Caacupe.

I had had various ideas about where in Caacupe we would emerge. I was wrong about all of them.

Instead of the many places I had guessed at the dirt track turned into a cobbled street running steeply down hill. As it did it had more and more town like with houses lining it’s side.

At the bottom of the hill we turned a corner and I found myself a the bus stop from where I had always caught buses back from Caacupe to Piribebuy.

Now having left the hills and woodlands we were suddenly surrounded by many people. More people than I had ever seen in one place in Paraguay.

From the bus stop there was just a paved road to be crossed and then another to follow into the heart of Caacupe.

The closer we got to the town center the thicker the crowds grew. The roads as well as the pavements were full of people.

It may have been the early hours but there were still plenty of stalls open serving hot food. So we were able to sit and have something to eat.

All around Caacupe the festival was in full swing. There were dancers, singers and entertainers in the streets and even a small fun fair. The rides at which looked as though they had all seen many years of service.

In addition there were sellers. Some on foot, some with stalls. They were busy busy selling all manner of souvenirs, toys and memorabilia. Possibly their busiest night of the year.

Once fed we were need of a rest and managed to find a slightly quieter side street. There as other pilgrims were doing we lay down on the pavement and got a few hours sleep.

Eventually most of the town went to sleep. Soon after first light though people were up and about again as it was the 8th which is the focus of the festival.

We also rose and headed for the main plaza in front of the basilica. In that plaza thousands had gathered to hear an open air mass.

It was given by a large number of clergy on the basilica steps in their finest outfits. These would have been all the bishops and arch bishops from across Paraguay along with other important church dignitaries.

The mass played though loud speakers was taken in by the faithful and the blessings received.

Once it was over everyone had somewhere to go. Simply heading there though was not possible.

The crowd was so dense that moving against the flow was impossible.

Instead the only thing to do was to be carried along with it and then exit when you were roughly where you wanted to be.

This I managed to do. As did the others. There we found a car waiting for us to drive us back home for a well earned rest.

Afterwards everyone had sore limbs to rest and I believe slept for a good while.