Rio de Janeiro: Intro

We had a mixed visit to Rio.

• Rio de Janeiro is one of the top destinations for the whole continent of South America. We waited this long to visit because I was particularly concerned about crime; therefore, we were suitably cautious. In the end, we did not see anything particularly suspicious that we hadn't encountered somewhere else in the world. Yes, we walked through some of the poorer bairros, like Gamboa (below); no hassles, everyone seemed to be working, or headed somewhere.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The weather was bad. We had a lot of clouds, fog, and rain. We scraped our plans to hike to various viewpoints. On the sunniest day we took a ride-hail to the Mirante Dona Marta. As popular as the viewpoint is, there was a three-toed sloth right above the path, and spectacular views to Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf,and more. We were very satisfied.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The 2016 Summer Olympic Games were held in Rio and the city has successfully maintained some of its venues. We circumnavigated the Rowing venue at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas (1st and 2nd below), had a view of the Olympic Stadium from Mirante Dona Marta (3rd below), and walked along the monumental mural "Etnias" (Ethnicities) by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra (4th below).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• There is a lot of beauty in Rio. However, after a week, the assaults of urine smell were too frequent for me, even in Copacabana and Ipanema. Nothing turns me off a city more than the smell of urine in the streets. It epitomized the lack of everything I hold dear; dignity, public health, social services....

Rio might have come a long way. It still has a long way to go.

Brazil: Paraty

Paraty is a colonial town between Sao Paulo and Rio, therefore very popular. Founded to ship gold mined from Minas Gerais, Paraty took a backseat when gold was later routed through Rio. As a result the old center was preserved, with cobblestone streets and colorfully painted colonial houses which are especially beautiful at sunrise (1st below).









Another interesting feature of Paraty is that some streets are designed to be flooded at the monthly highest tides, washing out street debris. What an idea! Though we happened to be there during the harvest moon, the daytime high tide didn't produce much flooding. We were not motivated enough to go out at 2am.





I found it curious that Paraty didn't get on the UNESCO list until 2019. On our Brazil itinerary, there are four other colonial towns that have been on the UNESCO list longer. We'll have to see whether we agree. We rather like Paraty. It's very genuine. Our Airbnb is on the next block from the cobble streets, not at all touristy, it might as well be another town. Below is the view from the window of our Airbnb.



We squeezed in a beautiful coastal walk, from Vila Oratorio to Sono Beach (photos below), before the weather turned very hot (95F). Traveler's Tip: See the bus schedule to Vila Oratio 5th below.

Asuncion to Paraty, Brazil

From Asuncion we headed back to Brazil. After a direct flight to Sao Paulo, we took a bus from the airport to the coast, to the town of Caraguatatuba. Since it was dark, we spent the night near the bus station, saving the scenic journey along the coast for the daylight hours.

The next day, we first took a bus to Ubatuba, then another one to Paraty. There are beaches all along the coast and forested hills inland. While there is quite a bit of tourist infrastructure (see the video of Maranduba Beach below or link here), the level of development is rather restrained. I'm impressed at Brazil's efforts to preserve their Atlantic Forest.

We pass a mansion while on the city bus to the Asuncion airport (ASU).


Looking to Central Asuncion just after takeoff from ASU.


At the Sao Paulo Airport (GRU), there is a long distance bus station right across the street from the Terminal 2 arrival hall. From there we took a late afternoon bus south to Caraguatatuba where we stayed in comfy, humble airbnb (4th below) just a 3-minute walk from the bus terminal.








The next morning we rode one bus from Caraguatatuba to Ubatuba, then another to Paraty. Below: at the ticket office window in Caraguatatuba.


The bus route to Ubatuba was along the coastal beaches and headlands.




Enseada Beach in Ubatuba (first 2 below). Plus a short video of the bus rolling along tourist favorite Maranduba Beach (3rd below).








Itamambuca.


Before heading to our apartment we checked the convientlyposted Bus Schedule for Vila Oratorio.

Paraguay: Asuncion

From Encarnacion, we headed to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. We first had a stopover in Yaguaron to admire its church. Check out the photos directly below; especially the one of the tremendously tall pulpit. The Jesuit missions would have looked just like this church, except this one was founded by Franciscans, which partly explains its good fortune of having survived.







We had a really strange visit to Asuncion. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon. The streets in downtown looked rather deserted, not to mention maybe 10% of the buildings are abandoned. Monday was a national holiday. Tuesday it rained a lot. It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon we began to see more than a handful of people at a time. It wasn't that we felt unsafe, it was rather eerie and disconcerting. [See the photos farther below.]

The highlight of Asuncion was meeting our new friends Gabriel and Diana at a vegetarian restaurant run by a couple of really nice ladies from Taiwan. Gabriel is a polyglot and learned Chinese on his own. They showed us around, took us to the lakeside town of San Bernadino, a major summer weekend destination, as Paraguay is landlocked. We were introduced to traditional Paraguayan food (4th below). We finally saw where crowds gather;that is, everyone had decamped to the suburbs. We had never experienced that level of urban flight as in Asuncion.









I had a major revelation - tapioca is yet another food native to the Americas. The plant is cassava (English), yuca (Spanish), and mandioca or aipim (Portuguese). Tapioca is the starch extract in English. In Brazil, it's a pancake made from the starch, also known at Mbeju (photo below) in Paraguay in the native language of Guarani. The bubbles in boba tea, popular around the world, is made from tapioca, a common ingredient in Southeast Asian cooking. Conquistadors took cassava to the Philippines, then spread to the rest of Southeast Asia, where it became a common ingredient, from which we now have the bubbles from boba tea, global phenomenon.



On the bus from Encarnacion to Asuncion in our fav seats: Upper Deck, Front Row!!!




Paraguay exports millions of tons of soybeans. We saw many grain silos (grainaries) along the road.




On the National Holiday we followed a walking tour of historic buidlings.


Municipal Theatre Ignacio A. Pane


National Pantheon of Heroes


Not an historic building, but on the route. ;-)


The Central Railway Station is now the Railway Musuem.




Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption




Typcial corner in Central Asuncion.


This green building catches the eye. It's under rennovation OR being demolished; hard to tell which.




Just a few blocks away is the Palacete Duarte (1908) Art Nouveau Building which is being renovated.


Lots of military police around the Palacio de los López, the office of the President of Paraguay.




View to the Paraguay River.


The Art Deco Marco Polo Building / Edificio Marcopolo


The Historic and Very Spiffy Asunción Palace Hotel


And bonus, John gets a haircut.


The striking non-historic brick Asuncion Super Centro Shopping Center


The so-called Mansión Art Déco was around the corner from our apartment.


Also the Church of the Incarnation was near our apartment


The next day we finished up the walking tour in the rain. Check out Sun-Ling's new yellow rain jacket.




And had a tasty meal at Comida Taiwanesa Y Occidental Saludable Y Vegetariana where we met Gabrial and Diana.


We are rewarded with a rainbow at the end of the day as seen from our apartment.




Lunch At Veggie Heart, another Taiwanese vegetarian restaurant.


More typical buildings in Central Asuncion.