Paraguay - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 698

(Gs25,000) for all three as long as you go
within 72 hours. The best places to stay
are in posadas (see box opposite), or one
of the fancy or unusual hotels (see box
opposite) along the way. There are no
ATMs in any of the mission villages, so
be sure to carry cash.

THE ENTRANCE AND
EXIT OF THE JESUITS
The Jesuits , a religious order of Catholic
missionaries, came to Paraguay in 1607
and based seven of their Treinta Pueblos
(the thirty towns they built in South
America between Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia
and Paraguay) within the modern borders
of the country. In the missions, or
reductions as they are also known,
isolated from the colonial world, the arts
flourished and the Jesuit-Guaraní
partnership was best known for its music,
printing press (the first in South America),
sculpture and architecture. The missions
survived and grew for 160 years, but the
Jesuits were finally expelled in 1768
having plagued the colonial rulers for too
long for their insular governance and
protection of the indigenous community
from exploitation. The Oscar-winning film
The Mission (Roland Joffe, 1986), starring
Robert De Niro, explores many of the
reasons for their expulsion.

Trinidad
One of the many joys of Paraguay's most
famous tourist attractions is the
extraordinary feeling of having UNESCO
World Heritage Sites to yourself. The
mission of Trinidad , or La Santísima
Trinidad del Paraná to give it its full
unwieldy name (English-speaking guides
available; daily 7am-7pm, Luz y Sonido
show hurs-Sun 7/8pm; Gs25,000
joint ticket; T 098 577 2803, E trinidad
@senatur.gov.py) is the most complete
and important of all the Treinta Pueblos ,
and retains its magic (despite being just
700m from Ruta 6) thanks to its hilltop
location. It best provides a sense of how
full life would have been for the
inhabitants of the missions. The most
impressive structure is the Iglesia Mayor ,
filled with fantastically ornate stone
carvings, the most famous being the
frieze of angels stretching around the
altar (look up). Try and time your visit
to see the Luz y Sonido which, at
nightfall, provides - you've guessed it
- lights and sounds re-creating daily life
in the mission.
Trinidad is easily reached on public
transport travelling in either direction on
Ruta 6 (ask to be dropped at Trinidad at
Km31, clearly signposted next to an
incongruous power plant). Buses and
colectivos to Trinidad leave the Terminal
in Encarnación regularly (hourly;
30min-1hr). It's 250km from here to
Ciudad del Este and you can flag down
any of the larger buses, which will
probably be heading there.

8

Laundry Salon de Belleza Meri, Gral. Cabañas, at C.A. López.
Post o ce Nuevo Circuito on the Ruta Internacional,
at San José.
Tourist Police Wear light blue shirts with chequered
hat; the main police station is at Tte. H. Gonzalez, cnr 25
de Mayo.

THE RUTA JESUÍTICA
No trip to Paraguay is complete without
visiting at least a few of the seven towns
which make up the RUTA JESUÍTICA
(Jesuit route; W rutajesuitica.com.py,
comprehensive website of museums
and ruins, as well as accommodation),
so dubbed by SENATUR to promote
the route between Asunción and
Encarnación via those towns with Jesuit
history. There are four such towns in the
department of Misiones (see box, p.704),
while in neighbouring Itapúa, there are
the remains of three Jesuit-Guaraní
missions . While Trinidad is the most well
known, neglecting its neighbour Jesús ,
or the further-afield San Cosme , the other
side of Encarnación, would be a great
loss. It's worth timing trips to Trinidad
and San Cosme for an evening as both
have evening events. There is a joint ticket

Jesús
Some 13km from the ruins at Trinidad lie
those of Jesús (Jesús del Tavarangüe;
daily 8am-5.30/7pm; T 071 270 038,
T 098 573 4340, E [e-mail]),
in rolling agricultural lands punctuated
by palm trees and the simple wooden