I finally went from capital city and I went to Australia and London – New Australia and New London. Two small villages are from each other few kilometers. Many years ago group of visionaries came from Antipodes and under Big Ben (and also sister of Nietzsche!) to build here communist utopia. Amount of absurd was for me to big so I needed to see that. Unfortunately from utopia were left only welcoming name of village, few flags and strange feeling when you are talking with Smith or Wells they are looks like a normal guys from Paraguay!

Few quick beers in front of shop with local guys, night in amphitheater and quick move to Villa Rica.  I didn’t had a lot of time to check if city is still so rich than 200 years ago because on horizon I saw my main goal – Cerro 3 Kandu, highest point of Paraguay. In tourist information I met two cute girls with whom I could talked all day but one information changed everything – tomorrow will come storm. HUGE STORM! And I want to go up and see something not only clouds and end of my wet nose. Already I walked a lot in mountain during rain (here you can read how I made fish tank inside my tent during trekking on Brazilian island: http://stonesontravel.com/en/ilha-grande-or-106-beaches-7-bays-and-1-lake-in-tent/  ). Quick change plans – peak attack not tomorrow but today. Without acclimatization and mid camps. I decided also to go without bottles with oxygen and sherpas. That was race with Time and I wanted to win! Through attraction with were on road to bus station I ran like a storm, I buy ticket, jump into bus in run and shout to bus driver: “Move on! Hit horses! Lets go!”. Maybe he could use whip if I said that in Spanish. Unfortunately, my words in polish made only surprise on his wet face…

Shot in run from Villa Rica. Maybe I could ride near mountains on that horse?

We went to mountains as close as we could. I bought beer for a top and I’m going! There should be 3 kilometers. Yeah, and here was 3 kilometers but before that was 12km in clean, sunny field! 48 degree, 17 kg on me, and inside me thousands of bad words. I thought that I will drink water from puddle. But even them were dry… Before I reach mountain I was so tired like an after reaching highest picks in Poland. And sunset is coming! I put on my back backpack, my wet hairs and I’m still race with fire ball on sky. There is only 842m but road is so hilly that’s it’s really difficult to climb. People and signs told me that it’s impossible to climb faster than 3 hours. I climbed/ran/crawled in something like hour! <proud> People can do everything to take good picture on top 😀 I think that I putted so much sweat to mountain rivers that in lower point probably they made flood. View from the top? Magic!

I rolled down (literally because was extremely dark and I was so tired that my legs collapsed like scissor), night under mountain with huge waves of rain and on morning I hit a road like a race horse. Maybe I wanted to do it but I couldn’t because of mud. Roads on which yesterday sun wanted to reduce me to ashes today were fully of deep mud which wanted to put me inside (and my backpack wanted to help in that). So I took my shoes in hands and barefoot I went through mud country. Real Woodstock! And that was just beginning of cosmic road during that day.

I cleaned my foots in front of some shop and went further. There is some road, around 100km curve, from Villa Rica to Carmen del Parana, which on maps is a huge national road. Bull shit! There is completely nothing! Ground road on which after the rain even busses are not going! Even men with amphibian should drink a shot because on soberly nobody should go inside there. Ohh you can if you are engineer who is building here ne road. I found one, so we launch our 4×4, closed windows and after few seconds, we just watched how fountains of mud are splashing on them. That was magic arch because I caught there something like 10 cars and motors, but I literally went from one and after one minute I had another. Finally I ended day in walking through huge field. So huge that I felt like an ant. Very happy ant. From one horizon to another field from one owner with thousand s of cows. I saw that first time in my life. After night on cows step I went through that endless part of country like a ship captain – on top of HUGE truck fulfilled with staff for few shops.  There is some famous poem in Poland. That’s a part of it: “I went on dry desert of ocean, wagon drown in greens and swam like a boat”. Finally I understand that 😀 Maybe Mickiewicz who wrote that words, also hitchhiked on truck?

On back of trolley with bricks I reached Fram. I knew that is Polish and Ukrainian colony, but I found there much more that I expected. Everybody speaks Polish and Ukrainian, in local radio you can hear polish songs. In kitchens you can try polish traditional food. It’s like a little Poland on that side of Big Water. If you understand in Polish (or you know someone who can translate it for you) you can watch material about that place here:

During my visit in local radio station…

… and in one from factory 😀

Picture of one from the first families who came here from Poland. The same place. 

In Fram I met a lot of families and I heard a lot of histories. People, when heard that someone came here from Poland, travelled many km in rain and mud only to see me and talk a little bit. Family of Mazalewski was one from the first families who came here from Pland. And I will remember long time that beautifull evening which we spend together.

Independence Day which I spend there was something special. Celebration in only one polish church in Paraguay (of course in polish and Spanish). They asked me to write something to special book inside the church. And after that party in Polish House. National anthem, few words about history, dumplings and other traditional dishes, huge symbols of Poland on the walls, contest of Krakowiak (traditional polish dance) and many ours of dancing and singing. People didn’t know some dates from history of Poland so they asked me about that. They cried when I wanted to say goodbye and were happy that I came there. Magic place, magic time!

Probably only one polish church in Paraguay.

Polish Independence Day

I went also to see ruins of Jesuit Missions. Do you remember movie “The Mission” from 1986 with amazing music composed by Ennio Morricone? That story had place exactly on the same place where I was so I needed to see how it’s looks now. I didn’t hear music played on flute by Robert de Niro among ruins, but it’s amazing place. There is not so much from buildings, but it’s not so difficult to imagine how this place looked like during best time. Easy you can imagine how bells are ringing to announce celebration for Indians, feel smell incense and see how is going up to roof of huge church which is not exist any more. Amazing place!

When I left another part of ruins I asked some girl in information point that it’s possible to visit some mate plantation. I couldn’t left “World Capital of Mate” without visit plantation! She needed to ask her boss, Ana, who ended in the same time work and went to road on which I could easly go to one from plantation. “You are backpacker who is traveling with stones?” she asked. “Yeah, how do you now that?” I asked surprised. “My friend from Villa Rica told me that probably you will come here. As you can see news about my stone travel is reaching kilometers faster than me 🙂 After 10minutes of talking we reached road but Ana decided to not to go to home but to Cristian in Bella Vista who could organize for us visit in one of plantation.

Heaven! So much yeeeerba!

Place where yerba is drying. Can you imagine that two guys with shovels need to put here few tons on yerba?! 

And huge furnace like from Titanic. One kilogram on yerba need one kilogram of wood. Can you imagine how difficult need to be work here?

Here is so high temperature that even rails are melting!

Plantation is amazing! I thought that whole process is much more automatic, and almost every thing is doing by hands! Of course there are much more modern plantation where are working in white gloves, but mostly it’s very manual work. Extremely hard from cutting trees, through digging by shovel in tons of mate to putting tons of wood to giant furnace like from Titanic. Respect!

After visiting plantation we spend together two days more. We realized that we are more similar that we thought. The same interests, past and plans for future. And because they are working in tourist information we could see best places in “Capital of Mate” and I met local guys. Refreshing time!

And the last city on Paraguayan map of monopoly. Encarnacio. And finally some nice biggest city to visit. Interesting beach on Parana river, nice infrastructure, people who at evening are running, riding on bicycle and so one. But everything should end. Like a smuggler with a lot of small bags of mate I crossed breach on Parana and I was on country of tango, wine and beef. Argentina. And how I went through Argentina you can read here: https://www.facebook.com/StonesOnTravel/posts/614286108753374.

Meanwhile greatings from Uruguay border! See you!