Paraguay - Cuidad Del Este

1 April 2025

Arriving at the Brazil/Paraguay border by bus from Iguacu del Foz, we walked across the Friendship Bridge over the river Parana into the town of Ciudad del Este, the second largest city in Paraguay. Luckily the bridge had a sidewalk as the road crossing was rather congested and somewhat chaotic. The immigration formalities however were very simple, the customs guards on both sides of the border just giving a cursory glance at our passports. Ciudad does not have a good reputation and we had been warned to be careful with our personal items. However, during the few hours we spent in the town we had no issues whatsoever and never felt threatened. In fact, we found the people we came across to be friendly, especially two female police officers who tried to explain to us how to find the nearest post office in their native Spanish.

Ciudad’s chief claim to fame is as a mecca for shoppers, offering duty-free and heavily discounted goods, especially electronics, liquor and clothing. We roamed around the malls and street markets but refrained from buying anything to avoid queuing up for an inspection by the Brazilian customs officers who were stopping all the shoppers returning across the border.

Truth be told, it was a very brief visit to Paraguay and probably this town is not really representative of the rest of the country. However,  we did stay long enough to get a sense of the place and feel the typical border town vibe, where anything could be had, for a price. Perhaps most importantly, I came away without my previously-held prejudice with regard to Paraguay. Now, isn’t that another good reason to travel?