I had appointment on Monday, February 22th at Mercedes-Benz for the 70,000 km periodic revision. I was accepted at once by a young lady to fill the forms with my request. It was very long. Then I waited. But in mid-morning my vehicle had not left the carpark. I asked the young lady why it was not dealt with yet. She explained me why my vehicle is not marketed in Paraguay. One needed a further information by questioning the database of Mercedes-Benz in Munich. That took all the morning. Finally it was dealt with after the lunch pause around 13:30. Only the periodic revision was carried out, because the shock absorbers were not available. It was given to me at 17:45 after a washing. Consequently I returned for a third night in the street opposite the house of my Paraguayan friends.
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On Tuesday, February 23rd I was going to visit the site of the Mission Jesuit in San Cosme y Damian 57 km westwards from Encarnación. The three sites of Cosme, Trinidad and Jesus are the object of only one entrance ticket for a three days duration. I was dealt by guide who told me, in Spanish, the history of the Mission as well as its restoration. I improved my comprehension of the language of the Iberian people. Beside the tourist office are a room of video which exposes the design of the sky by Guaranis, then a Planetarium and finally an Observatory with a telescope.
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On Wednesday, February 24th leaving San Cosme y Damian, I have the unfortunate idea to follow the indications given by the GPS which made me pass by an overland route but skirting the artificial reserve of the Paraná river with a tarred road on a causeway. Paraná is the natural border with Argentina. I arrived in mid-morning at the historic site in Trinidad by a gloomy weather. The road which leads to the site is a processional way with evocative steles. The site is the vastest of the three of the area, but without guide as in San Cosme y Damian. It is a gigantic stone ruin with a church, a colegio and casa indigenas. Beautiful sculptures as well as a plank testify to the past splendor of the buildings. A bell tower is next to a ploughed up church. I bivouacked on the carpark.
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| Causeway | Voie processionnelle |
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The village of Jesus is located at approximately 11 km away from Trinidad. Consequently on Thursday, February 25th I made the fatty-morning. The site is the least best preserved of the three. There remain only sections of wall of the church and of part of the colegio, no ruin of casa indigenas. The carpark is tiny. I could have bivouacked on Plaza of the village, but I preferred to return to Trinidad to use the WiFi connection of Posada Maria.
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On Friday, February 26th I visited the Itaipu Dam which was the largest in the world before the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China. I took the bus at 13:30 which in one hour does the tour of the dam without visiting the inside with its generators and its control rooms. It was very frustrating to see only the outside. It provides nearly 80% of electricity of Paraguay and 25% of Brazil. Then I obtained a permit for two-day stay in the Refugio Biológico Tati Yupi before entering Brazil. Alas it rained for two days. On Saturday I prepared my journey in Brazil for a 40-day maximum duration.
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I left Paraguay on Sunday Februaru 28th with the sun. look at the border crossing, here
