Asuncion

[Dougus]

I was in town for three days late this month and stayed at the Granados. During my stay I made contact with the agency that advertises girls on Asunsex. The girl that showed up was not the one I was looking for or even close. She was ugly and fat so I sent her packing. When she left the front desk guy called back and asked if I wanted him to find a girl for me. I told him to go ahead and he arranged Mariella for $100.

When she arrived I was blown away. Mariella is about 5'9" and weighs 110lbs. She has at least a "D" cup and is obviously thin. All that and a very enthusiastic attitude.

Mariella was so good that I decided to try the desk guy again the next night. He arraged for me to me Karen. Karen was a little thicker than Mariella but had a nice body. She was probably 5'5" and 115lbs with a "B" cup. Her attitude was not nearly as pleasant as Mariella but not bad. Overall I would repeat with Mariella but not Karen.

Thought about checking out the Le Becan night club but didn't get around to it. Maybe next time.

Dogus

[Dougus]

Does anyone have new contact information for Brandon or anyone else that may be able to get in touch with "models".

TIA,

Dogus

[Rob Hay]

Brandon has outstanding quality from $150 up including some know models in Paraguay the problem is he is not answering his email and I haven't used his services in over a year

[MagicHat]

GREAT reports Lexmark. By far the most comprehensive, factual, informative and accurate on a city/country I have read.
If I ever go again, I shall certainly check out Cuatro Majones, sounds an interesting barrio, like a rougher version of Flores in BA, which is one of my favourite places.

In particular in your article I like the little vignettes like....

"In a little store here I did find Listerine(from Brazil), which is generally not available anywhere."

I had a similar (and unsuccessful) search for Listerine in the centro. Eventually a pharmacist told me

"The listerine man doesn't come here anymore,"

- apparently the Listerine salesman used to fly in from Uruguay but gave up due to lack of sales, which i thought summed up the gradual decline of Paraguay pretty much. Strange what a deep impression though Paraguay makes on you - I think about my trip there alot. Its a bit off topic but a great book about Paraguay, that you may find interesting is "At the tomb of the inflatable pig : travels through Paraguay", by John Gimlette, published by Knopf.

Thanks again for such good reports. Magic Hat.

[Dougus]

All,

Does anyone have new information regarding Siren Models or Brandon. Planning a trip before the end of the year and might want to use his service.

TIA,

Dogus

[BayBoy]

LEXTON

I want to thank you for 5 outstanding reports from Asuncion and also other areas of Paraguay. Nobody has reported that extensively about that city and country.

You must have taken some very careful notes to remember all those streets and locations so well.

I was in Paraguay (Asuncion) in April 2003 (you can check my reports) but mostly stayed in el centro at the Chaco Hotel. I have always wondered about the Lambare section of town and the Ave. Mariscal Lopez area. You have answered all my questions. I don't think I've missed all that much now.

I don't think I'll ever be back to Paraguay again as long as they have that stupid Visa requirement.

In Sept. in 2003 I tried to go back into Paraguay again (not knowing that I had to renew my Visa after 3 months) and got stopped at the Asuncion Airport and forced to go back to Brazil. The good news was that I was able to talk Varig into a free flight to Fortaleza from Rio, so it wasn't all bad.

Take care

[Lexton]

Asuncion Trip 1

This is the first of several posts on my trip to Paraguay. After one week, I can sum up the situation easily. This is no place for the casual tourist, especially if you don't speak spanish. Asuncion is a city in transition, like most US cities. The original city center is changing into a slum, like most US cities did, and is mostly complete. There are many abandoned/vacant buildings, and buildings in late decay. Even many of the hi-rise buildings that look good from a distance are vacant and deteriorating. Urban renewal is many years in the future. The new growth is all in the suburbs, and is American style suburban sprawl. There is also in the general area of greater Asuncion/Lambaré/San Lorenzo a large population of suburban/rural poor, which complicates the growth process because there is little virgin land into which to develop. Land use patterns are awful. The suburban areas, like US suburbs, are nice places to live with a car but terrible places to visit as a tourist.

The bad thing about staying in El Centro is it is essentially a developing slum. There is nothing to buy or do. There are no good stores, no good restaurants. No place to buy wines. There are a few karaoke bars(a popular option here) and a couple of bars with groups/discos. There are no theaters/shows. There is more of this in the suburbs, but it is a G15k-20 min taxi ride away, if you can find out about it. The only thing supporting this part of El Centro is the government buildings. The good thing about staying in El Centro is it is essentially a slum that still has a few decent hotels and good law enforcement in this area. Figure it out.

El Centro is actually quite large, but the generally safe area of interest is about 3 blocks wide(From Palma, Estrella, Oliva, to Diaz) and 15 blocks long(from Colon to Plaza Uruguaya). I am told there are a lot of TVs working on the street after Diaz, Haeda, but I have not gone over there at night because I am not interested and I am sure it is a little dangerous.

The names of the streets can be confusing, because several streets in el centro change names at Plaza de los Heroes. Palma changes names to Mariscal Estigarriba. Estrella changes to 25 de Mayo. Oliva changes to Cerro Cora. Gral Diaz changes to Azara.
Others also change, but these are the important ones.

I arrived in Asuncion on a Friday. I went out and walked around El Centro of Asuncion Friday and Saturday, to start checking it out. Friday night I met a nice chica on the street, but I was too tired from the trip. Saturday I saw her again and went with her. I paid her G100K for 2 hours. She was cute, but not a good performer. I did get a BBBJ, reluctantly. I was a little too careless with my pants and she stole G120K from my pants pocket. It only took her about 10 seconds, while I washed my dick. I think she was more concerned with setting up an opportunity to pick my pocket than anything else. I did see a variety of SW on Palma and Estrella, but only 15-20 total.

On arrival, I checked into the Asuncion Palace(Estrella & Colon). It is a very worn old hotel in a decent location for action on the Colon end of the area. It was very luxurious in its day 70 years ago. The staff is friendly, in spanish. I got lucky with one of the 4 suites for $27/day. It is large with high ceilings, worn but generally clean with a nice bath and, luckily, a decent bed. I have looked in some of the other rooms and the beds don't look as good. Breakfast is not bad if you like fresh fruit and rolls, the normal continental breakfast.

During Sat-Mon I looked around for a better hotel. In the end, I decided to stay in the Asuncion Palace. For reference, I like a firm, supportive American style mattress with good springs. Many of the mattresses in Central/South America are too soft or have bad/no springs. I told them all I was looking to stay 2-3 weeks. To help others, here is a summary. Price includes tax, bkfst:

Granados Park, Las Margaritas, International:
These are upper end hotels in decent locations along Estrella. They are too expensive for long stays, so I did not check them.

Hotel Presidente(Gral Diaz & Ind. Nacional), Hotel Sagaro(Psdte Franco & Juan O'Leary): These are possible decent looking options 1-2 blocks from Estrella so are considerably less desireable locations. I did not check them.

Hotel Chaco(Cabellero & Estigarribia): A nice 2-3 star hotel on the Plaza Uruguay end. They offered a nice room with a nice view for $40/day, guests included. I did not like the mattress.

Gran Hotel Parana(Caballero & 25 de Mayo): A 2 star hotel a little more worn than the Chaco. They offered me a room for $30/day off a $50 single $64 double rate, guests included. I hated the bed.

Aspen Apart-Hotel(Ayolas nr Estrella): A newer 3 star apart-hotel. They offered a nice single room for $40, but for guests wanted $50. A decent value, but the beds weren't as good as my bed at the Asuncion Palace.

Zaphir Hotel(Estrella 955): A moderate age 2 star hotel one block from the Palace. They offered a room for $25/day, guests included. Not bad for the price, but bad bed.

Gran Hotel Armele(Palma & Colon): A nice looking hotel one block from the Asuncion Palace. They offered a decent room for $25 single with a king bed. But for guests, they wanted $40 double. The mattress was an American mattress, but well worn.

An update on the Asuncion Palace. When I wanted to have my favorito stay TLN, I learned that they permit guests for 2-3 hours for the single rate of $22/$27, but for TLN guests they want $10 per night more. I am not sure if this is the normal double rate, or exploitation which I hate. They say it is normal.

On hotels, I made this list of hotels for Nibu. These are low priced hotels in the general action area of el centro.
Plaza Hotel, Uruguay Plaza, decent location
Hotel Embassy, Uruguay Plaza, also decent location, rougher?
Hotel Miami, 25 de Mayo & Mexico, good location, this is Estrella
Hotel Amigo, Cerro Cora & Caballero, one block off Estrella
Hotel Bristol, Oliva & 15 de Agosto, closer cheap end of area
Hotel Palma, Palma near Juan de Ayalas, closer cheap end of area

The above are generally in location order, from Plaza Uruguay at one end of town to Calle Colon at the other. All look like they should go well less than $10, if you can stand them, so you kind of have to pick the best of the lot.


On Tue, I went to the Playboy club(14 de Mayo nr Estrella). G20k entrada included water/beer/whisky. The 6 women were all 30+, and much too big too be of interest to me. Generally, they were not as good as the women on the street.

On Wed, I met another nice chica on the street. She is quite small and slim, very pretty face. I went with her, G100k for 2 hours. She is my new sweetheart. She is 21, had one child a year ago. She is quiet and friendly. I saw her again on Thur and Sat.

I can now recognize most of the women on the street after 2 weeks. It is winter here and relatively cold most nights(50's). So there are usually the same 15-20 hardy souls working in the same locations of Palma and Estrella. The better looking ones tend to be on the Avenida Colon end and the older, harder, ones tend to be on the Plaza Uruguay end. I have been told that the women working in Plaza Uruguay are mostly thieves. After my experience with the woman from above Plaza Uruguay, I am prepared to believe this, so be careful. I have walked thru and past Plaza Uruguay at night without problems, but am always a little nervous. On the other side of Plaza Uruguay, it gets tougher. I would not walk to Karim(at 25 de Mayo(Estrella) and Brasil) at night. It is about 5 blocks past Plaza Uruguay, outside the centro area.

After several tours of the streets at night I have been surprised to see many of the chicas still on the street at 11:00. And, I have spotted a couple of new, interesting looking ones. So, the chicas working do seem to vary a little from day to day.

[Lexton]

Asuncion Trip 2

It is possible to buy a map of greater Asuncion, but it does not include San Lorenzo. In the Tourist store/office(Palma nr O'Leary), and a few libreriàs and news kiosks(G22k). Ask around for it.

Some general info about the level of Asuncion and Alrededores. The poor areas and streets, especially outside of el centro, are mostly one story, very old buildings, practically shacks. There are many decaying and vacant buildings mixed up with the ones in use, typical of decaying city areas. The better areas are 1-3 story development with parking/lots, very spread out US style. It is very hard to just walk around looking for something. The spokes of Asuncion are 15-20km long, and San Lorenzo is at the end of 2 of them. You have to take long cab/bus rides to go anywhere. Many of the smaller side streets outside of el centro, especially in the older areas, are not asphalt, they are cobblestone in dirt. They are terrible to drive over.

I took a 5 hour taxi tour Friday of the greater Asuncion area. I was able to hire a taxi for G40k($7)/hr, the common rate.

The cabbie showed me a place at 767 Colon (nr Humaita) he says is a brothel.

Generally, Asuncion looks like 1/3 of a wagon wheel( or a cone), with el centro as the hub up against the river, and the main routes as spokes. The other 2/3 of the wheel are missing because of the River Paraguay, which makes a V shape here and forms the sides of the cone.

I went down to the Lambaré area first(west side of cone). The route to Lambarè is about 10 km on Avenida Juan Peron. Generally, there is nothing there. There are some love motels that the locals use for weekends and love outings just off Avenida Juan Peron. I am told that some of them are nice inside. But that is all that is there. Way out in the middle of nowhere are these motels. To use them you have to bring your own chica and food. There are no stores, restaurants, nothing. Not even much in the way of people living in the area. I have no idea why these motels were built here, but they aren't going to help the visitor much. Saw one obvious SW on Peron, nothing special. It was in the afternoon though. I am sure there is a little more action at night. There is an area not far from the hotels with many very nice, designer homes of wealthy people. It is down around the Yacht and Golf club, a nice looking club. But like many wealthy suburbs, there is no commerce nearby. The old city center of Lambaré is very small, very old, very poor, with nothing there. No place for a tourist to stay. The rest of the greater Lambaré area is suburban sprawl of various kinds.

Went over to the Omnibus Terminal at Avenida de la Mora and Republica Argentina (De la Mora is the next major spoke). There are some nice suburban areas between Lambaré and the terminal. It appears that there may be some action around the terminal. There are supposed to be SW on Rep Arg nearby.

I returned to the terminal later on bus no. 8. Ave De la Mora has slum type businesses and is generally ugly and poor. The area around the terminal is much the same. The terminal is at the intersection of Ave. Republica de Argentina, a major spoke crossing route. Rep Arg is much nicer. There is a large supermarket about 1/2 km E. on Rep Arg. Accross De La Mora from the terminal is the Hotel del Viajero, a large hotel with a sign for room w/baño privado for G30k. Also accross De La Mora on Calle Cedro are Hotel Lujan and Hotel Anahi, which look decent in the under $10/day category.

I crossed on Ave Rep Arg over to Mariscal Lopez, skipping over Eusebio Ayala(the next spoke), which goes directly to San Lorenzo. Mariscal Lopez is mostly relatively modern suburban sprawl development. I went straight down to the motel area of Avenida Mariscal Lopez. There is a group of 8 or 10 motels that seem to specialize in hourly rates and rooms for sexual rendevous. They are located about 12km from el centro(G18k cab), almost to San Lorenzo. But again, these motels are in an area where there is nothing much around, for at least 1/2 mile. There is one group 2-5 blocks off of Mariscal Lopez at Calle Ingavi. This group includes the Millenium, Piramide, Colonial, Playhouse, Cleopatra, Fortaleza, Vips. There is another group 3/4 mile further out(turn left at light before the Toyota dealer on left). This includes the Molino, El Sultan, El Rey, and a couple others. You have to visualize that the streets around these motels are not paved, they are cobblestone in dirt, and are extremely hard to drive over. Again, there are no restaurants or stores in the area. Staying in one of these motels without an auto would be extremely difficult. The businesses in the area are car dealer, light industry type things. There are probably SW that are on Mariscal Lopez at night, waiting for clients in cars to pick them up to take them to a motel. I may take a taxi down at night later to check the quality and quantity. You have to believe that to support these motels, there is a source of women. But I suspect the source is practically the entire city, with few heavy concentrations. I will try to verify this further.

I went on into San Lorenzo on Mariscal Lopez. San Lorenzo city center is very old and poor also. There is a very large street market that I will go back to check out next week. There is little in the way of hotels and restaurants in San Lorenzo. I will say more about it if I go back by bus to check it more.

I went on into Luque. Luque is much smaller than San Lorenzo, very old and much poorer. Most of the area around Luque is also poor suburban sprawl. There is very little way to stay near the city center.

I went on around the city, up to the airport. The airport is on a street off Mariscal Lopez. The area between Luque and the airport is largely 3rd world.

Proceeding from the airport on around to the Botannical Garden. Many rich people live in this area in the northeast of the city. There are many very large estates, beautiful houses.

Proceeding from the botannical garden back into El Centro on Ave Artigas(the las spoke on the NE side). This is strip developed suburbs, US style. There is a section along Ave Artigas near the Garden where the cabbie said there are SW working. I may or may not check it out. It is way out there(G15k-10km), with no place to stay in the area.

That concluded my broad tour.

[Lexton]

Asuncion Trip 3

On Sunday, practically everything is closed but this internet cafe(Cyber Cafe) at 14 de Mayo & Oliva. El centro is deserted, literally. After 9PM, there is some life in the karaoke bars on Estrella.

The options of Asuncion are going to be limited without a car. The distances outside el centro are long. But I will not rent a car and drive in a poor country. I especially would not drive at night anywhere I would not walk, because the way they drive you could be walking in a second. Taxis are relatively cheap, but they do not cruise. They sit at paradas(taxi stands) until taken by radio or passers-by, in order. But that means to go to San Lorenzo and return at night, one must pretty much hire a cab at $7/hr. I would not want to try to find a San Lorenzo taxi to return. To return from anywhere by taxi, you must either call or know the location of the nearest taxi stand.

The bus system in Asuncion is good for the daytime. Most of the routes merge in el centro and spread out like the spokes of the wheel)as described earlier) in various ways. About 1/2 the buses go down Calle Oliva, and about 1/2 Calle Haedo(streets that also parallel Palma and Estella) and then spread out. They return to these streets by various routes.

I took bus no. 31 down Ave Mariscal Lopez down to Republic de Argentina. It goes right on Rep Arg to the the Omnibus Terminal and Fernando De La Mora and on. There is a shopping center in Mariscal Lopez near Rep Arg. called Shopping Villa Mora. Immediately behind it is a slightly larger center, Shopping Mariscal Lopez. Not big by US standards, but one of 3 or 4 in Asuncion. In a little store here I did find Listerine(from Brazil), which is generally not available anywhere. This whole section of Mariscal Lopez is strip suburbia also. There are nice businesses, homes, buildings. The US Embassy is on Mariscal Lopez. There are some nice supermarkets along Mariscal Lopez. The supposed SW section of M. Lopez is a few km further out.

I took bus no. 30 down Ave Via España to Shopping del Sol, another shopping center about 10 km out. Not large maybe 80 stores, but very upscale, with a large supermarket also. In a kiosk just outside the supermarket I was able to buy some maps. Got maps of Concepcion, Encarnacion, Ciudad del Este. They are expensive, but they do exist. I have been looking for them since I arrived. Ave España is relatively new strip developed suburbs. I saw my 1st Burger King, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds out by the mall.

I took bus no. 20 down Eusebio Ayala to Multiplaza, another shopping center about 12 km out. This is older than the others, with many empty stores. E. Ayala is generally a better strip developed street, but still with many poor industrial sections.

I took bus no. 26 down Mariscal Lopez to San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo is generally a poor old city. The center is about 20+km out. The area between Asuncion and San Lorenzo has filled in as strip developed 1 & 2 story development, some very poor and some modern. There is a nice Plaza with church at the center of San Lorenzo. There is a large street market that covers 10-15 blocks. There may be some action in the plaza at night. I wouldn't try walking in most of San Lorenzo at night, but the plaza area may be OK. There is one small hotel, the San Blas, near the plaza. It looks tolerable, in the $10 class. There is little of restaurants and bars. There is the Palace Hotel 2 blocks off M. Lopez on Calle Waldina Lovera about 1 km before San Lorenzo. It looks decent in the $8 class, but with little around it. In short, it would be hard to check out the SW action in San Lorenzo without staying in one of these hotels for a few days, and I don't recommend it. You could try to stay in one of the love motels(2+km toward Asuncion), but without a car this would be really tough.

[Lexton]

Asuncion Trip 4

On a Wed, I took a 2.5 hour taxi tour to check out the streets at night in the greater Asuncion area. I paid the cab driver G40k/hr, the same as another taxista for the day tour. I chose this taxista because his pronunciation of spanish was far better than most. He studied engish a little and spent a few months in the US once. With most taxistas, their spanish is so bad I really can't talk with them. There was a soccer game on TV between Brazil and Argentina that night, and the cabbie said this would cause fewer people in the street.

The night was chilly, in the mid 60's, not cold. The weather should not have been a great deterrent.

We started from the Asuncion Palace at 8:00PM. The cabbie thought it was a little early so we headed for the Omnibus Terminal at Fernando de la Mora and Republica Argentina first. There was nothing in the Mercado 4 area of Pettirossi. Pettirossi is deserted at night. There was nothing interesting until we got near Carlos Centurion in F. de la Mora. I saw 4 chicas together sitting on the sidewalk, maybe 5-6's. I saw 5-6 more near Tarumà, the next block. This area is 6-8 blocks before the terminal, about 6km out from el centro. There were many people in the street around the terminal, and it was hard to sort out, but I suspect there were probably more chicas in that area, near the old hotels. This is not a good area, but is probably safe for a city aware person.

We proceeded on to an area at F. de la Mora and Defensores del Chaco, a major crossing street at about 10km. This area is called 4 Majones(Cuatro Majones), and I don't think it has been mentioned here before. It is a zona roja, with many pool bars and brothel bars around the corner area. Many have open fronts. There were also various women working in the street. A couple were 8 and 9 level. I would love to check this area out a lot better. The problem is it looked dangerous, because there were a lot of guys around drinking and playing pool in the places, and there weren't a lot of cops around. It is probably safe enough to cruise the street with a taxi and talk to a girl. I wouldn't try going into the places with less than 3 guys, or 2 big guys. But Nibu has a lot of guts.

We crossed over to Mariscal Lopez and headed on out to the love motel section at Calle Ingavi, about 15km out. There was nothing at all in Mariscal Lopez. We passed on to the second group near the Toyota dealer. Still nothing at all, and we headed on into San Lorenzo, so I could see it at night. The Plaza area was very quiet, with few people. There was a police presence. There were no chicas at all in the central area of San Lorenzo. We passed on the street market area, because the cabbie said it would be closed and empty also, like Mercado 4.

We returned up Mariscal Lopez and saw a couple of chicas working. Nothing very special. We crossed over to Avenida España and on up to Ave Artigas on Ave Santisima Trinidad. I saw nothing getting to Artigas. In Artigas, there are a couple of discos near Santisima Trinidad. The large, nice looking one is called Tropi Club. The other is smaller, about 2 blocks away. The area is more upscale. They are open Fri and Sat nights only. I saw no chicas in the entire area of Artigas where the other cabbie told me they might be found on the first tour. There appears to be nothing much interesting on Artigas, day or night.

We headed down Ave Brasilia from Ave Artigas. This is about 3km from el centro. In Ave Brasilia, about 3 blocks before crossing Ave España, there are about 6-8 discos. They are open on Fri and Sat nights only. This looks like a fairly decent area, better than the terminal area. There were no chicas in Brasilia.

We crossed on Republica Argentina to Eusebio Ayala. There were a couple of chicas working on Rep Arg. Supposedly, there are often more working this area.

We proceded on accross to Eusebio Ayala, another main spoke route. I saw 3 chicas(5-6) working near Pariri, about 3 km out. There were a couple more in the next block near Bartolomè de las Casas.

We crossed over to F. de la Mora on Medicos de Chaco. There must have been 15-20 TV's on Medicos de Chaco. Really ugly looking in a dangerous looking area.

We proceded to cross over to Lambarè on Cacique Lambarè and a couple other streets. We cruised thru Lambarè centro and on over to Juan Peron, the major spoke route to Lambarè. I saw no chicas working the entire routes and area. There was nothing on Juan Peron near the Lambarè love motels.

We crossed over to F. de la Mora to return to el centro. This was about 10:00PM. We saw a few more chicas working about 3 km out, near Gonzalez. This is on the el centro side of the terminal also. We talked to one, a 6, and she quoted G150k until 6:00AM. We headed on back to el centro and hit the hotel at 10:30.

Net net, I saw nothing better than the el centro area. My guess that the SW action is well distributed seems correct. I was disappointed by the near total lack of action on Mariscal Lopez. This night, the action was on F. de la Mora and Eusebio Ayala. I would love to investigate the area of 4 Majones, but don't dare alone.

Meanwhile, I still like my favorita I met the first week, so I am not complaining much. I have not seen another potential prostitute anywhere in Asuncion anywhere near as good.

I have since seen SW working in the afternoon around the Plaza Hotel on Plaza Uruguaya. I have seen some sitting in the area between the historic railroad station and the hotel in the 3:00PM range. The quality was 4-6. I didn't ask prices. I assume in the G50K/hr range.

[Lexton]

Asuncion Trip 5

It is true that there is a large number of 4WDR vehicles here. Remember that there are very many unpaved streets in the greater Asuncion area and there are very few PAVED roads outside of the cities. An SUV with big tires is THE vehicle to have here, even if it takes a lifetime to pay for it.

The availability of any product cannot be assumed here. There is no Listerine(but which I finally found), there are no inhalors for colds, there is no sugar-free Halls Mentho-Lyptus for colds. It is best to bring an adequate supply of toiletries or especially OTC products that you prefer. The availability of products in the pharmacies is limited, especially in cities outside of Asuncion.

I have looked in the papers for sex ads. The most ads are in Noticias, by far. ABC and Ultima Hora are useless. I have checked accross 2 or 3 days and they are mostly the same advertisers, with maybe 4 or 5 ads different. I have not called any, but it is a general assortment of massage and other sensual pleasure offers. From content and tone, I assume most are lying about looks, etc. as usual. Perhaps about 50 ads total.

The Sunday Popular had about 45 ads of the same nature as Noticias. I did not check to see how many are also in Noticias.

I did not look further in any of the clubs after the bad experience at Playboy. There are only 2 other clubs anyway, Karim and Le Bacan. I can't imagine the club action being better than the street action here, and is certainly more expensive. Generally, the price for street action is G50k per hour as a minimum, asked by most. Some may try for higher, but I was not quoted higher. G150k was quoted to me a couple times till 6AM.

There are a couple of places that I would have liked to check, but I am seeing the favorita every day until I leave and can't. Pirata Bar is at the corner of Ayolas and Benjamin Constante(2nd street from Palma toward the Independencia area). Africa Disco-Pub is at the corner of 15 de Agosto and Presidente Franco(1st street from Palma toward the Independencia area. They appear to be disco/bars, and large. Both are only open Fri-Sat, and I did not know of them when I had more free time. I think I would walk to both of them, walking down the cross street from Palma. Use normal caution.

I have noticed that a few of the SW have husbands/boyfriends watching them from the shadows. And sometimes, he is sitting in a car accross the street toward traffic, so he can follow/get license number of cars that pick up his girl. I assume this is some form of security, and not a set-up for a rip-off, but I don't like it. The safest thing to do by far is take the woman to your hotel. Then you have security essentially on your side to help. If you go to a sex hotel of any kind, they will tend to be on her side in any problem.

The bars on Colon(Cafecito's and Puerto Madero) are still going pretty much as described in other posts. The cheap action described on Oliva near Colon is actually a pool table bar in an old store. There are several of these in the area(Cafecito's is one also, there are a couple on Estrella within 2 blocks of Colon and a couple more on Colon) and most have women available much of the time. Generally, if you see one of these run down, open front bars with women in them, they are on the program. It can take some guts but if they respond to any gesture of contact from the STREET, it is virtually certain.

NEW INFORMATION on the above. I have walked the block of Oliva between Colon and Hernandarias(the next block walking against traffic on Oliva) several times around 12:30AM and never noticed anything. There is both a dry cleaner and a good lavenderia on Hernandarias between Colon and Haeda I use. Then, I happened to walk this block around 4:30PM on a Wednesday. On the left hand side, walking against traffic from Colon, there are 6 brothels with open doors in a row, leading to the corner at Hernadarias. It was obvious because the women were all waiting and called to me as I passed. The one at the corner of Oliva and Hernandarias seemed to have 2-3 decent looking ones(6's) as I passed. The rest had to be 3-6's, but I bet the prices are very low. It could be they are waiting for the men to get off work at 5:00, I don't know. I am not planning to walk here after dark, but I probably could. I walk Colon crossing Oliva a lot at night.

The more I walk around the area north of Colon and west of Oliva, the more I see of these open bars with women. Diaz has a couple, and Hernandarias has a couple. They are probably around that whole area of 100+ square blocks. They have action in the 4:00PM timeframe, at least. The quality I have seen has been low, 3-6's. There may be some diamonds in there, but it could take all of one's time trying to find them. There are also private apartments with no advertising. My current favorita started working in the trade in a house in Ciudad del Este with an aunt. But the advertising for the house was word of mouth.

I have had no problems using the ATM machines at Citibank and ABN-AMRO. So the others are probably good, also. I have used 2 different ATM cards.

For restaurants, I have seen no good restaurants. There may be something in the better suburbs. The Granados Park and Las Margaritas hotels have restaurants, but I don't hold much with hotel restaurants. I like meat and salad. They don't have all you can eat buffets like Buenos Aires, but they do have restaurants with food by the kilo for lunch. The large supermarkets in the suburbs generally have one of these. The food is usually a decent selection of basic stuff. The hours for all are about 12-1:30. They are open to 2:30, but the pickings get very slim about 2:00. In el centro, there is one inside Asuncion Center(Oliva & 15 de Agosto) G22K/Kg, Negrita(Diaz & Ayolas) G20K/Kg, O'Leary Bar(O'Leary nr Palma) G18K/Kg, and Rodizio(Palma nr 14 de Mayo) G30K/Kg. Rodizio is open till 3:30, and generally has a good selection to the end. It is also open again at night, starting about 6:30.

In conclusion, don't come here for the hobby. You will be bored to tears most of the time. If you have some other reason to come here, then it can be a nice diversion. I have come to suspect that Paraguay instituted the Visa requirement simply because the tourist support situation was deteriorating and they can't support a bunch of wide-eyed tourists, and don't have the money to develop tourism. So they put in the Visa to limit tourism to the more hardy and self-sufficient. I have seen mostly backpacker types at the hotel, many from Canada. There is a lot of undeveloped country here.

I have spent much more time here than I planned(7 weeks) because of the woman I met. Without that, I would probably have left after 2 weeks.

[Steven]

The Harem brothel is still active. See Scorpio´s day 3 report for the info. When I checked, there were 5 girls, 2 of them doable. 60K guaranies ($10US) for half hour ( thats all thats necessary), or 100K for an hour. They have a sister site at Capitan Figari 971. Phone 223 431. Same set up.

When looking for SW on Colon, best to be right on time (10-11 PM). Too early and they are not there yet. Too late and you miss the best picks. Prices 50K to 100K ($8-17 US). They are young, cute and mostly good attitudes. The Hotel on the corner of Palm and Colon is a good choice to stay. It´s called the Gran Armele. $25 US a night with $15 charge for guest. Rooms are adequate.

[Steven]

Just want to add an update on Asuncion:

The SW scene on Palma, Colon, and neighboring streets is still in full swing. The girls are spread out about 2-3 per block and on the corners alone or groups of 2. A stroll around last night reinforced that they are young 18-24, and cute (they really are). The nice blond Andrea asked 100K guaranies (17US) for an hour. I could have probably bargained her down, but come on...I´m not that much of a dog. GFE and whatever I asked. Thanks for your reports which set me on the proper path.

Steven

[Happy Cat]

Asuncion: the post curfew nightlife

Asuncion’s Mayor enforced a 1 AM/2AM curfew on alcohol and nightlife beginning January 1st. There are astounding results in terms of death rates reduction with figures 45 % lower in January 2004 compared with Jan. 2003.

Of course, our girlfriends are suffering of a very short span of time to make business, in a city where the clubs and the street begins to swing past 10 Pm. One of them told me: “If you are not done at 10:30, you begin to feel that you’ll have trouble to pay your rent and food next day” Before the curfew, many locals (their main source of income, tourism is not significant in Paraguay) ended their daily bachelor parties at 2 or 3 am by going to blow up the night in the clubs or the boliches.

I asked my GF why they didn’t try to begin earlier, but she told me that it seems to be a previous “reverse curfew” that bans unmoral activities before 9 PM. But the main reason is the local male custom of late parrandas.

I stayed now for a week and went from the first day with my GF Silvia, found in Playboy Club (see August report). Two days later, she promised to come to sleep with me (all the girls I knew in Asunción seem to be mesmerized to spend all the night in the Granados Park, and I always treat them with a dinner by the pool which seems to enhance the effect) but she couldn’t make it on time, so I strolled a little bit in Palma and Estrella and found that I was missing a lot of action. The quality of street girls seemed to be better on average, not only in terms of lookers, but of dressing and general appearance. A perfect 8, similar to those found in Cattos or Hooks (not so well dressed or elegants) quoted me 50.000 Guaranies (8,5 US) for unlimited time. I passed but the worm was already in my mind. The next day I dismissed Sillvia and went to Café Cito and Puerto Madero (Colon and Palma) at 10:30 pm.

At less there were 30-40 girls ranging from 18 to 30 and looks from 5 to a few 9’s . A lot of smiles, flirting and sweet small talk. Sat on a table in the street of Puerto Madero near a group that seemed to be promising. A nice fake blond was my target and I was her also. Soon she came (a 7, late 20’s, a few crooked teeth, big smile and a body to die for). She was intelligent, nice and a pro that knows how to show you that she is nearly an amateur. I liked, but not quite sure if she could be a good lay (hardened pro?? She will rush me… Ummh) But finally decided to give it a try. I usually give about 20 to 30 dollars to Silvia, so I invited Lis (not her name, if you want name and phone number, PM me) but told her that I was out of cash and I had only 30 dollars. She said that that wasn´t a problem, she wanted to stay with me and know the Granados Park. Didn´t negotiate time, positions, anything, and I was prepared to a standard session. She happened to be a jewel, beautiful body, a lot of fun, and the best woman I have ever had in bed. Stayed all night and in her dreams (supposedly) began to moan and caressed me to the critical level, at least three times (a surprise to me, I’m ussually a one-shot man).

So I had to divide and negotiate between my old and faithful Silvia and my new love, staying alternative nights with each. The problem was when I called an internet friend (whom I didn’t know personally) and she asked me to meet and stay with me all the night. Things began to complicate and I finally decided to stick to bigamous condition (my internet friend wasn’t that pretty), which Silvia and Lis accepted without question.

Summary: curfew has driven nice girls to the street scene, not only to the sidewalks, but to the cafes and karaokes, quantity, quality and price are unbeatable. Many have returned from Buenos Aires and try to survive in low cost, low standards Paraguay. They are usually sweet and very willing, they lack the refinement of many Buenos Aires girls, but compensate with their sweetness and lack of commercial instinct. This said, of course is better to taste the waters a little bit first and make reality checks. Compared with Buenos Aires they can qualify as Clarin girls, with the advantage of seeing the goods just by walking a little bit. The cafes at the corner of Palma y Colon are reasonable hunting places, but you can get good pieces from the corners and the sidewalks. Prices are ridiculously low even compared to S.American cities. Paraguayan women are used to Paraguayan machistas and will give you a big reward if you make them feel like a princess for a night. Try it, don’t be shy with your English, use body language and you’ll not be disappointed.

[Dougus]

Still no contact from Brandon via e-mail. I have also tried calling a couple of time with no success. If anybody has had more recent contact please let me know. I will try to get in touch while in country.

Either way I will be in Asuncion for a couple of nights. The first two of a three country (Paraguay, Argentina & Venezuela) trip. I will try to check out as many new things as possible while hopping around SA. I hope to have some good information for everyone.

Dogus