Think of Asuncion as Quito but with lighter skinned people addicted to drinking mate. Change of hooking up rating: Plaza de los Heroes has handicrafts, there are some old colonial buildings by the bay, and Confiteria Bolsi on Estrella and Alberdi has a nice diner vibe for breakfast and lunch.
Clean but run-down, like most hotels in the city. My sheets had to be at least 20 years old with several patches, and I tried not to think about how many thousands of people had sex on them. A bat dropped dead next to me here resulting in me getting five rabies vaccine shots see below.
I went to bed on Wednesday at midnight. I woke up around 4: I pushed it aside and settled into a new sleeping position. The maps are excellent, the information is complete and thorough, and the reviews are accurate, which is why it's often called "the bible" by many travelers.
The only problem is that everyone else has this book so if you are the type of person that wants to hit the isolated small towns you will be disappointed. My advice is to use this book for its maps and information on getting from city to city, but talk to the locals and other travelers for those isolated gems that Lonely Planet for some reason didn't find worthy to include.
Spanish For Beginners My copy of this book is so beat up and weathered it's disintegrating before my eyes. I took it with me to South America because I loved how it was organized in a logical way that kept me motivated to keep studying. Lessons start short and easy and increase in complexity as you tackle frustrating readings that help take you to the next level. The only downside of this book is that it was originally published in so some of the vocabulary is very dated. Still, you'll be hard-pressed to find a modern equivalent of this book whose teachings approach the same quality.
