English people having the same kind of quandary!! Their names were Justin and Zoe and were on a big world trip as well. They were also off to Trinidad, and they could speak Spanish a lot better than us and told us where we had to wait for the bus!! We swapped stories of various places on the bus journey and when we finally arrived we all went to the hotel cum restaurant next to the ruins. They were staying at the hotel and while checking in we had some breakfast. Unfortunately the only veggie thing they had to eat was a plate of cabbage salad!! Not quite what I’d had in mind for breakfast, but healthy and nutritious I’m sure!!

The ruins themselves, the whole reason we’d come to Paraguay, were declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1993. This usually means lots of tourists, information booths, cafes etc, but not here!! We had the place to ourselves for the whole couple of hours we were

there!! It’s a strange place, lots of sandstone ruins on top of a hill with views as far as the eye can see of green countryside!! The Jesuits built and lived in this place from the early 17th century until they were expelled in 1767 by the Spanish for fear of them becoming too powerful. It is like an entire village, with old accommodation blocks, a bell tower, kitchens, a well and a huge church type building very reminiscent of an old ruined abbey in England somewhere. It was fascinating just wandering around such a historical place with no interruptions from other tourists or guides. We were really enjoying the company of Justin and Zoe as well, it seemed we shared very much the same kind of humour and interests. So once we’d checked out everything at the ruins we headed back to hotel for that good old English tradition, a pint!!

Of course another good old English tradition is that one pint