27th-29th August: Visiting the ruins of Jesuit missions in Argentina and Paraguay

From Puerto Iguazu, we took the bus 4 hrs to San Ignacio, a fairly nondescript town that has grown up around the ruins of a Jesuit mission called San Ignacio Mini.  The bus dropped us off on a dusty road, and the transition from aircon to the 30 degree heat was abrupt to say the least.  At the bus stop we managed to find someone willing to look after our bags for a few pesos, since we were only stopping off on the way to Posadas and didn´t fancy lugging our bags around all afternoon. They were locked in an out-of-order disabled loo, naturally.

We walked for fifteen minutes to reach the mission ruins (during which time I applied suncream approximately seven times while Clem rolled her eyes).  We then discovered we were short of change.  Entrance was 100 pesos, and we had exactly 102.  That didn´t leave enough to get the bus on to Posadas.  We were directed to an ATM, another sweaty 15 minutes away.  Arrived; out of order.  This was definitely a one-ATM-town, so this posed something of a problem.  Salvation was at hand, thankfully, in the shape of a rather out of place casino.  My plan was to get some chips on the card, play for a little while, then cash in my huge winnings for pesos.  This suggestion was rejected, and much less interestingly we swapped some dollar notes for pesos.  The Jesuits would have been so proud.

The ruins themselves were impressive in a there´s-not-much-left kind of way, but the history of the missions is interesting.  Very much the exception to the dysfunctional relationship between the native tribes of the Americas and the colonial powers (dysfunctional from the native perspective, at least), the Jesuits and the Guarani got along very well.  The Jesuits spent time learning the Guarani language and culture before starting the missions, and they didn´t force the Guarani to abandon their culture.  There was a reasonably balanced interchange of culture - so long as the Guarani came to church and ditched the (very occasional) cannibalism - and the Guarani were protected from the Portuguese slavers.  This ended in the late 18th century, when the Jesuits were expelled from Portuguese and Spanish lands, and the missions were abandoned (the Franciscans, who replaced the Jesuits, had different teaching methods that did not suit the Guarani). They were subsequently destroyed in wars between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay in the following century.

We then caught the bus into Posadas, dumped our bags (rescued intact from the loo) at the hostel, and after a quick wander around town collapsed in bed.

The following day, Sunday, we took the bus into Paraguay to see the ruins of another Jesuit mission.  More interesting than the ruins was a little glimpse of Paraguay, which on a small sample seemed significantly less developed than either Brazil or Argentina.  More money troubles, as we had not taken out enough Paraguayan currency at the border, but we managed to get back to Argentina without resorting to hitchhiking.

Now it´s Monday, and we´re off to catch the bus to Salta, 18 hours away.