One can lament the quirks of the Unesco process where a site like the Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis gets inscribed twice: once for Paraguay and once for Brazil and Argentina. To me and others the separate inscription was a welcome reason to venture into Paraguay for a day trip on my route from Posadas to Puerto de Iguazu.

In the morning I had flown into Posadas from Buenos Aires. I dropped my luggage off at the main bus station in Posadas and then jumped onto a local bus to Encarcion in Paraguay. Encarcion lies across the Rio Parana and is plastered with Duty Free shops, courtesy of some crazy tariffs and taxes the Argentinians put in place.

From Encarcion I took another bus to Trinidad and visited the great ruins of the Jesuit mission. It’s certainly one of the nicest ruins; I would put it on the same level as nearby San Ignacio de Mini in Argentina.

Initially, I had planned to also go and see the other site in Jesus de Tavarangue. Lonely Planet had promised me a collectivo or a cab readily waiting at a junction nearby. But neither of these options materialized. I briefly tried my luck with hitchhiking, but my heart wasn’t in it that day. It was way too warm and I close to a sunburn. Seeing I also needed to cover additional distance to San Ignacio that evening I decided to call it a day and I returned via Encarcion to Posadas. From there I took a bus to San Ignacio.

It was the right call, because it turned out that getting back to Argentina is quite time consuming. As mentioned before, Paraguay is heavy in duty free shops and with it scores of Argentinian day visitors. They all seemed to be heading home when I arrived at the border.

It took my bus around an hour to make it across the bridge to immigration in Argentina. When I finally had passed immigration another crazy queue formed and I was afraid of spending yet another hour to clear customs. Quickly, though, a friendly Argentinian noted me and pointed out that with nothing to declare I could just bypass this queue altogether.

I am not sure going to Trinidad adds all that much on a cultural level. I found that the three sites near San Ignacio cover the topic and the range of sites quite well. But still, the stark differences you will find in Paraguay are well worth the effort. Let’s simply file the separate inscription as incentive to venture a bit off the beaten path.

Logistics

The bus from the airport to Posadas runs via the main bus station. On the bottom floor of the bus station is a place to drop off your luggage (right hand side on the back, a small shop).

I would recommend traversing the border by bus as the bus gets prioritized by traffic police and immigration. It seemed to be a lot faster than by car. The bus runs from Posadas main bus station and will drop you off twice, once for each immigration. If you miss one bus, you can jump into the next bus. For the Paraguayan side, though, I couldn’t figure out where the stop was and ended up walking to the city center. Not recommended so ask before you get off where they will pick you up again.

You can exchange money (and you need to as Argentinian pesos come with a huge discount) at the border or at the main bus station in Encarcion. I found the rates at the bus station (ask, guy sitting in the shade) to be significantly better than those at the border. Note, that they are quite picky with regards to foreign currency bills, so bring fresh bills.

To get from Encarcion to Trinidad you can take the bus at the main bus station (city center). If you like things smooth and easy, taking a cab from the border seems the easier choice. I don't know how much it would cost, though.

If you plan to travel on, going to the Argentinian missions is the logical choice. You can either travel by bus from Posadas. Or try your luck and cross the border with a ferry North of Trinidad. At least, Lonely Planet claims you can and I haven't found them to be the most reliable source. If you catch a bus from Posadas (and that holds true all the way up to Iguazu) be sure to check how often it stops. It seems there are express buses and very slow ones.