Cities · Alto Paraná · The East: water, energy and borderlands

Ciudad del Este

Paraguay's second city and the capital of Alto Paraná, Ciudad del Este lives hand in hand with the Friendship Bridge, which links it to Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil. Its downtown is a hive of arcades, malls and street vendors, where Brazilians and Argentines come to buy electronics, perfume and imported goods. But the city also knows how to slow down: there's the Lago de la República, the Manuel Ortiz Guerrero Linear Park and the El Mensú Museum, housed in the city's very first building. Its mix of Paraguayans, Lebanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans and Brazilians shows up both on the table and on the street.