Neuland

Neuland is a city in Boquerón department in Western Paraguay. Located 464 km northwest from the capital, Asunción, it's the smallest of the Mennonite colonies established in the central Chaco with about 2,500 inhabitants, many of whom are German-speaking. It's a charming small town surrounded by the desert-like environment of the Chaco. The town's plaza and museum are nicely done and those intrigued by the Mennonite culture will find this to be enough of a reason to visit Neuland. Additionally, visitors take advantage of its proximity to the Chaco War most well known historical landmark, Fortín Boquerón, located 27 km away.

Understand


Neuland means "new land" in German and the town's name is a good description of what was this place in the Chaco for the early immigrants when they came to Paraguay in the 1940s. Today the city is prosperous and has one of the highest living standards of Paraguay thanks to the work of the Neuland Cooperative.

History
The newest of the Chaco's three Mennonite colonies, Neuland was founded in 1947 by Mennonites escaping religious persecution in the then Soviet Union. The majority of the initial settlers were women, because the men had been sentenced to Siberian work camps by Stalin's regime after World War II. These women had fled from the Soviet Union to Germany, from where they were allowed to immigrate to Paraguay.

Economy
The Neuland Cooperative is the responsible body of the social, economic, and cultural life of the colony and run most of the city services like the bank, the supermarket, the hospital, even the museum, the only hotel in town and the tourist office are managed by the cooperative. It has also an important industry of dairy products, beef, and crop processing such as peanuts and sesame.

Practically all the Mennonite families have shares in the cooperative. Outsiders (non-Mennonites) can rent or buy land from the cooperative on condition to living one year among the community so their character can be judged. The cooperative collects a percentage of a member's earnings and in return members get use of all the benefits the cooperative offers, such as discounts at the supermarket, health insurance, elderly care, university scholarship, among others which are not provided by the Paraguayan government. They may also get financial dividends, but they will sometimes hold votes on whether to retain the dividends and invest them in new facilities and benefits.

Get in
Overland by road is the only way to get to Neuland.

By bus
Stel Turismo runs daily buses from Asunción (US$13) 7 hr, and NASA/Golondrina runs daily buses from Filadelfia and Loma Plata, from where you can catch more buses to Asunción or, if you intend to travel to Bolivia, to Mariscal Estigarribia, 98 km to the northwest.

By car
Neuland is 20 km off the Transchaco highway. The turn off is on the 450 km marker of the highway. If coming from Asunción turn left on the paved road that leads to the center of town. If you are coming from the other colonies of the central Chaco, Filadelfia is 37 km to the north, and if you come from Loma Plata add 27 km more. The Bolivia border is 327 km to the northwest, and the travelling time is about 7 hours.

Get around
Neuland is a small town, so there is no public transportation. Most of the city sights can be easily reach on foot as they are along Avenida 1° de febrero, the main street, and where most of the businesses, supermarkets and the hotel are located.

Buy




In the working-class neighborhood of Cayin ô Clim, where mostly members of the Nivaclé ethnic group live, there are some artisans and craft people that make carpets and bags, with designs that have been rooted in their ethnicity for many generations. They also made different wood carvings from the palo santo tree, mainly in the form of the typical animals of the Chaco like turtles, anteaters, armadillo and serpents that are very requested models.

It's recommended that visitors to the Chaco bring cash, as outside the hotel or the cooperative supermarket, only a few shops in town accept credit cards.

Drink
The Mennonites are very hard-working people and after dark it seems that everyone goes to bed. However, the Manjessi pizzeria offers drinks.

Sleep
There is only one hotel in Neuland so it's best to reserve ahead, specially during the Transchaco Rally competition in late September and the Expo Rodeo in May.



Connect
The hotel offers Wi-Fi for guests.

Go next
The other two Mennonite colonies are close and worth visiting: If you want to go to Bolivia you will have to catch the Asunción-Bolivia bus at Mariscal Estigarribia. First purchase your bus ticket at Stel Turismo agency in Neuland. You will have to pay for the entire journey from Asuncion and the cost is US$65 to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Then take the bus to Filadelfia, and then to Mariscal Estigarribia. Ask the driver to drop you off at the immigration office. You will have to wait there for the bus from Asunción to Bolivia to come. Buses normally depart from Asunción daily at 20:00 and reach Mariscal Estigarribia around 03:00. When the bus arrives the immigration officer will check your passport and issue your exit stamp. Don't board the bus without doing this as there is no Paraguayan immigration at the border. Once you have boarded the bus you will travel for 6-7 hours before you arrive at Bolivian immigration.
 * Filadelfia is 37 km to the north. The largest and most cosmopolitan of the Mennonite colonies is a charming city.
 * Loma Plata is 62 km to the north via Filadelfia. Is also a major Mennonite town, similar in size to Filadelfia. It has a large industry of dairy products.