Well, I made it!
Arrived safely in Asunción in the very early hours this morning after my little hop, skip and jump from Mexico via Colombia to Paraguay.
Getting here wasn’t quite as straightforward as I’d hoped.
Avianca has apparently introduced a new rule that passengers travelling to a country other than their country of residence must show proof of how they intend to leave — by plane, bus or train. Apparently crossing a land border on foot doesn’t count.
Now, this isn’t actually a requirement for New Zealanders entering Paraguay, but unfortunately that didn’t seem to matter to Avianca. They insisted I needed proof of onward travel before they would let me board.
Fortunately, I had just enough time to frantically purchase a bus ticket to the Brazilian border before boarding closed. Several other passengers were doing exactly the same thing, so I wasn’t the only one caught out.
Nothing like a last-minute purchase for a bus journey you may or may not actually take to add a little excitement to the start of an adventure!
The flight from Mexico to Colombia was great. Then came the complimentary Avianca meal.
Being a budget airline, the choices were fairly straightforward:
Ham and cheese roll… or cheese roll.
My poor seat companion, who apparently does this flight regularly, warned me that lactose intolerance is quite common in Paraguay and Brazil.
Well, all I can say is that perhaps Avianca should consider having a special section on the aircraft for people who have just eaten the cheese roll.
Because, quite honestly, it was bad.
Very, very bad.
I’ve travelled on a lot of planes, eaten a lot of questionable airline food and experienced some interesting things at 30,000 feet — but this was definitely a first.
And hopefully a last.
Thank god, smoking is banned on planes.
I eventually arrived in Asunción in one piece, slightly sleep-deprived, clutching my newly purchased Brazilian-border bus ticket and wondering what other surprises Paraguay has in store for me.
One thing is certain…
The adventure has officially begun.