After choosing to opt-out of the second day of the tour north of Salta, there was no time to waste; and so, I booked a bus for Asuncion, Paraguay to leave that afternoon. It was a seven hour bus ride made shorter by the good fortune to set next to a fellow traveler from Germany.
Actually, although Werner was indeed a German, he was now living in Switzerland and had been a Swiss resident for a number of years.
A surveyor by trade, he was returning to Asuncion to meet a friend whom he met on a previous visit he had taken to Asuncion to learn Spanish.
He spoke perfect English and once again I found myself feeling like the “dumb” American. When compared to Europeans we Americans come far short of the competition. The European’s of course have an unfair advantage; for them two or three languages is often not even a choice, but occurs quite naturally and is almost a matter of survival.
We arrived at Clorinda the Argentina side of the border crossing into Asuncion, Paraguay early in the morning. Werner had said that we could walk to Asuncion and I was happy to have someone familiar with the territory to guide the way.
Unfortunately, it was not to be; as “Ugly American” I was required to obtain visa before entering into Paraguay. This is a major frustration when traveling in South America, as most (if not all) the countries of South America require US citizens to either obtain a visa or pay a “reciprocity fee” before entering the country, while other foreign travelers simply cross the border with little or no “hassle”.
This whole matter is pretty understandable when you consider that the US requires all residents of Central America, South America and the Caribbean Islands to obtain a visa before traveling to the US. (It’s the “Brave New World” that we live in and I am not advocating that we further “loosen” that policy at all).
The cost of the visa was $160US; but since I had no US dollars, it cost me almost $240 in Guarani’s (once again illustrating the importance of traveling with US dollars in South America).
It took me over four hours to find the Paraguay Consulate, get the required “passport type” visa photographs (hint: take extra passport photos, they may save valuable time and ease your burden) and complete the required forms.
After passing through customs I wandered cluttered streets searching for the route of passage to Asuncion. Even though Werner had stated that it was a short walk to the city proper, everyone I asked pointed me in a different direction.
Confused, frustrated and weary from the weight of my backpack, I asked one more time for directions to Asuncion; this time I was shown a city bus and told that the bus was indeed bound for Asuncion.
I boarded the bus and stood amongst the crammed passengers and their “vast” assortment of food and merchandise purchased from the cluttered border crossing markets.
As we departed I caught a glimpse of the Asuncion skyline no more than two miles in the distance. It was about 5 PM when (expecting a twenty minute bus ride at most) we departed; more than 3 hours later I disembarked – at last in Asuncion proper.
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