Feb 2007

We caught the bus form Caracas to Puerto la Cruz on Thursday morning from a depot just around the corner. A company called "Aeroexpresos Ejecutivos" operates from here and they run luxury, air conditioned coaches. The journey would take about 6 hours in total (including a half hour stop over at a service station - not the type of service station we're used to in Blighty though!). The bus journey was pretty good and comfortable and a fraction of the price you would pay for a journey on a filthy bus back home.

We arrived at Puerto la Cruz and stepped off the coach into the baking heat. We then left the terminal going in the wrong direction before turning round after about half an hour. A friendly local asked us if we needed a cab and we decided we did. We didn't have a reservation at any hotels so we decided to head for the area where most of the hotels in the Lonely Planet guidebook were. The first hotel on the list didn't seem to exist so we opted for the second one on the list. This is where we decided the Lonely Planet books live up to their nickname of the "Lonely Liar". We got a room at the Hotel Montecarlo (posh name huh?) which turned out to be the biggest s**t hole we've ever stayed in. "Basic and cheap" was the description in the guidebook - I wouldn't let a dog stay there........

Anyway we stayed the night there and found a better hotel the next morning. At least now we have a balcony with a view out over the Carribean and it's a pretty nice hotel for not much more than we paid for the previous one.

We've wandered around Puerto la Cruz for a few hours and checked out all the streets a few blocks from the seafront and more or less seen all there is to see. It's a very lively place and there are loads of street stalls selling food, clothes crafts and all sorts. The sun is amazingly strong here so it really takes it out of you if you stay out in it too long.

We've also discovered that the ATMs here are a bit of a lottery and they're more likely to accept a Maestro card than a Visa - strange.........

It's Saturday tomorrow and we're gonna catch another bus south towards Ciudad Guyana where we hope to take in an excursion to Angel falls. After that we'll be heading towards Manaus and the Amazon.

We flew into Caracas on the 20th Feb from Frankfurt.

Not knowing quite what to expect we settled in for the 10 hour plane journey (sitting at opposite ends of the plane I might add - not sure how that happened).

The journey itself wan't too bad but the last couple of hours were quite uncomfortable.

We arrived at Caracas airport and headed for the exit after going through immigration and customs without any problems.

As soon as we had cleared these we were accosted by a man in uniform with a really dodgy eye (sorry didn't get a pic) who sheperded us towards one of his friends who had a taxi. Although I was well aware of the multitude of people who wait to pounce on you upon exiting the terminal I guess we were just too tired and spaced out after the flight to resist. The cab journey wasn't too bad and he got us there in good time. We paid slightly over the odds but that was OK as we got to our hotel safe and sound once the dodgy cabbie eventually found it.

Our hotel was in the Altamira district and all in all it wasn't too bad - cheap(ish) clean(ish) and safe(ish).

We were told by the only English speaking member of staff at the hotel that there was an English pub called the "Greenwich" just around the corner so we headed there for a couple of cervesas to help us get to sleep after a very long day. It turned out that no one in the English pub spoke any English but we enjoyed a few Polar beers anyway then went back to the hotel for a sleep.

Next morning we headed out for a look around and bought some breakfast from a local bakery which we sat and ate in the square at the centre of Altamira. We also found a huge shopping centre and wandered around (or rather got lost) and later on had something to eat on the top floor which was full of different restaurants. We decided to stay in Altamira another night before catching a bus for the 6 hour journey to Puerto la Cruz on Thursday.

that night we watched Liverpool v Barcelona on the TV in our room and had an early night so we could get up and catch the bus the next morning. It turns out our room must've been haunted as both mornings the TV switched itself on at 5.30am. It also turned out that the hotel was situated right next to a school where the kids had assembly right outside our window and the principal spoke to them for about an hour on a microphone at very high volume. Oh well at least we didn't sleep in.................

The most daunting thing about the journey so far is that although I have a basic grasp of Spanish I can't understand anyone when they speak back to me! Hopefully this will only get better and we're really looking forward to getting to somewhere where there are some other English speaking travellers. I think this is what you might call a character building experience.