Bella Vista Hotel Porlamar

... I saw all those towels laid out on the sunbeds in the morning…

The hotel I am staying in here is right by the beach and is called “Hotel Miramar Village”. Despite the fact that from the name it sounds like somewhere you might find in Benidorm, it is actually very nice. There are lots of hotels up the same road getting progressively further from the beach, but I thought it was worth the extra £1 per night to stay here ...

... albeit an experience. We bought the pemier substandard tickets (I do not know either!) although not taking full advantage of the "Pemier" style up the stairs behind the Canteen on the lower decks!!! (see why we were fooled) Look at the pic. It was not too bad but daunting nonetheless. As for Margarita I did not stay long, wanting to get to Salto Angel ...

... br> Esperamos mais umas horas fomos até Caracas e o voô... estava atrasado... neste caso esperamos mais de horas, pois nosso avião que a companhia aérea alugou!!!!!! estava em manutenção a ainda ia para Trinidad e Tobago para depois ir a Caracas e aí sim ir a Curação. De lá íamos pegar outro para Aruba! Pobre é foda, né?! Neste meio tempo foi uma impaciencia só onde um nao aguentava mais ninguem. A Dani ligando ...

... van het dorp, en lekker lezen in de schaduw. Om 18u ingestort en na een nacht van 14u ben ik vandaag weer helemaal fit geloof ik. Ik denk dat ik nog even wacht op de wind (schijnt morgen weer aanwezig te zijn) want ik wil eigenlijk toch wel een paar uurtjes op een plank staan hier. Maar ik denk dat ik morgen of overmorgen toch wel een boot pak naar het vaste land. Hopelijk zijn daar wat meer backpackers en zijn de prijzen wat lager. Groeten vanuit El Yaque, Venezuela

... t seem like the express ferry at all !?!) but we made it to the island eventually! The area is nice, though you need to get out of the city to actually enjoy the landscape. Today, we took a small bus to the other side of the island, in a place called Playa Parguito, next to playa de Agua. Really nice place, with white sand, cool waves and little stands to buy food and drinks on the beach. This is what I call vacation!!! ;-) 

... for 3 days before I realised the what the right time was, and suddenly a few things made more sense, eg why nobody cared when my plane here was 1/2 hour late (it was on time), why the shops open at 09:30 in the morning, etc.
Just to make life even more complicated, there are also two versions of the bolivar, the Venezuelan currency. They have the old bolívar (about 4,500 to the pound at the official rate), but also introduced the "bolívar fuerte," or ...

... tourists on a flying visit, I am surprised that some refuse to criticize the current system by saying that people are happy and satisfied here with their salaries, earning enough to survive. Some say that they have the liberties of education and health, so what else do people need? They can afford food and medicine and culture. Why do they need shoes and tables? And why do they need to travel? Yes, I guess you do not need shoes and tables to survive and to live in this ...

... The hostel is right near the beach so we went to check it out. Porlamar beach isn't very nice, infact none of the beaches we checked out where very good. I think they stick all the package holiday people on some private beaches somewhere that we never got to. Porlamar is also filthy. There is rubbish everywhere and it stinks. It's quite hard to take a photo without trash (check me out getting all Canadian) getting in at least the corner of the photo. Anyway after a couple of ...

After Canaima National Park and Angel Falls, I was headed to the famous Isla de Margarita, an island in northern Venezuela, in the Caribbean Ocean.

I got there with a ferry from Puerto La Cruz, which was just about the most classy ferry I've ever stepped on board on. It was more like how I'd imagine the cruise ships to look like - but then they must look even better. On the ferry I got to know a few Venezuelans who shared a table with me ...

... the open bar, the sound of a waterfall in the pool stirring the still water, the sound of starlings chirping on the balconies. Every few seconds almost like clockwork, a fresh breeze would gently flow into the center of the resort and wash out the humidity. It was paradise...and then I got the runs! It's amazing how the most beautiful day, in the seemingly the most beautiful setting in the world can be spoiled by the urgent need for a bathroom. That night there was a special ...