Hotel El Parque Merida

... beans will do very nicely later on. We ate the menu del dia<br>at a little place in the bus station yesterday, soup, fruit juice and<br>a main meal (we both had steak with rice and fried plaintain) and it<br>was very reasonable, 14 bsf each, that's about 2.50 usd.<br><br><br><br>Fruit and vegetables do seem to be<br>fairly reasonable and abundant. The avocados are HUGE and bananas,<br>(yes, we've managed to get over our south east asia over ...

We arrived off the night bus from Maracaibo at around 6.30am. Throughout the night the air-conditioning was on so low we had to put every piece of clothing we had in our day sacks on just to compensate, fortunately there was no-one trying to sell anything on the bus. The last bus we took to Maracaibo had a guy who stood up for 40 minutes, like a market trader, selling toothbrushes and toothpaste. No joke. Merida is a university city and is also the adventure capital ...

... are protesting for everything. If it rains - they protest. If it shines - they protest just the same. This is a university town with a students' problem, among other. I don't want to be a drama queen, for I still remember the way things were in Bulgaria when I was in my twenties. There were street protests, and buildings (notably the Communist party headquarters) set on fire, and gang members being shot in broad day light on ...

... Bier, Rose, Tintefisch, Schinke-Chaes¨Sandwich.... ALLES D-eli und ich sind daenn au ganz muetig gsi und haend ois en Baecher mit 4 versch. Sorte teilt. Schwarzi Bohne, Gurke, Muesli und Dattle. Toent so harmlos wies isch. mir sind ebe doch es bitzeli z-aengschtlich gsi zum oeppis wie Fleisch oder Fisch probiere... Nach dene zwei Taeg, woni wuerkli sehr gnosse han, simmer daenn wieter zoge. und zwar richtig Maracaibo

... strip searches for which I would have used my ace card of calling the British Embassy (wouldn't have helped anyway but it works sometimes) was thus avoided. Arrived in Merida at night and at the time of 7pm. Caught a taxi ($2) to the town centre and following a few failed attempts at getting a hostel dorm bed I found a nugget of a hotel close to the local cable car (in fact its the highest cable car in the world which winds its way up into the Andes mountains) for $8 a night. Had a ...

... to Picos Bolivar and Humboldt, the two highest in Venezuela. To give you some idea of how warm Venezuela is, the average temperature at one of the stations (I think at at 2400 not 3400m) was still 7 degrees, and even Pico Humboldt at almost 5000m has almost no permanent snow. A trail runs from the second to last station over the range and down to the 'touristified' mountain village Los Nevados. We thought it would be a nice walk, and it was, but it starts at 4045m ...

... a brief pit stop for lunch we then had to endure some uphill sections which was not ideal on a full stomach but we coped better than our guide that was struggling at the back and funnily enough he suggested that Garvo take up cycling because of his height (I am sorry but it would be the end of our relationship if he ever got hold of any cycling shorts). After all the uphill sections we were rewarded ...

... above sea level, and we begin our assent through lush tropical forest. The climb is steep and zig zags us along undulating ground, clambering under falled tree´s, crossing small rivers, climbing up big steps. With the weight on our backs - approximately 15 - 20kg and the demising oxygen as we climb we find the walking incredibly difficult. It is 5pm when we arrive at our first campsite. 3200 meters above sea level, 9km from the start and next to a lake with room for about 6, 2 ...

... it. Everyone left their porch lights on all night. The place was glowing. And if that wasn´t hard enough to sleep through, as soon as daylight arrived, the roosters started crowing. I´m not kidding. It was like living on a farm. Except for the cows. The only cows we saw were on nearby land, none were actually spotted on stilts. So much for my debut book Walking on Water, but you gotta admit, it´s a catchy title. SARA SAYS... I ...

... Merida is home to the world's highest cable car, reaching a whopping 5000m in 4 separate stages. We'd been advised to get up there as early as possible, to stand the best chance of getting good views before the clouds come rolling in, so we'd booked for the earliest slot - oh seven hundred hours. The journey up to the top took the best part of an hour, but the views of the valleys below on the journey were spectacular. An icy breeze greeted us as we stepped off ...