Hotel Glorias Patrias Merida

... makes me quite sad to think about. Most countries down here don't have any regulations for car's emissions... which means that any car, no matter how much pollution they produce, can be on the road. I went on a lovely little tour today of the surrounding area of Merida. I can not believe how much we saw in just one day! We enjoyed a hot spring ...

... These include all your standard fare but also beef, hot dog, potato and cheese. A friend had chicken and rice flavour, he said it was gross. Julie and I had three scoops each, it is a cool place though I was disappointed to find that the Sambuca flavour had run out. If you come to Merida to ride the Teleferico (the cable car) like we did then you are going to be disappointed. It has been shut since August 2008 due to some safety problems and there as yet is no ...

... in a small house perched on concrete columns in the lake, cumbia blasting from the house next-boat to us, while the skies were being illuminated for hours by lightening. In addition, there was a whole lot a bird watching, monkey spotting and alligator hunting, and a little bit of hiking, beer drinking and Spanish speaking. In general, a great trip. Venezuela ranks amongst the top 10 countries with largest biodiversity in the world ...

... sunlight shine through. This place has alot of character. We offloaded our backpacks and went outside to meet the other travelers. 2 guys that are living here, renting out the rooms for a couple of months that disapeared before I got their names, and Jessica from Amsterdam who is just about to head home. It was wierd as she looks exactly like my mum did at her age, haha! After settling in and chatting to a few people, Andy, Jess, Matty and I went out ...

... compound this, the main reason I came to Merida was to go up in the highest cable car in the world. I tried in vain to get a ticket but this is a seriously popular ride (loads of Venezuelans and Colombians come here especially). Queued for hours left and came back again but no joy. Time to move on I think so catching the local bus to the main bus terminal I booked my bus ticket outa here. It leaves tomorrow night at 9.30pm and goes straight to Ciudad Bolivar (the main town to ...

... and yet I was exerting so little effort that I was not sweating. I stopped noticing the altitude the moment I wasn't trying to go up hill. But I begin to understand why people say the Inca trail is tough. On the other side, the path was above the vegetation line for a while but soon hit beautiful alpine meadows of browns and reds and followed a river valley down the mountain. Gradually, mountain grasses were replaced by increasingly large shrubs and bushes, many ...

Merida is a wonderful city, the best in Venezuela. There is no feeling of impending tçdeath here at night and there are many activities to do. The climate is cool and the mountainous scenary around is stunning. We went canyoning here - a day trip full of adrenalin, absailing off wanterfalls, jumping into pools of water many meters below and hen sliding off a waterfall at some point!! We went with a S African girl ...

... best, doesn`t illuminate the sky and seems miles away, hidden behind clouds. Finally, Ingrid comes out to join us. ¨Is this it?¨ I ask. ¨Yes.¨ ¨Is it usually better than this?¨ ¨Sometimes.¨ Arghh. I just want to know if we should feel unlucky because there´s a full moon, it´s cloudy and the lightning is underwhelming, or lucky because at least we´re seeing a phenomenon that occurs nowhere else on earth. Let´s try this again ...

To be updated. No time online. HOT TIPS for travellers: (1) Only buses to Merida are at night from Maracaibo. First one at 9pm. otherwise you are stuck there all day!! (2) Military checkpoints from Venezuela border - must have passed at least 15, nothing to worry about, they just ask for ID but becomes tiresome! Add a couple of hours to yur trip. I did have to have my bags checked at one!!! Forgot about that.

... up pretty warm, and to prove that I am made of sterner stuff, I hammered out a quick burst of press-ups. Andrea watched with a look of awe, I think, but my vision went a bit blotchy so I couldn't be sure. Paragliding Emma and Ben, keen paragliders, had bought us a tandem paraglide each for our wedding present, and today was the day. The instructors picked us up from the posada, along with a swiss couple who were also going up up and away. We drove about 1/2 ...