Posada Neya Merida

... the first 10m waterfall, but I screwed up on the second 20m waterfall. By then I was all hyped up, and volunteered to go first, and to take the more difficult route straight down the falls instead of adjacent to it. If I can download the video I will. I did okay for the first 10m, but the power of the falls caused me to lose my grip on the ropes, and the falls thrashed me around like a ragdoll until my guide stopped laughing at me and swung me ...

... the national guard to show our passports (no bribes though) - The northern part of the Andes begins in Venezuela (jaw dropping mountain scenery) - Maracaibo and Merida are the safest cities Ive visited in Central/South America so far; no homeless, no annoying tourist ****; peace and quiet - The girls are pretty hot - For a country that is socialist there´s a lot of Chevy and McDonald's franchises, along with a lot of CNN and ESPN...hmm - Most people seemed to think ...

... there are in Merida, my other Spanish teacher, hip and cool Carolina, had asked me earlier: "Where do you think they get the money?" "Tourism?", I through a guess. Carolina smirks. "Corruption?" "That too, of course, but mostly drugs", she says. "Really?!", my eyes opened wide. "Yes, really. There are 3 cartels in town and a lot of people involved." "So you have, like, a lot of crime as well, or that's just between the cartels?" "Ah, no, the ...

... couple hiking in the mountains found a body sprawled next to a river wearing only a pair of shorts and a body as pale and blue as ice. They thought he was dead but on checking his pulse found a heartbeat. An air rescue chopper was called in (always handy having a mobile on hikes) and he was flown straight to hospital in Armenia. Most of his toes had to be amputated, having severe frostbite and he hadn't eaten for 4 days. For some strange reason he'd stripped off and thrown all his ...

... 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 ...

We took an overnight bus from Coro to Mérida. It was to be a step up from Mexican buses, both in comfort and, unfortunately, air conditioning. Honestly, it was freezing. Fridges on wheels people call them, even local people complain but the companies don't get it. I guess they are not too worried about wasting petrol. For comfort, they had padded leg rests that I really liked. We arrived in the dark so spent some time at the bus station ...

... um dann mit der laengsten seilbahn der welt fast ganz auf den pico bolivar fahren. wenn noch plaetze frei sind und die ueberhaupt fahren, dass wussten die heute noch nciht so genau. und noch eine schoene geschichte zum schluss: nachdem wir in unserer unterkunft angekommen waren, haben wir dort gefruehstueckt und franzosen haben sich zu uns gesetzt. diese hatten einen reisefuehrer zu viel, den haben sie dann uns geschenkt und wir haben nun also wieder einen lonely planet!

... I don´t give a damn, it`s cool and more than worth returning for. The scottish couple´s conclusion: Girl: ¨Because it´s stormy, does that mean the lightning could hit us now?¨ Guy: ¨Yeah, I wouldn´t want to be holding a golf club out here.¨ Well, the lightning was mostly worth coming back for and I did sleep well that night. Oh, wait a minute, no I didn´t. Did I mention they have electricity in El Congo? Apparently, an abundance ...

... cup anecdotes. All done in the best possible taste of course. Then we invited Jacques and Jean-Luc to join us and we split up into two groups where me, Lea, Jacques, Jean-Luc and James (One of the Canadians) decided to visit the much lauded "Burgeur Center" (No, that not a mistake that's how they have it written on their sign) which was awesome. Then we thought a visit to the local cocktail bar called Bananas was in order where they serve alcoholic ...

... and the guide told me that I have to go down, climbing, just secured by a rope. Wow! That was exciting. We had three waterfalls to climb down, the highest 35m and some jumps into a very narrow water hole which I feared even more. But being back at the bus we were all very proud that we did it - it was a very exciting day - just topped by the mines of Potosi (I would put the 'world´s most dangerous road' to Coroico in Bolivia second after this). - Have a look at the pictures...