On My Way to Venezuela

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I am backed up on blog entries, but I have a few in the pipeline.

So here I sit in Pamplona, Colombia. It is a small town (45,000 people) near the border of Venezuela, about 2 hours from the actual border town of Cúcuta which is described in guidebooks as "a hot, muggy, filthy, crime-ridden city; its most well known attraction is the notoriously dodgy bus station. A town better known for contraband than its sights, though you may need to stop here if you're crossing the border."

This means that I finally decided to cross over to Chávezland after going back and forth with the idea. Many people have bad things to say about Venezuela so 2 things compelled me to go for it. Guide books don't often have good things to say about it and people have even less good things to say about it. But all in all I only met 1 couple who had actually visited Venezuela. They experience getting there was something, but once in it wasn't all bad, just not a highlight. Theresa & Dylan are a cool, chill couple I met in Salento who also have a blog, check out their story here Theresa & Dylan (their writing is far superior to mine).

They went to the city I am going to, Mérida. It seems to be the exception to what to expect in Venezuela, like the police actually help you there instead of shaking you down.

The second reason I want to go to Chávezland is because of Catatumbo Lightning I love shooting lightning and would love to shoot some there. I will have to see how it goes.

So if you don't hear from me you know something happened in Venezuela.

Enjoy this photo shot outside of Vegas, near the Valley of Fire.

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Photos

Pamplona Hotel Room 1
My hotel room in Pamplona. My first private room since I moved out of my apartment at the beginning of June.

Pamplona Hotel Room 2
Standing on top of the bed. The room was only about 6 feet and a couple inches long by maybe 7 feet wide.
Did I mention that it only cost $9,000 COP a night? That's not even 5 US dollars

Pamplona Hotel Room 3
You can also see all of my worldly possessions I have with me. 3 backpacks.
But at a cost of just under $5 a night it doesn't include wi-fi. =-(