Merdia and the Venezueland Andes

---

Day 8

Merida: Flight from Caracas airport was easily arranged and for 90
dollars. Took the next flight over the mountains in Western Venezuela to
the city on the foot the Andes. Merida was a remarkably refreshing change
from Los Roques. It is green, surrounded by lush mountains on all sides.
The temperature is in the low 20´s Celsius like the summers of Seattle.
The people are very friendly and less wound up than the big city (Carracass). In the
airport met a German Botanist, named Alexander who had spent 6 years in Merida and was
visiting for vacation. Got a ride to town from his friend in a small bug,
and shared the back seat with his three year old son named Simon. The place is
filled with European and some North American tourists. There are hosts of
activities offered by guided tours, such as mountain biking, para gliding,
trekking, hiking, 4-5 days safari rides crossing the Andes to the sparely
populated plains filled with wild life.

On the first day met a lovely family in the main square next to the posada
in which I stayed. The mother is a single mother of three daughters,
who husband left them some time ago and works to support them. Her older
sister is part owner of an INTERNET cafe in town and the middle sister has
one and half year old boy name Alexandro who was raising hell in the floar
of the shack while we got acquainted. We chatted for a couple of hours with extreme difficulty,
my Spanish is deplorable, and the mother´s, non-existent. As ir for her daughter, she spoke
very little English as well, so most of the interaction was with sounds,
hand gestures and drawings. Through out all this i gathered that the
mother was insinuating that I marry the young daughter and take her to
America.

After closing in the late afternoon they showed me around the city. The
city is compact with narrow streets and has mixture of old and new small
buildings. The noise and the fumes from the cars and buses
can be everwhelming, as it does not allow for a peacefull walk, but
still the city has nice charm to it. Main center of town is Plaza Bolivar which is
a lovely space to sit and relax, watching people. The plaza is surrounded by old style buidlings
harboring shops, churches, and government buildings, inclding the
governor's mansion. The evening also
coincided with the Rancher´s festival. It was quite a site watching
thousands of horsemen converge on
town, drinking their bear and hard liquor literally on horseback while
parading the streets.

Later on with two of the daughters and their friends explored the Merida
night life dancing to the Venezuelan version of hip hop until 4am. In the
end to the probable disappoint ment of mother some how made known to
the prospective bride that i was not in search of wife
to take home at this time. The short romance thus
ended with a nice and friendly kiss on the cheek.

---

Photos

Plane ride to Merida
Plane View of the Andes

Posada in the main squre
Inside view first Posada

Plaza Bolivar
Main city sqaure

Plaza Bolivar
Main city sqaure

Lovely Sisters
In the dance club, Merida.

Yellow Palace
View of governor's mansion, Plaza Bolivar