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Published: September 21st 2008
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Hi folks...I've been gathering together some of my thoughts and opinions and thought I'd make a summary of each country I have been to...yes, another long e-mail I know, you can always save them up for when you get insomnia! Though I have found that reading George Orwell’s '1984' is another sure fire way of getting to sleep!
Beer
Polar Ice is the main brand, it comes in tiny bottles and really is like drinking water, you need at least 20 of these to feel tipsy...though it is only 25p a bottle! Drink polar verde for a 6% hit!
Rum is incredibly cheap at 3 quid a large bottle
Beer and water are more expensive than petrol, which is about 1p a litre. Police regulate petrol stations near the Brazilian border to prevent the Brazilians from stocking up on the cheap stuff!
Food
Pretty bland on the whole, the best authentic meal was made by the old lady I stayed with in Mochima. The fast food Patacon restaurant in Maracaibo was pretty good but oh so fattening. Fried squashed green plantain formed the 'bun' and shredded beef, salad and sauce the 'burger', served with deep-fried and battered cheese sticks! The typical 'almuerzo' (set lunch) - beans, rice, platano, salad and mystery meat was generally crap. The best food was pizza, hotdogs and the Mexican in Merida. I had my first fish supper here too down in Playa Medina! Hotdogs - how much can you pile on top of a hot dog? - shredded lettuce, sweetcorn, grated carrot, French fries, mayo, mustard, ketchup…
Clothes and shopping
There is hardly any choice whatsoever...either tight jeans/coloured trousers or polyester tops, they're all pretty pricey too. Merida was the only place with a few upmarket boutiques and a Benetton but they were certainly out of my budget! Anyone with any money goes to Miami to get their shopping instead.
There really are no souvenirs worth buying here either, only the Indian crafts and 'seed' jewellery drew my hand out of my pocket! Only the Grand Sabana had thought to produce some postcards...Where are the bloody t-towels I ask you?! Weeks went by when the most exciting thing on my shopping list was batteries!
Human Nature
Generally if you ask someone to help than they will. There is a clear distinction between the educated and non-educated though and their ability to reply in a helpful way. I am sure that 99% of taxi drivers have never seen a map before! The few that speak English are likely to have studied abroad and are more than happy to tell you all about their country and make you feel at home. There are many ignorant people on the street and women in particular take great delight in barging into you on the pavement.
Politics
Political unrest is more than evident and many houses have spray painted 'vota si' or ‘vota no' onto their houses. Chavez has divided the rich and poor and everyone has an opinion on the government...I would like to tell you more but politics is not my subject, perhaps you can google it?
Things that are great...
1. ¨Buenas¨ the habit of greeting everyone as you enter a shop or get on the bus...it's considered rude not too and great to get a reaction!
2. You can buy coffee everywhere! Usually old men walking around with wooden boxes with flasks of 'tinto' or 'cafe con leche', some are upmarket with a shopping trolley stuffed with crisps etc aswell.
3. The amazing natural phenomenon!
Things that got on my wick...
1. Men spitting in the street..I know they do this everywhere, it's so chav I hate it, especially when I'm eating!
2. Throwing litter..no one cares, they just throw their plastic bottles out of the bus window without a care in the world. The worst was the Indian girl throwing her crisp packet into the Orinoco. There are street cleaners in some places and signs not to litter but they have their work cut out
3. Pssst! This is the man’s way of attracting a woman’s attention...'just F OFF will you!!'
4. Pushing in. Not only is it a pain to get served but then you will get your stuff and then have to wait to pay whilst they serve someone else...this happens to many people it's just that the serving people can't be bothered
5. Bloody men! Some men are so rude and here they think they are totally gods gift and women are inferior...grr, it makes me cross. For example: was deciding between the bus and por puesto in Coro and this nice lady who was waiting for por puesto to fill up told me there was not much in the price and the car was quicker, so with me the car was just about full and ready to go when a group of rude males just shoved their bags in the boot and sat in the car totally ignoring us! So we both ended up on the bus cursing the hombres!
Favourite places...
Playa Medina on the Eastern coast was definitely the prettiest but Merida (and surrounding villages) wins hands down for going out and things to do!!
Overall...great experience but I'm not going to rush back quickly. I'm glad that I went here first as it was definitely the hardest place to travel and better to get thrown in at the deep-end and be pleasantly surprised afterwards in my opinion! Now that I'm in Ecuador and there are thousands of tourists and NO ONE has been to Venezuela, then I feel a rather intrepid traveller...it was certainly interesting to be the only tourist in town and definitely way off the typical gringo trail.
Signing off...Zx
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