The tale of the mayonnaise smuggler and the dead rooster

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Ok so to finish of BA, all we can say is what a fantastic and amazing city this is. If you have ever wanted to come here, you must. The architecture is stunning, the people amazing and the place is just alive. There is a poor side to the place but then isnt there anywhere in the world?? The city is noisy the high buildings trap the noise and when a bus goes past you have to give up talking because you can´t be heard. The pavements are broken up in places but the city is clean. At night the recylclers come out. Anywhere from about 5.00pm onwards they hit and clean the streets all night long. They have impossibly large sacks on carts that they fill with rubbish that they can recycle and then the rubbish lorries come along afterwards and clear the remnants up. The streets are far cleaner than most in the UK. This city and country is coming alive and now really is the time to visit, before it loses its charm and identity. We have had an amazing time here and loved every minute of it.

Oh before leaving BA I will admit to toilet adventure!!! This time it was me that got stuck in the toilet (although I hadn´t flushed it, the lesson from previous had been learn´t!). I hadn´t even locked the door, well there was only me as a woman in the restaurant, but for some unknown reason the look or the door was well and truly stuck!!! After much rattling and mighty giggling from myself I wondered how long it would be before anyone, ie David, would notice me missing. Unfortunately he was too busy watching the football on the tv to notice me gone! So I continued rattling, pushing and pulling to no gain. I stood and pondered my future, weighed up the fact that I couldn´t climb over or under the door. I sat down and twiddled my thumbs and then gave it all another go This time the door decided it would let me out, however not before giving me a whack in the eye (it opened inwards!), which resulted in a lovely swollen right eye for the next few days!!! Thank goodness for dark sunglasses and a sense of humour!!!

Right onto the mayonnaise smuggler!!!

We left BA and flew to Caracas via Lima. On trying to leave the airport you get swamped with help from all sorts of people, of course we declined every single one! This is where we got ever so slightly stuck. We needed to draw money out and found a cashpoint as one does. However, all Venezuelans carry ID cards and the cashpoint not only asks you for you pin number but certain digits from your id card. Ha Ha not something you can get round with our cards. We tried every single cashpoint available to no avail and were beginning to give up hope when we were approached - yet again - by another taxi driver offering us help. On explaining the situation, he took us to Citibank in the centre of Caracas and with fingers crossed we managed to get money. Thank goodness!!! Now here is a note to anyone travelling to Venezuela and following on from what is said in Lonely Planet. The people we met in the few short hours in Caracas were outstanding. They went over and above to help us out, and made sure we ok for leaving us. They gave us information on various things and nothing was too much trouble. You have to quickly realise that when someone approaches you to show you where the bus or taxi or shop is, they aren´t doing it to get a tip or money for you, they are doing it to fill up the buses etc. They without do not want a tip and we wish Lonely Planet would recognise this. Doubtless there are unscrupulous people out there but let common sense prevail and have a little faith.

Our taxi driver then took us to the bus station and we caught an overnight bus to Maricaibo. We hit Maricaibo in the morning and then boarded another bus to the Colombian border of Macau and onwards to Maricaibo.

Our first bus was little and was a typical chicken bus. We were due to leave at 7.00am and i think we finally left around 8.00am, with caribbean music playing out (bass full on) as loud as possible as we went. The journey is supposed to be for 2 hours but well hey it took longer. There are numerous Venezuelan checkpoints along the way, where the bus is boarded everytime and we have to hand over passports. Everyone else hands over bribes!!!! The journey was an extremely hard ride and we felt every pothole and sleeping policeman along the way!!

On hitting the border we managed to get through with a dose of not understanding and got our exit stamp without having to wander in the intense heat back to the other border point. Colombian control stamped our passports and waved us without batting an eyelid!!!

We finally got to Macau on a wing and a prayer as Im sure the bus wouldnt have lasted much longer and got straight on another bus to Cartagena. The journey should be 8 hours or so but well do you need me to say anymore???

As we sat waiting at another stop for people to board a guy got on with a rooster!! We both spotted him and it and I said ooh look tea!!! We both were convinced it was dead as it was so stiff and didn´t move!

On the road we had numerous stops by the colombian police who take there job very seriously. At one point they pulled boxes from under out seats (we didn´t know they were there honest!) but they only had talc powder in them (we think!). We pointed to our bags and we were let off. Further down the road we weren´t so lucky!! We got stopped at another chekpoint where everyone had to get off. So we all did, the police and customs took all the bags off the bus and started removing petrol and mayonnaise. We have never seen so many jars come off a bus (I´m sure supermarkets hold less supplies!) it came from everywhere possible. The police were under the bus, under the floor, in the toilet and still it kept coming!!! We were there for ever!! They confiscated the lot including the talcum powder and then finally they let us get on our way. I walked back on the bus to check our bags were ok. It was at this point that the not so dead rooster had come alive and had started to crow!! Wish he had done that when the police were on board they may have got off quicker!!! Well after all that we were ok and we got to Cartagena several hours late to find the bus shuttle service to the centre finished for the night. Now how many taxi drivers can we barter with to get the best fare!!!

So now you find us here in Cartagena for a few days before enduring the bus smuggling journey back to Caracas. This is a beautiful beautiful place and well recommend it to everyone to come to. Everyone again is so friendly and helpful. The city is just colonial all the way through with all sorts of colours greeting they eye round every corner. We have had a little wander round but are now escaping the heat of the day before going back out to explore the walls and coast. Also there is a cruise ship in so we are trying to avoid the numerous tourists and are waiting until they have gone and becomes quieter. So look out for an update (hopefully) before we leave here!

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