The one where it all began...

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It´s taken me 2 and a half weeks to get round to this, but finally the promised blog is underway! As I write I´m sitting in my hostel in Córdoba, Northwest Argentina, but rather than giving a blow by blow account of my journey to get here, I think it will be significantly less painful if I write something more akin to a highlight reel of the past two weeks. So here goes!

The first stop on my South American itinerary was Caracas, Venezuela, a city somewhat preceded by its insalubrious reputation. Most of the reading I had done was full of warnings to be on my guard at every turn, to sleep with one eye open and the like. Initially I wrote this off as nothing more than the usual over-cautious travel writing to which I´ve become accustomed over the years. I regret to say though that on this occasion, the Lonely Planet was spot on. From my warm welcome in the airport by hoardes of airport security men offering a series of shady black-market transactions, to my rather unnerving encounter with a police checkpoint on my way back to the terminal 4 days later, my experience of Caracas was tinged with underlying menace. The city itself, despite its spectacular setting in a valley ringed by heavily forested mountains, is far from quaint or picturesque. Graffiti, litter and a general sense of dilapidation prevail, and the heavily populated inner city is awash with unkempt tower blocks and propaganda billboards praising the merits of Chavez´ socialist ´revolution´. More on that in just a moment. On the outskirts of the city lie some of the most extensive (and, I am assured, most dangerous) shanty towns I have ever seen. They stretch for miles over the hilltops, some constructed at dizzying angles on all but the steepest slopes, and with no way down into the city but by foot. At night, by contrast, they present quite a beautiful spectacle as thousands of porch lamps light up the surrounding hills. By day the hustle and bustle of the city is much like any other, although the people seem less inclined to welcome ¨gringos¨ like myself than in other places I´ve visited, though this is probably more a symptom of the lack of tourism in the much maligned city than any inherent national trait. By night however, at least in the city centre, shemale prostitutes walk the streets (believe me I know, I saw!), drunken revelry abounds and it is altogether not a place that one feels entirely safe or at ease. This impression was confirmed when on my penultimate night, Katie´s cousin Kelvin was mugged at knife point coming home from a night on the town. Luckily I dodged that bullet by being to ill/tired to join him on that particular outing.

That said, I did manage to have a wonderful time there, largely due to the hospitality of Katie´s family with whom I spent the 3 nights I was there. They opened their home to me as if I was already a part of the family (although I get the impression that this was assumed to be the case at least by her Grandmother, whose daily ¨¿Cuando vas a casarte con mi Katie?¨ almost had me running for the Venezuelan hills!) I´ve always said that when travelling, there´s nothing quite like spending time with a local family for a truly cultural experience, and that was certainly what I was given. From traditional Venezuelan cooking to a lads day out on the beach with a BBQ and several crates of the local brew ¨Polar¨, I can say I left with a real understanding of what it is to live day to day in a city like Caracas. I was taught how to play dominos, taken on night time drives around the city centre and spent a day at a local sports and restaurant complex. I also found that by the end of my stay I had brushed at least some of the rust off my Spanish which has stood me in good stead for the rest of the trip!

One of the salient features of my time in Caracas was my increased awareness and understanding of the Chavez regime. Essentially he is embarking upon a "Cubanisation" of Venezuelan society, and the Venezuelan economy is one in transition from capitalism to socialism. The result of this, most remarkable on an aesthetic level, is a curious mismash of the remenants of capitalism and Chavez´socialist propaganda machine. Side by side with posters glorifying the revolution are skyscrapers adorned with giant "Pepsi Cola¨ and ¨Nescafé¨ sculptures which somewhat betray the claims of the former. I made a point of quizzing most of the Venezuelans I met on the subject of Chavez, and to a man they are all vehemently opposed to the regime. When I asked why nobody was doing anything about it, the answer I got was all to familiar. The sad fact is that Chavez holds the loyalty of the police and the army, and whilst that remains the case, there is little that anyone else can do. So again we are faced with a case of socialism being imposed from above, of which Lenin would be proud. It simply remains to be seen how this particular saga will play itself out.

So after 4 thoroughly enjoyable days I was making my way back to the airport thanking my luck stars I had come through unscathed, when our car was stopped at a police checkpoint and we were asked to step outside. The police asked us to empty our pockets and bags, and we were given a thorough patting down. I was convinced after all I´d seen and read that I was going to need a hefty bribe to walk away from this one without any trouble, not to mention I was already running late for my flight! But it seems I stumbled upon one of the few honest cops in the city, since after about 20 mins they simply handed back my ID and gruffly told us to be on our way. Phew is the word! Lets just hope that sets a precedent for the rest of the trip! From there it was off to Buenos Aires to be reunited with my long lost love and begin the adventure proper. Tune in next time for a whistle stop tour of BA, Montevideo, Brazil and Paraguay!

Over and out x

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Comments

[Paddy Thompson]

Chavez is no Lenin
Sounds like fun bro, keep posting links on your fb so I can check these out. While I'm no fan of Chavez, remember he won the election in 1998 and won the referendum on abolsishing term limits for the Presidency only last year (however illegal it may have been), and various NGOs like NACLA have said the vote was fair and transparent. So I'm not saying he's a vastly popular guy in Venezuela, with both above examples won by small majorities, I just don't think he's a fair comparison with Lenin and the Bolsheviks' "revolution from above"!