Start of the Jungle trek
I am writing this on an overnight bus on the way to Cuidad Bolivar. Day 3 in Venezuela (Monday) turned out to be a good day. Other than the toilet overflowing in the bathroom and having to clean up some of the mess (emma will appreciate this more than anyone else i know) the day was interesting and fun. We started off our day meeting Nelson who helped us get tickets for our overnight bus and our flight back to Caracas from Margarita Island.
After wondering through a bus station (and practicing my very atrocious spanish) and a couple of travel agencies we came out feeling good. The only bad thing is that our flight from Margarita Island is at 7am on Sunday landing us back in Caracas at 8am. Although, both Rubes and I were disappointed, Nelson, offered the both us an opportunity to join him at his house which has a pool and is connected to a bay which means we'll still have another day of beach life. We'll have a better idea if that plan comes to fruition later in the week as Nelson has to work out things on his end.
So after taking care of business, Nelson, Ruby and I went out for Arepas. Arepas are a traditional venezuelan meal and one that isn't too costly either. Between the 3 of us we spent 100 bolivars and based on our special rate of 6 to 1 (i'll get to this in a future post) the cost works out to less than 17 dollars for 3 people - on average 6 bucks a pop and it includes fresh juice. We all add the chicken/avacado mixutre stuffed in corn bread. To be honest, it was like eating a chicken salad sandwich at timmys but it had avacodo.
The food here isn't anything special. What I like is the little coffees they serve - the coffees come in shot glasses and are sipped to be enjoyed.
After lunch, Nelson, dropped us back to the hotel so we could do our walking tour of Caracas. Much like Lima, Caracas was kinda boring. The buildings were not easily identifable and they looked the same. We started by checking out Simon Bolivar square and to our loss everything that we wanted to see was closed for some strange reason. The real adventure I guess was riding the subway in Caracas which costs 50 cents (in bolivars) one way. The subways are rammed to the nth degree and once boarded you felt like you are in a hot yoga studio. Ruby's comment to me was and I quote "thank gods its not India othewise, can you imagine the smell" . Added to this is the simple fact that everyone warns you to be very careful of your belongings while riding the subway as the pick pocketers are out to get you. No pickpocketer got us so one point for the good guys.
After doing our Simon Bolivar tour we ended up in Altamira square where Ruby and I sat around and chatted. Ruby decided to tell me that the subway ride for her wasn't the most pleasant as she got groped by some strangers. I didnt get groped so I didn't have anything to share with her on my subway experience. Then Ruby told me that b/c I am a guy, I am lucky when it comes to travi elling. That I agree with....as a guy we seem to be less bothered. I remember my friend Fiona recounting her stories of India to me and me being in utter shock and dismay at the country my parent's once called home. Anyhow, Rubes, then went all to tell me that people are afraid of me b/c of my beard. Really!! I didn't realize that so I am on a mission to create some sort of social experiment to see if there is truth to this. Need to think through this b/c I can't really test this in a simple way. I will get to the bottom of this. If the beard is something people are afraid of then I need to figure out how to take advantage of this situation.
After our trip was complete Rubes and I went to the local shopping centre where she did some retail therapy (i can have this affect on women) and I bought some insect repellent and some local chocolate (not the fruit and nut kind, Lal).
Post our shopping we ended up eating street meat - I had a pepito mixto which consisted of lots of ketchup, mayo, shredded chicken/beef, cheese and fried onions. Rubes had a jumbo hot dog which was really 4 small weiners thrown into a hot dog bun. We both couldn't finish our respective meals.
We are now on a bus travelling to our next stop. We are going to be seeing Angel Falls, some tabletop moutain and do some river rides in the Amazon. There may be pirhanas so it may get interesting if our boat tips:)
As I type this, we are watching a WWE movie called the Marine - it sucks ass but what's amazing is that the WWE is producing movies....if the model of business is diversification, here is a classic example of that.
I am off to get some zzzzzsss. Likely won't have internet for a couple of days so will post an update when I get a chance. Lots of love to my family and friends back home.....pray that we don't meet the piranahas.
Asta Loego.
After wondering through a bus station (and practicing my very atrocious spanish) and a couple of travel agencies we came out feeling good. The only bad thing is that our flight from Margarita Island is at 7am on Sunday landing us back in Caracas at 8am. Although, both Rubes and I were disappointed, Nelson, offered the both us an opportunity to join him at his house which has a pool and is connected to a bay which means we'll still have another day of beach life. We'll have a better idea if that plan comes to fruition later in the week as Nelson has to work out things on his end.
So after taking care of business, Nelson, Ruby and I went out for Arepas. Arepas are a traditional venezuelan meal and one that isn't too costly either. Between the 3 of us we spent 100 bolivars and based on our special rate of 6 to 1 (i'll get to this in a future post) the cost works out to less than 17 dollars for 3 people - on average 6 bucks a pop and it includes fresh juice. We all add the chicken/avacado mixutre stuffed in corn bread. To be honest, it was like eating a chicken salad sandwich at timmys but it had avacodo.
The food here isn't anything special. What I like is the little coffees they serve - the coffees come in shot glasses and are sipped to be enjoyed.
After lunch, Nelson, dropped us back to the hotel so we could do our walking tour of Caracas. Much like Lima, Caracas was kinda boring. The buildings were not easily identifable and they looked the same. We started by checking out Simon Bolivar square and to our loss everything that we wanted to see was closed for some strange reason. The real adventure I guess was riding the subway in Caracas which costs 50 cents (in bolivars) one way. The subways are rammed to the nth degree and once boarded you felt like you are in a hot yoga studio. Ruby's comment to me was and I quote "thank gods its not India othewise, can you imagine the smell" . Added to this is the simple fact that everyone warns you to be very careful of your belongings while riding the subway as the pick pocketers are out to get you. No pickpocketer got us so one point for the good guys.
After doing our Simon Bolivar tour we ended up in Altamira square where Ruby and I sat around and chatted. Ruby decided to tell me that the subway ride for her wasn't the most pleasant as she got groped by some strangers. I didnt get groped so I didn't have anything to share with her on my subway experience. Then Ruby told me that b/c I am a guy, I am lucky when it comes to travi elling. That I agree with....as a guy we seem to be less bothered. I remember my friend Fiona recounting her stories of India to me and me being in utter shock and dismay at the country my parent's once called home. Anyhow, Rubes, then went all to tell me that people are afraid of me b/c of my beard. Really!! I didn't realize that so I am on a mission to create some sort of social experiment to see if there is truth to this. Need to think through this b/c I can't really test this in a simple way. I will get to the bottom of this. If the beard is something people are afraid of then I need to figure out how to take advantage of this situation.
After our trip was complete Rubes and I went to the local shopping centre where she did some retail therapy (i can have this affect on women) and I bought some insect repellent and some local chocolate (not the fruit and nut kind, Lal).
Post our shopping we ended up eating street meat - I had a pepito mixto which consisted of lots of ketchup, mayo, shredded chicken/beef, cheese and fried onions. Rubes had a jumbo hot dog which was really 4 small weiners thrown into a hot dog bun. We both couldn't finish our respective meals.
We are now on a bus travelling to our next stop. We are going to be seeing Angel Falls, some tabletop moutain and do some river rides in the Amazon. There may be pirhanas so it may get interesting if our boat tips:)
As I type this, we are watching a WWE movie called the Marine - it sucks ass but what's amazing is that the WWE is producing movies....if the model of business is diversification, here is a classic example of that.
I am off to get some zzzzzsss. Likely won't have internet for a couple of days so will post an update when I get a chance. Lots of love to my family and friends back home.....pray that we don't meet the piranahas.
Asta Loego.
posted by Tanbir Grover @ 4:45 PM
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