Vacation Journal - Venezuela - Part I

I have no idea how many parts/chapters will be in this story.  My boss always said, stories are the way to capture ideas and thoughts in a basic format - these thoughts/ideas could then be translated into requirements.  In this case, I have adopted the idea of creating a story book around my trip.  There are no requirements to be built but rather these stories will shape my life today and in the future.  What comes out of these stories will be the requirements of how I hope to live my life and shape my life in the years ahead.

So, I write my first chapter on the country of Venezuela.  I have come to Venezuela with my close friend, Ruby.  Her and I weren't always friends, in fact, we met a very long time ago, but were more like acquaintances.  As time conspires with us, I ended up moving into King West in March of 2008 (maybe another blog post will go into my life downtown but not today).  As such, Ruby and I became much better friends and shared a passion for the arts, the music but more importantly the company.  We have done a couple of trips together (Quebec City and Bermuda) and now we are doing Venezuela.

So lets begin....as always, I hope to take a trip on an airplane that isn't memorable - one with no real bumps, easy service and a gentle landing.  In this case, this trip had easy service and a gentle landing.....however, the bumps on this trip were quite frightening at the time but as time works with us has become more of an enjoyable memory.  Lets say that for the first time ever, I felt the need to pray for my safety and for god to afford me the opportunity to pursue the many other things I want to do in life.  With that being said, we landed safely in Caracas --> like they say, it doesn't make a real difference how you get there  - just that you get there.

So, what do I think about Caracas.  Its a big city, its a small city and given all the hype its a dangerous city.  Now, when Ruby and I selected Venezuela we didn't do this with much thought or rigour....it was more of a whim, a chance to see something that was close, cheap and that would maximize time (she's on her march break)......Usually, I like to start with the food - lets say southern US as everything is deep fried.  Can't be healthy but let me tell you that people here just don't care.  Women will wear clothes that suit there body or don't - they don't care - women are beautiful but there beauty is also in their own confidence.  I digress, I have a habit of doing this.
The food is deep fried, salty and nothing special.  I feel like I am in the US with all the Burger Kings, McDonalds and other fast food gringo joints around.  Oh well, Venezuela isn't going to be winning any foodie contests.
Our first day in Caracas was a tour of the local shopping mall and exploring the Telefrico which is a cable car ride taking you from Caracas to the top of a very luscious mountain where you could see an old hotel and enjoy the sights, sounds and foods of this happening tourist hot-spot. Not a crazy day - we ate sushi for lunch (tasted very rubbery) and for dinner we had deep friend chicken and fish.
Today didn't start of as great as it should have.  We planned to do a walking tour of Caracas starting at 11am and by the time we got to the subway station we realized we needed our trusty Lonely Planet.  To our amazement and chagrin, we didn't have this book - we misplaced it either at dinner or lost it at dinner.  I want to say someone took it because it makes me feel less responsible.
So our day was spent searching bookstore after bookstore for a guide book on Venezuela given this was Day 2 of a 9 day trip.  More importantly, this is the first time I have ever lost a Lonely Planet (this is usually my bible).  What was cool, was Rubes and I didn't freak out or panic.  We kinda took it like a prize boxer - we can take a couple of good punches but we'll never hit the mat or throw in the towel. I will digress for just one moment and then link the digression back to our lost bible.
Yesterday, Rubes and I talked about the advent of the ebook; in fact would people use this and could the books we read today really provide the same experience as if you were reading it on an ebook reader (ie. the Kindle).  So, having lost our Lonely Planet and having my netbook, I was able to discover that I could buy the Venezuela book in specific chapters in digital format and read them off my netbook.  Lets say having these specific chapter on Caracas, Angel Falls and Margarita Islands brought a welcome sense of comfort back to me (not sure how rubes felt).  This took a little bit of that edge off and provided us with another great little adventure that we could live to tell.
As we were planning our trip to Caracas, I was reading blogs by other travellers and came across a site for a local individual who runs his own hostel.    His name is Nelson and he is the operator of Nelson's Place and Nelson's Room.  Nelson, had promised to give me a hand in arranging our travels in Venezuela and has been a great resource.  We met Nelson and his girlfriend Sarah today where we briefed Nelson on what we were hoping to do.  I always believe when travelling you learn about yourself, the people you travel with but also the people you meet along the journey.  In this case, Nelson and Sarah were very gracious hosts.  We ended up going out for dinner tonight and then planned on having breakfast tomorrow before we do our walking tour of Caracas (the trip we were supposed to take today).  Tomorrow brings our departure from Caracas and our hope to see Angel Falls and see some of the Amazon to resting and relaxing on Margaritta island before we make our trip home......an interesting day with many ups and downs but like most days in life, it leaves you wondering what the next day holds and for that my eyes open every morning with the hope that another  remarkable day is around the corner.