HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The beautiful scenery of Venezuela
BUMMER OF THE DAY: A massive truck day of 13.5 hours
WORD OF THE DAY: CHEAP PERTOL
DISTANCE TRAVELLED:
We had a MASSIVE travel day today so we were going to get on the road early. Breakfast wasn’t included, but there was a great bakery a 10 minute walk from the backpackers that opened at 6am, so based on that we were to leave at 7am. The bakery was great. They had chocolate donuts, coconut macaroons, biscuits, cakes, paninis, croissants, rolls etc… it has been a while since I have seen a bakery like that, so I ordered big and got some snacks for the truck. 5 macaroons, a chocolate donut, a slice of pizza and then breakfast was an orange juice and a ham, salami and cheese toasted roll. All for the grand total of 8AUD. Crazy and it will nice to have other snacks rather than the billion packets of chips that I have consumed in the last few months at all the truck and toilet stops.
I hate to also say it, it was nice to have 10 less people on the truck and I was able to get a forward facing seat and a WINDOW on the right side of the truck. Mike and Marie were sitting in these seats and they have decided to do their own thing for the last week, so I have now claimed these seats as MINE and I will now have a choice for the last section to stay here or to move into Deb’s seat when she leaves us in Caracas. The only downside to Debs is her seat is on the left side and I like to be on the roadside side of the trucks, BIG decision to be made as we have some large days ahead of us leaving Caracas and then we also have to slot in the new people. The good ol seating monster raises his head for one last time.
Mark went with the group of 10 yesterday, so we had a rotation happening based on first asked of getting to sit in the front cab with Gray. This was a hot seat that everyone wanted, so we decided to swap at each rest break and I was 2nd in line. This also freed up another seat in back, and I rekon a group of 15 is perfect! Too bad we will have a group of 22 from Caracas. I love the WINDOW and there are only a few that actually open onto a seat and I have one and I love the wind in my hair again, being able to stick my head out the window and being able to take photos again as we drive. I am a happy camper that is for sure. I can handle long drive days with all that back again.
The Venezuelan country side when we first left was rolling green hills and we got to an altitude of 1800m at one stage. It reminded me a little of Iceland, with the large mountains with no trees but green grass. It was just beautiful. Our first security checkpoint came only 30 minutes after leaving Santa Elena at 7.30am. They seem to be quite thorough here and they wanted to see our passports, so I collected them all and handed them to Gray, but then they wanted to see us, so we had to get off the truck where they checked our faces and then checked that we had the entry stamp from the border. They didn’t hold us up too long and 10 minutes later we were back on the road. Well 45 minutes later at 8.15am another checkpoint loomed and we were all asked to hop off the truck again and just our stamps were checked this time and 15 minutes later we were back on the road again. No wonder the drive takes so long if we have to keep stopping all the time. 10.30am we were stopped at another checkpoint, but these guys only wanted to have a look in the truck and no passports required for this one. 11.20 was another checkpoint but this was the only one we were waved through the whole day. With others stops and passport checks at 12.55pm, 3.10pm and 4.20pm we were well and truly check pointed out. The police officers were always nice, but it always scary when they came on the truck with their guns slung over their shoulders in their fancy uniforms that they did look quite smart in I must admit.
I am back to waving, I love waving and the Venezuelans seem to like receiving and giving them as well so it is a win win for both of us. It just always brings a smile to my dial and I hope I make some-ones day with a wave and a smile from a ‘white’ person in a massive yellow truck.
As we stop for our toilet breaks Gray is trying to get fuel for Rosita. He doesn’t really need it, but we just try and grab some when we can and when the fuel is 1 cent a liter, yes 1 CENT a liter, we would be crazy to not try and keep her topped up while we are here. There weren’t many petrol stations for the first part of the day, so when we pulled up for lunch there was a Big queue and they would lonely let us have 100L. We’ll take it. The pump at one stage said 40L and the cost was .40 cents. That’s just plain crazy. How do they make money on that fuel? I’ll have to Google it and see why.
We arrived into Ciudad Bolivar at 7.30pm. But not before driving through some of the outer suburbs of this city. We had stopped at a red light and Deb had got her IPod all tangled up in her necklace and as she was trying to untangle it, the IPod fell out the window!! So she was shouting to Gray to get his attention that she was going to jump out and get it, when she also attracted the attention to the car next to us and he could see what was happening so he got out of his car and picked up the IPod and then…… got in his car as the light had turned green and drove off with it!!!!!!! Can you believe it? I was shocked when she told me and she honestly thought he was going to pass it back to her. What a low life. I would die if my IPod was stolen, just die. It makes a good story but at Debs expense unfortunately!
Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolivar State. It was founded with the name Angostura in 1764, renamed in 1846, and, as of 2010, had an estimated population of 350,691. The town's original name was a contraction of its full descriptive name, Santo Tomé de Guayana de Angostura del Orinoco (Saint Thomas of Guiana of the narrows of the Orinoco). The town also gave its name to the Angostura tree (Cusparia febrifuga) which grows in the area. Angostura bitters were invented there, though the company which produced them has since moved to Trinidad and Tobago. Ciudad Bolívar's historic center is well preserved, with original colonial buildings around the Plaza Bolívar, including a cathedral.
The hotel was tucked away down some dirt roads off one of the major roads of the city. I have no idea how Gray found it, after 13 hours on the road and by now it was pitch black, but found it he did and for the night it was great. We were in a triple room with an air-conditioner and a hot water tap in the shower, so after an organized dinner of spaghetti, an organizing of a daypack for the next night out at Angel Falls we were all tucked up in bed at 9.30pm. One of life’s travelling mysteries is how we can be so dog tired when all we do is sit on the truck all day. Why is that?
We’re off to Angel Falls tomorrow and I can’t wait.
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