A LITTLE WESTERN IN CARACAS

WEATHER: Hot and 30C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Visiting a western shopping center in months…..  

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Paying 75AUD for my washing-Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

WORD OF THE DAY:  The Vow

We had a free day today in Caracas. 

I had a few things I wanted to get done today and they included a post office, where I had to send a package home, postcard stamps and I still need to send my divorce papers that were signed in Buenos Aires to Drew, this has been a pressing matter that I just haven’t been able to finalize and I need to.  I also need a haircut, a restock of toiletry provisions, and I also needed to get some money changed.  

At breakfast we arranged with some of the other girls to meet at 12 noon and we would all catch taxis to the 4^th largest shopping center in South America called Salida.  It has 350 shops over 5 levels and it sounded like a perfect way to spend our afternoon and to also get all my ‘jobs’ done.  The taxi’s in the city are all common rated, so depending on what part of the city you want to go to differentiates how much you pay.  To get to the shopping center it was a flat fee of 60BOLS which is like 7AUD, divide that between the 4 of us and it was a cheap ride that is for sure.  In saying that it was only a 10 minute drive getting us to the front doors and we found out the center is open from 11am till 11pm, so we have plenty of time to explore and feel a little human and less like a traveler for a few hours anyway. 

It was a great shopping center and before we did anything we checked out what the cinemas were showing for the afternoon.  We all agreed on the movie called The Vow at 3.40pm so we the decided to have lunch first and then attack the shops after that.  There were 2 food courts as such and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for Kentucky Fried Chicken and it was just as delicious as I remembered and then it was time to hit the shops.  Kate and I both needed to get to a hair salon so after visiting a few shops trying to move in a methodical manner we came across a salon that was busy, but we went in and used the international sign language for haircut and waxing (no English) and we were fit in straight away.  I got whisked to a basin for the wash and Kate was taken upstairs for her ‘beauty’ treatment.  It was so nice to have my hair washed by a professional and get that awesome massage to the scalp with the shampoo and conditioner cycle.  Just magic. I was then introduced to my stylist, a massive singing Spanish gay guy.  He was hilarious.  He spoke a little English and I explained I only wanted a ‘little’ chopped off and he showed me how much and I said smaller and then we were on the same page.  As mentioned the salon was busy, there were clients all getting something done, a stack of staff all around, doing each other’s hair, or talking to people, friends coming and going saying hi.  My guy was checking his mobile phone from time to time, reply back to a text message and then continue with my hair, and 3 people came up to him and they hugged and kissed for a few minutes and then they were gone.  I think they may need to learn a little about customer service, but it wasn’t for long each time, so I didn’t say anything.  He broke into song a few times and that made me smile, he was pretty cool.  The salon had a great vibe about it and I am so glad that I got my hair cut.  The cut itself only took a few minutes, but he blow dried and then straightened my hair and I looked like a new woman.  I can’t even remember the last time my hair was straightened, as I didn’t get it done in Cuzco in December, or in Reunion in September, so it must have been my London cut in July just before Africa.  I can’t wait to have my GHD back.  In total it cost me 37AUD and it was worth every penny.           

We pretty much saw all the shops by the time we needed to make our way to the cinema, so it was good to be able to sit for a few hours and rest the feet with a movie.  We bought tickets for 2.30AUD and then no movie experience is complete without popcorn and a drink which cost twice the ticket at 5.50AUD but by the time we got to the theatre there weren’t 5 seats together, so we spread ourselves around the cinema and there was a nice couple that swapped seats so that Sharon and I could sit together.  The Vow was a great movie.  A chick flick for sure and it really gets your mind thinking if something like that happened to me in real life just how upsetting it would be, now that I can place Zeme, the man of my dreams, in there with me.  The audience was really funny as well, if something good happened, people clapped and if something bad happened we would all gasp together.  It was pretty cool and very interactive to say the least. 

We caught a taxi home after the movies and I had to pick-up our washing from reception that Kate and I had left that morning.  Well there was some sort of mix up to start with so that took 20 minutes to get that sorted out and to locate the actual clothes and then you can imagine my surprise of the bill when they could finally tell me how much it was, after another 15 minutes, that it was 1000BOLS which is 119AUD!!!!!!!!!!!  For WASHING!!!!  85% of the wash was mine and to start with the per piece item was expensive, but because we asked for same day service there was a 50% charge on top of that.  Well that will teach me to ask for prices next time and to not assume that it would just be cheap.  To be fair I think I still would have done the washing (maybe not as much) but I asked for an itemized bill, which took another 15 minutes, and after seeing it I was then okay to pay.  So my contribution was a cool 77AUD for around 25 pieces!!!  Oh well, I have been lucky on this whole leg in regards to cheap washing, so I just need to let this one pass and suck up the 77 BUCKS I paid for some washing in Caracas!!!

There was an option dinner tonight to meet the newbies, but Kate and I couldn’t be bothered, we figured there would be plenty of time to meet them over the next 4 weeks so we decided to eat in at the restaurant downstairs with Tony and Wendy and then back to the room for the final repack.  Once I get the postal bag sent I am back to 3 bags and feeling better that I have finally got all my stuff under control.  After this trip I will be ditching my sleeping bag and pillow as I won’t need that for the rest of my trip, so that will give me some extra room in my bag when I finally leave Ecuador at the end of the month.

So with another section of my South American Odyssey comes to an end and the last part starts tomorrow, the days are quickly passing me by and I am glad and I am sad all at the same time.  Glad that it is going quick as that gets me to Zeme quicker, but also sad with the people I have met and that my World Odyssey draws closer to an end.  But eventually it would have to happen and I am just thankful that I have Zeme waiting for me at the end of it all.