Caracaus Concrete City

Well, I have managed to figure out how to log in on a computer, with Spanish instructions.

As I mentioned in the comment section, I arrived safely. The plane landed around midnight and by the time I went through customs and did the taxi ride to the hotel it was 2 AM when I could hit the pillow. But at least, I survived the taxi ride. While you do have to be careful around the city, I am staying in the safest part of the city. At nights, I have been people watching at the Plaza (public square) till 8pm, without any sense of danger. The metro (subway) is also clean and efficient.

The biggest challenge has been the cost of things in Caracas. It´s very expensive here, especially at the official bank exchange rate (about 1US to 2.1 Bolivar), while the black market rate is 1 to 5. So for example, a Big Mac meal is 35 Bolivars, which at the offical rate is over 15US dollars. That`s typical. Even at the black market rate it is 7 US dollars. It should become cheaper once we leave the city.

As for Caracaus, it is a Concrete City--a very busy commerical city. The old heart of the city has very little of the colonial era. While a few churches do date back to the 1600's, most of the buildings around them are modern buildings, in poor conditions. Today, I went up Mount Avila by cable car (with fellow travellers) and got a great view of the city. But I will ready to leave the city tomorrow.

I have met my fellow passengers. There will be eight of us, plus two leaders, in this leg of the journey.