Venezuela - Merida

Mario and I rode the 250kms into the mountain town of Merida, a bustling little city with towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada to the east and the promise of lots of great sights to the north. 

We met up with Walter who is a local entrepreneur, running the top class restaurant Brangus and the twice weekly disco on the roof top that attracts up to 900 people on Friday and Saturday nights. 

I had a couple of little issues to sort out with Ziggy – a stripped thread and lost bolt on the rear rack holding down my luggage, and the dent in the rear wheel. Walter took me to a local engineer, Yaser, who re-tapped the hole and secured my rack stronger than ever. 

The next day I removed the rear wheel and we took it to a tyre place for the removal of the tyre, then up to the engineering shop for the deft touch of the guys there. They fixed it up beautifully.

I stayed the weekend with the fantastic and generous hospitality of Walter and his restaurant staff, who fed me literally the best food I have tasted on the whole trip at Brangus Restaurant. How a top class restaurant can appear here like this amazes me but the steaks were large and juicy, the avocado salad was to die for and the cheese coated mushrooms with crusty bread were a treat. With the exchange rate I was able to live like a king, staying in a nearby luxury motel for a mere $9 a night. I can’t imagine what it would cost in Australia.

Walter and I went for a ride to the heights at Pararro La Culata but unfortunately caught the fog coming in. Still it was good to have a hot chocolate in the cooler temperatures. 

On the way back down to the city we stopped in at a friend who runs a pizza restaurant and met Viviena and her Italian husband. They are both physicists but with the situation in Venezuela it is more lucrative to cook pizzas. They generously cooked me for free one of the best pizzas I have ever tasted and definitely the best in Merida according to her. I think the best in Venezuela!

The next day I did a big walk around the city; picturesque, nestled behind the towering Sierra Navada mountains that reach over 4300 metres with a small patch of snow detectable from the main street. 

I happened across a BMW 800GS parked outside a café called Tony’s Bike. Tony was outside and invited me in for a coffee and explained the interesting times getting local and good Italian coffee for his shop. His coffee was top class and I enjoyed a nice strong double espresso and some cake. Definitely the best coffee in Merida. Quite the culinary hotspot it seems!

The tell-tale signs of a troubled country are apparent with long lines to the supermarket but shorter queues for petrol here away from the border. Although considered safe here I was advised not to carry a camera, wallet or mobile phone in the streets in the big cities due to the possibility of an armed robber pointing a gun at my head to get what I have. Caution heeded. Chances are I won’t get all the photos I want in this country. But also I have decided to take the more remote road to the south to avoid the big cities, then join the Caribbean coast again to the east of Caracas. I’ve been told this is where some of the best beaches are in the country.