Gridlocked

So I did some tourism yesterday.

I went to the Panteon Nacional where Bolivar is entombed and the Church where he was declared El Libertador, for those not familiar with the backstory, go here.

Unfortunately it wasn´t much to write home about.

And that´s kind of the way it is here in Venezuela. Tourism doesn´t really exist in Caracas because there are other preoccupations, I woke to the noise of what sounded like explosions this morning.

Ah, the coup is taking place I thought.

But it turned out to be industrial style fireworks at a rally / concert in Plaza Altamira that was just an anti-violence gig.

In other news, despite being the only gringo for miles, I haven´t been victimised by the police yet so I must be doing some decent fitting in. Two factors at play in this may be that I´m pretty dark right about now and that Venezuelans come in every imaginable hue and colour.

So what can you write home about Venezuela?

Seriously, if you want to see many beautiful ladies, this is the place to come. You can see why they´ve won five Miss Worlds and done the Miss Universe / Miss World double twice, the only country apparently to have accomplished this feat (Lonely Planet don´t fail me now!).

But on the whole, Venezuelans are loud, pushy and more aggressive than the Argentinians and in no way as laidback as the Chileans. Arguments in the bar are loud, vociferous and accompanied by all manner of threatening gestures.

The wolf whistling continues unabated, and in fact is the only new noise in the persistent gridlock of Latin American capitals.

I´ve got my routine here down though and am guilty enjoying my first shot of heroin for the eyes, TV, that I´ve sampled since New Zealand. You can tell America must be close by when the evils of the Warner Channel are visited upon you daily.

Then at 8pm, it´s obviously time for the Rumba. I adjourn to my local where everybody doesn´t know my name.

Everybody tells me that Caracas isn´t Venezuela.

I´m aware that it is not the whole of Venezuela but you really can´t take it out of the equation either.

Roll on Monday and the Nashville skyline.