14-16/12/2011 - Been spending most our lives livin in a Gringo's paradise

Last night brought its first experience of travellers diarrhoea, which I can only attribute to the cheap rum and the excitement of being at the coast. I guess I'd been fortunate to avoid it until now (remembering the burger-poisoning incident) but it arrived with unpredictable fury and I didn't get a wink of sleep. As a result today was a total write off, as I spent most of the day on liquids and sleep. Looking on the brighter side, this is a really nice place to be ill, and as I swung in my hammock and listened to podcasts of Radio 4 shows, reminding myself of a life thousands of miles away, I didn't feel too glum about losing a day here. Still, I wished Christmas would come early and bring me solid stools.

The next day (Thursday), feeling a little better, me and Connie hit the beach which was almost completely deserted and the fantastically warm Caribbean Sea was wonderfully welcoming. I couldn't have asked for more.

On Friday, my bowels having more or less behaved after breakfast, I decided to move on again. Making my way back to Puerto La Cruz bus terminal it turned out the only bus heading to my destination of Maracay was at 11.30 pm so I spent another day in Puerto La Cruz. I spent the time soaking up the lively friday evening atmosphere along the waterfront and even came across a couple of skateboarders in one of the plazas. I asked them for a quick go and found that most of my skills had deserted me but the guys were really friendly and instantly started offering me some alcoholic drink which tasted like liquorice (I wasn't a fan).

I headed off to the bus station in the late evening with a slightly better impression of Puerto La Cruz. Waiting for several hours in the bus terminal in the late evening was fairly entertaining since an old guy came in and put on a magic show performance for the many Venezuelans waiting for their buses. On the bus I got chatting to the guy next to me called Daniel who lived and studied mechanical engineering in Puerto La Cruz but was visiting family and his girlfriend in Maracay. Pretty soon he'd offered to show me around Maracay and breakfast at his uncles place. I went to sleep telling myself to be cautious but at the same time trying to ignore advice about not trusting strangers. It would be nice to leave Venezuela with something beyond the “dangerous” label.