Getting to Mérida

Bus travel in Venezuela is generally quite smooth.  If you´ve adjusted your mind to the general chaos that goes along with daily life in South America, overland travel can be quite enjoyable.  It´s relatively comfortable and cheap (especially if you take an overnight bus and save a night´s accommodation).  This was my third or fourth trip to Mérida, and I could have sworn it wasn´t THAT far away.  Our trip with Expresos los Llanos took about 16 hours.  Ordinarily it shouldn’t be much more than 11 or so.  We left Caracas only a half hour late, and I had confirmed multiple times that we would be arriving direct.  The buses always make at least one stop for people to stretch their legs, buy a snack, drink coffee and use a slightly cleaner bathroom than the one at the back of the bus.  This bus made two of these stops, as well as about 5 stops in smaller towns along the Panamerican Highway.  In between those towns, it seemed people could just go forward to the driver´s compartment and ask to be let off any old place.  This isn´t really that uncommon, but this time it was excessive, and it did slow us down.  These things, along with a HUGE traffic jam entering the city of Mérida itself, allowed us to watch three movies (including Jim Carrey´s Yes Man) as well as listen to the driver´s pick of llanera music (music of the Venezuelan plains) CDs at high-volume.  The other thing people prepare for on these long, buscama “sleeper” bus rides, is the temperature.  This was a new bus, and an LCD in the front displayed the time and the temperature.  Overnight, the range was from 14 to 17 degrees Celsius, or just under to just over 60 degrees Fahrenheit!  Travelers board the bus with blankets, towels, sweaters, even gloves and scarves in order to stay warm overnight. Definitely something to keep in mind! Alternatively, if you’ve got the funds, there are flights to Mérida as well.

We got in to Mérida at about noontime, five hours or so later than we´d been led to believe, but not too bad really.  We were met at the bus terminal by my friend Adrianna and her husband.  I first met Adrianna at an ecotourism conference in the south of the country we were both working.  We had visited Angel Falls together, and after that bonding experience, have kept in touch ever since.  We caught up at her place, and went out later for drinks.  Mérida has great night life, and the place we went had great atmosphere, in an old colonial house with lots of stonework, murals, and private, cushioned alcoves.

Sightseeing Around Mérida

In the morning, we head up through small mountain villages known mostly for their agricultural products.  We made a stop at a lagoon around which a road course race track had been built where people sometimes still come to practice.  Laguna Urao (a unique mineral, sodium sesquicarbonate) is a Natural Monument and historically a sacred place.  We also made a stop at the Hacienda La Victoria, near Santa Cruz de Mora.  Established by Italian immigrants in the later 1800s, the main house was recently renovated and houses the coffee museum, which is very informative, with lots of old machinery still in place and a wide open courtyard where coffee used to dry. It’s a symbol of the wealth brought to the area from the old coffee industry.

Further up, everywhere you looked something was planted: strawberries, garlic, onions, carrots, corn, coffee, potatoes, mango, avocado.  They also cultivate lots of flowers.  Our destination was Bailadores (founded 1601), about 90 kilometers out of the city.  We took a look around the plaza and church, and had a delicious late-afternoon lunch before heading home.  Had there been more time, there is a pretty waterfall, Parque Cascada India Carú and lots of other sites related to the culture of the area´s indigenous populations.

For more photos click here