On the Plane from Caracas to Lima

Date: 23 Aug 2010
Status: Rushed. Made it - happy. Missed out on having a meal with Marcus at Caracas airport due to the delay with flight from Margarita.

I managed to make the flight for Lima despite the 3-hour delay on our flight from Margarita to Caracas.  Receiving the luggage once we finally got to Caracas took forever... When I got to the international terminal and check-in counter they said they had CLOSED the check-in and refused to check me in. This was 90 minutes before departure time. I reasoned, I begged, I spoke Spanish, English, I pushed, I begged more and I pushed more - and eventually they agreed to check me in. I said a quick bye to Marcus who was waiting to check himself in for his flight to Madrid, rushed to the airport tax counter and pleaded the security guy to let me jump the security control queue (he was telling me to queue just like everyone else but eventually gave in). I got to the gate pretty much at the same time as the airline started putting people on the bus to board the plane. Phew. I hope Marcus made his flight.

I also have to say the wedding on the 21st Aug was fantastic. It was a scorching hot day and we were grateful for the fans Eduardo and the rest of the family handed out to us. The church doors were open and teh fans helped a little but we were all still melting in our seats. Not that it really mattered - we were all so keen to be there when Ilsabeth&Roberto say "I do" that we did not care about the weather.  The grooms side of friends cheered when Roberto said "i do" and the bride's side of friends when Ilsabeth said it. The priest had to  quiet us down to bring order back to the church.

And the party after the ceremony? Fabulous. Great. Amazing. Totally awesome. Beautiful. It took place in an outdoor cafe/bar overlooking the sea. the place had one of the best views of the sea and the night sky you can get on Margarita Island. We saw the sun setting in the Caribbean sea and the night fall over our wedding party. There was music, food, drinks, funny hats, more music, more drinks, dancing, crazy people, lots of laughter and a lots of people with big smiles and happy faces all around. I would have stayed a little longer but eventually joined the girls on a taxi back to the hotel around 2am. I think we danced our legs off.

The next day was again spent on the beach with friends from both sides. We had drinks, enjoyed the sun and the sea, played frisbee, cooled down in the water and chatted off in our deck chairs. We ended the day with a dinner in a beach restaurant, music and again dancing (we had our own little party in this restaurant that only had a few other clients). We stayed til midnight and then we had to go back to pack our bags for the next morning, say goodbyes (I refused to!), shower and catch a few hours of sleep before heading off to the airport the next day.

Next, new adventures in Peru.

The Great Wedding Day

Date: 21 Aug
Status: Waiting for the two dearies to say "I do" to each other

Today it is! Ilsabeth's and Roberto's wedding - the reason why all of us have travelled half way across the planet just to hear them say "I do" to each other. I cannot wait to hear them say that - particularly since we all thought Roberto might never get married.

It's Day 8 in Venezuela and we've been chilling out at the pool this morning with the other half of the Crazy Friends & Illegal Immigrants party. Before we got here to Margarita on  19th August we spent another chilled out day at Los Roques, visiting one of those "islands" that Los Roques is so well known for that are nothing more than a strip of sand in the big blue ocean. Clean water, beautiful views - but unfortunately also a scorching sunshine. but they have got this fabulous service of renting and bringing you umbrellas and cooler boxes for your island trips. Pack your beer, pack your lunch, pack your "parchita" (passionfruit) and  off you go for your day in the sun. Still a little warm for my Finnish skin and not so much to do in the sun...

Yesterday, the 20th, was possibly the most fun day of the trip so far. We made our way to Playa del Yaque near Porlamar (the big town on Margarita Island) and spent the entire day on the beach with friends&family of the "bride&groom-to-be"s. We had a huge group of people, frisbees, fabulous food - and a beach with soft sand, warm water and all the services.


I rented myself a little kayak and had a good workout paddling across to explore the mangroves and little beaches nearby. I did no make any effort to invite anyone to come along - so it was just me, my kayak, the sea, the lonely stork in the lagoon and the pelicans flying over on their fishing trips. Kayaking in the calm sea is a good activity when one is sorting out their head. It was quiet and beautiful. I had fun exploring the shallows of the lagoons. i saw little fish jumping out of the water in front of my kayak or retreating to safety under the mangroves, a couple of storks casting looks at me from the centre of the lagoon as if they were trying to tell me they are the kings of the lagoon and I'm trespassing their kingdom.  Some "Me" time for thinking, combined with time to observe nature's creations. Perfect.

Food in the beach restaurant was ok . I had a chicken salad with Mr Marcus BUT the real food arrived with Robertos' parents. they brought with them this amazing, homemade seafood mix with bread. I sat down after my kayaking session and after playing with the cutest little 1.5-year old and some useless banter with friends. Someone put a slide of bread with seafood in my hand and I obediently ate it. It was delicious. I had another one. And another one. I got handed yet one more. I was sitting there in a deck chair surrounded by nice people, being handed heavenly food after a nice kayaking session. I felt this bubbly sensation fill me. I know what is one of the key ingredients for the seafood mix - aprt from shrimp and octopus. It was happiness. Definitely happiness.


Wedding party photo here with our "Illegal Immigrants" gang

"Tierras de Agua e Islas de Paraiso"

Date: 17 Aug 2010
Status: On a pristine white sand beach on Los Roques

I managed to find my first new travel buddy Steph at Houston airport on 13 August in the evening after killing six hours by myself at the airport. I walked twice from one end of the airport to the other (just to stretch my legs after the long flight from Singapore via Moscow), had some nachos, got myself connected to the wifi to waste time on Facebook to see what my friends have been up to - and had a couple of hours of a nap on the most uncomfortable chairs that Houston airport provides.

Steph had lounge passes - and they have SHOWERS in the president lounge. I had a life saving shower after all that flying - next opportunity to shower will be in the Canaima national park after another 3 flights and an overnight trip to Angel falls. Hooray to travel buddies with lounge passes!

We found Elle at Caracas airport on teh morning of 14th Aug with a dodgy money changer from whom we changed some bolivars at a not-so-great black market rate - but we got enough to get ourselves started and definitely a better rate than the official government rip-off rate.

Catching the two flights down to Canaima was good fun, starting from running to the domestic terminal, jumping the security check queue, Steph's bag getting "searched" at Caracas end after check-in (luckily she never puts any valuables in her check-in bag - we heard from other travellers their camcorder was stolen on the same flight), meeting a very cute and helpful young man at the check-in counter in Puerto Ordaz and finally flying from Puerto Ordaz to Canaima in a  tiny little Cessna that fits 6 people (includes the pilot). According to Steph&Elle also the pilot was cute haha - I wasn't paying attention as usual.

Eventually we got to Canaima where we were assigned a guide who was about 3 ft tall (in reality he was probably about 5 ft) and he did a really good job at destroying all of his chances of ever earning a tip. Among other things, he had a few too many beers on the way up from the "base camp" to Angel Falls campsite, asked me to warm him on the boat when it was raining as he did not have a raincoat (he gave it to Elle) and did not understand why I refused to, wanted to hold hands with me, Elle and Steph all in turns, put his hand under my t-shirt while he was assigning as the hammocks to sleep in (you do know the meaning of the word "calentorro" - something in the lines of horny&desperate - suited to describe our 3 foot tall guide) and in addition kept giving orders and bossing around our group - where we are allowed to sit and where not. My favourite order was when at breakfast table he asked the rest of the group sit at one end of the table and said to Steph "but you sit there" and pointed to the other end of the table. Perhaps Steph upset him when she refused to hold hands with him???

Angel Falls was worth the trip. I think I still liked better swimming at the bottom of it rather than viewing the world's highest waterfall disappearing into clouds at 979 meters of altitude. Boat trip back was also fabulous - the river has a lot of rapids and we got splashed wet in our little canoe in the wide and fast running river. It was a real "Tierra del Agua" (Waterworld) in Canaima - amazing waterfalls, rivers full of fresh, clean water, reflections of the surrounding forests, beautiful views - and no litter!

Yet, my favourite part of the Canaima trip was Salto Sapo (Sapo Falls), which we saw in the morning of our last day before leaving Canaima. Salto Sapo is "only" 25-30 meters tall but it's nearly 100 meters wide. The best part? You can walk behind it for the full length of the falls. We left our shorts and t-shirts on a rock near the waterfall and wandered behind the huge, cooling watermass in our bikinis and flip-flops. It was spectacular. The noise of the water falling from the heights, getting completely utterly profoundly soaked in the cool, fresh water and walking along a slippery, rocky path at times with hardly any visibility at all was an entirely breathtaking experience.

After returning from Sapo we had a quick breakfast and caught another three flights (same hassle with running from one flight to another trying to jump security queues and maximise use of time at check-in and airport tax payment). We arrived at los Roques islands late afternoon of 16th August.

Los Roques is beautiful but it felt a little like a rip-off where you can spend 10 times the money you would spend in Thailand just to get your Caribbean experience. So far it's been fun with nice meals on the beach, a crab in the bathroom (turned out to be dead???), a couple of nice dives on the reef and an afternoon spent on a white sand beach knocking back mojitos and attempting to get skin cancer seated on Steph's sarong under a big, blue umbrella.

The Journey begins: At Domodevo Airport, Moscow

Date: 13 Aug 2010
Status: In Transit. Bored.

It's 9.30am local time (+4hours GMT) and I've just landed in Moscow. I found myself a cosy spot sitting on the floor near gate 10 waiting to board for the next leg of the journey. The transit lounge in Moscow does not have enough seats to accommodate all the passengers. Of course not. It's Russia!
I left Singapore yesterday evening - well actually early this morning Singapore time - eventually in a good mood and in anticipation of the adventures ahead. It had been a couple of days of running around to make teh final arrangements before the 5-week trip to Venezuela and Peru.
As I was queueing to board the plane yesterday in Singapore, I suddenly hear a familiar voice saying "Taitti, is that you?" Took me a while to recognise the man in his pilot uniform - when i met Darren the week before in Manado he was mostly wearing a wetsuit. Now he was going to fly the plane I was taking to Moscow! What a great start for my Big Trip - the pilot is my dive buddy!

Ready for the Big Trip!

I managed to stuff all this in my bag before leaving Singapore. OMG. Oh well, it had better fit - I needed clothes for the wedding, the beach and the hiking - as well as the general bumming around.