Fotos de Caracas y Venezuela, etc. etc.
Language butchery by Mr Rich on 26.2.06 @ 14:05
Well all, a strange thing happend to me on Thursday: ¡Comencé a entender a la gente que habla en español! ¡Mi Dios!
Wow. I never thought that would happen. Being immersed does help, I must admit. I guess I really should have listened to my father when I was growing up. He kept telling me to learn Spanish. But then again, I knew everything back then.
I've got some photographs of Caracas and other things. Here's a breif tour. Click on the pictures to see the full size images:
This is the Carribean sea as viewed from the ruta desde inferno. This is the only practical way to get from the airport to Caracas. It's a bit weird considering that Caracas is a city of more than 5 million people.
You need a four wheel drive truck with a fairly decent ground clearance to pass this road. Even weirder is that the road is mostly paved. There were only a few spots where the concrete was worn away, or was being replaced. Why the 4-low then? The slope. The road was so steep that low gear was necessary (and in first or second gear at that).
<------------------------------------- º ------------------------------------->
This is what Caracas looks like from the top of the pass on ruta desde inferno.
Awwww...it looks so peaceful!
You would never guess that this is the home of Hugo Sucio (Dirty Hugo)...and no, I don't mean Chavez! Pat Robertson tiene mierda para sesos (George W tambien). No, I mean the armed guys who guard the parking, the restraunts, and the hotels. OMIGOD! Seeing someone with a sawed off shotgun guarding the entrance to a restraunt is just bizarre.
<------------------------------------- º ------------------------------------->
This is the world famous trafico de Caracas! New York and L.A. aint got shit on Caracas. Gas is cheap and public transit sucks. Get your car, and prepare to spend some quality time in it.
I shot this photo from the hotel room , hence the distortion. The window played hell with the shot. But if you think this is bad, you should have seen the motorway. It would have blown your mind. En Caracas, no hay autopista. Solamente estacionamiento. Everyone was tooting their horns, waving their fists, and yelling "¡Movas el culo!"
And what would a posting from me be without a mention of toilets of the world? I wasn't kidding when I said the water from the bidet could hit the ceiling.
And yes, I did spell bidet as "bidai" in previous postings. So much for French in high school.
What was really wierd was that this was the only device in the hotel room that had any water pressure whatsoever. Seriously. The shower was a drizzle, and it took a full minute to fill the coffee pot in the morning. I guess you have to have your priorities in line, eh?
As for hotel being truly full service, I wasn't kidding. Here is the photographic evidence.
The Photo on the left shows the minibar portion of the hotel. Yep, they had just about everything you could want: Chilean wine, chocolate, and liquor. But notice what is placed along the back of the tray.
There is an enlargement on the right.
Yep, Larry Flint must own the place. If you don't know who Larry Flint is, head over to www (dot) hustler (dot) com and you'll find out real quickly. Just don't head over there when you are at work... (No vaya a www (punto) hustler (punto) com cuando tu está en el trabajo. ¡Muy, muy malo!).
Wow. I never thought that would happen. Being immersed does help, I must admit. I guess I really should have listened to my father when I was growing up. He kept telling me to learn Spanish. But then again, I knew everything back then.
I've got some photographs of Caracas and other things. Here's a breif tour. Click on the pictures to see the full size images:
This is the Carribean sea as viewed from the ruta desde inferno. This is the only practical way to get from the airport to Caracas. It's a bit weird considering that Caracas is a city of more than 5 million people.You need a four wheel drive truck with a fairly decent ground clearance to pass this road. Even weirder is that the road is mostly paved. There were only a few spots where the concrete was worn away, or was being replaced. Why the 4-low then? The slope. The road was so steep that low gear was necessary (and in first or second gear at that).
<------------------------------------- º ------------------------------------->
This is what Caracas looks like from the top of the pass on ruta desde inferno.Awwww...it looks so peaceful!
You would never guess that this is the home of Hugo Sucio (Dirty Hugo)...and no, I don't mean Chavez! Pat Robertson tiene mierda para sesos (George W tambien). No, I mean the armed guys who guard the parking, the restraunts, and the hotels. OMIGOD! Seeing someone with a sawed off shotgun guarding the entrance to a restraunt is just bizarre.
<------------------------------------- º ------------------------------------->
This is the world famous trafico de Caracas! New York and L.A. aint got shit on Caracas. Gas is cheap and public transit sucks. Get your car, and prepare to spend some quality time in it.I shot this photo from the hotel room , hence the distortion. The window played hell with the shot. But if you think this is bad, you should have seen the motorway. It would have blown your mind. En Caracas, no hay autopista. Solamente estacionamiento. Everyone was tooting their horns, waving their fists, and yelling "¡Movas el culo!"
<------------------------------------- º ------------------------------------->
And what would a posting from me be without a mention of toilets of the world? I wasn't kidding when I said the water from the bidet could hit the ceiling.And yes, I did spell bidet as "bidai" in previous postings. So much for French in high school.
What was really wierd was that this was the only device in the hotel room that had any water pressure whatsoever. Seriously. The shower was a drizzle, and it took a full minute to fill the coffee pot in the morning. I guess you have to have your priorities in line, eh?
<------------------------------------- º ------------------------------------->
As for hotel being truly full service, I wasn't kidding. Here is the photographic evidence.
The Photo on the left shows the minibar portion of the hotel. Yep, they had just about everything you could want: Chilean wine, chocolate, and liquor. But notice what is placed along the back of the tray.There is an enlargement on the right.
Yep, Larry Flint must own the place. If you don't know who Larry Flint is, head over to www (dot) hustler (dot) com and you'll find out real quickly. Just don't head over there when you are at work... (No vaya a www (punto) hustler (punto) com cuando tu está en el trabajo. ¡Muy, muy malo!).
<------------------------------------- º ------------------------------------->
So all in all it was an interesting week. I didn't get shot, and I got to eat areapas. Next stop: Bangkok! Yep, I will be heading through the airport turnstyle sideways... 
