Hola!!! For reasons that will be revealed shortly, it is hard for me to write about this trip to Venezuela. Should I write it as I pictured it in my mind before I arrived, as exciting, touristic, cheap and fun, or should I just stick to the truth, as revealed to me later on? It is better start from the beginning. Obviously, I havenīt had enough of South America (or away from home, depends how you look at it). During the past year since Iīve returned from Colombia I had only one thing in mind: Venezuela. Picturing myself relaxing in a Venezuelanian beach, hiking up mountains, seeing jungle animals and enjoying the nightlife really got me going. The dream was so good that I have not done anything (I mean anything) to prepare myself for this trip. The only information I had was that I am landing in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and that one Dollar equals 1600 Bolivars (the local currency). Alon, Omer and I, three friends from high school, left Israel on the end of August for Venezuela. It was on the plane when it hit me. First, we were the only tourists, but that wasnīt it. Two Israelis that work in Caracas generously told us that the exchange rate on the street for cash is 2500 Bolivars to one US Dollar, more than 50% the official rate! We came completely unprepared - with only a small amount in cash and a credit card. This was the beginning of operation "hot greens". By the way, those of you who have read Alonīs email and wonder why mine tells a slightly different story, the reason is that I stick to non- fiction... The official exchange rate imposed by the government is valid for exchanging money in banks and withdrawing money from ATMs. Of the many options to bypass the official exchange rate, the leading one was to fly to Bogota ($200), withdraw dollars for the three of us, and return. But then, in a moment of pure genious, Alon noticed a bathing suit butique named "Baruch". We quickly connected to the nice local Jewish community. We met a bunch of 35 year olds that showed us around the city while yelling remarks to the local girls from their car. They recommended us to go to "Club Hebraica", a Jewish sport and culture center, with "Young beautiful single Jewish Venezuelian girls in bikinis in the swimming pool". Guess where we found ourselves the next day? By the swimming pool, wet from the rain, with nothing close to what has been promised... Moises, one of the people we met was willing to help us with the money issue - We made an overseas transfer of Dollars to a bank account in Miami, in exchange for local currency with an exchange rate of 2400. Finally we could relax knowing that weīre not screwed by Chavez. But that was not the only thing that hit me. Actually there were quite a few other things, starting with low doors, ceiling lamps, ceilings, and just about anything I can think of. My head is full of bumps like in the cartoons. This country is made for midgets! Bored by the dirty and dangerous Caracas, we headed for Isla Margarita. A 7 hour ferry ride (they say that it is usually 4, but they had mechanical problems) brought us to the Island. A very nice beach resort with tourists! Now you have to understand, this is the first time we came across tourists in Venezuela, after more than a week in Caracas! A lady that works in the Israeli embassy told us that there are five more Israeli tourists in the country, two of them travelling and three of them currently touring their jail cell. Just sitting on a beach with a coctail in one hand and a book in the other is enough to keep me happy for weeks. The beaches were beautiful (maybe because of all the pretty Venezuelanas, maybe not maybe...), there were great parties and we had a really good time. If you look at mine and Alonīs photo albums, donīt be surprised to see many pictures of us with the beach behind us... It is just that there were so many friendly and pretty girls that "wanted" to take a picture of us with OUR camera... (yes, it worked a few times) Now I have theories regarding women, but this next story cought me completely unprepared: On our last night in Margarita, the man that worked at our hotel said that he wants to celebrate with us. Of course we told him to join us, but then he dropped the bomb: "I have no money, is that ok?". Of course itīs ok, we thought, how bad can it be? It can! Not only did we pay for his entrance to the disco, he kept on drinking for the whole night... Obviously, this wasnīt enough for him - After we came back to the hotel at 5am, he decided that he wants our calling card as well, so he woke Alon up at 7am to ask for it! And I thought that only women were so low... Being the most touristic city in the country according to Lonely Planet, Merida became our next destination. Beautiful mountains surround the city, which is mainly inhabited by the large number of students that study there. But guess what? No tourists! There must be no more than 200 tourists in this country at any given moment. A pretty low number for this huge country. So far we have made an excursion to the "Los llanos", a plainland with many animals. Although getting there with a jeep with no shock absorvers made me really sick, it was really enjoyable (I was promised when I paid that "The jeeps are new, only two years on the road", yea right...). We (I mean the guides of course) have cought and seen a 6 meter anaconda, iguanas, caimans, turtles, white water dolphins, a vast number of birds, and many many evil mosquitos. Why canīt someone get rid of them already!! After resting for a few days I begun to understand that if I wait for Alon and Omer to join me for a track in the mountains, I will soon find myself on the plane back to Israel. I decided to take things into my hands and go by myself for a track. I bought a topographic map and went on my way. Obviously, I got lost... After climbing 1500 meters to 4200 meters, it started to get cloudy and rainy. There was no easy way to navigate back, and the rain got me soaked very fast. Usually I would wear my $300 raincoat to protect me, but the problem is that I left it in a restaurant a week earlier. By the time I realized it, which was no more than 30 minutes, two Venezuelian girls that were sitting next to us have already helped themselves to it. I am still looking for them... Returning to the mountains, they became so wet I had to surf the stones downwards. Although soaked and freezing, I eventually found my way out of there in one piece. Our latest excursion was paragliding - we drove to a really high mountain and waited there with the parachutes. Alon and I were both very very scared... Since it was too windy to go and the "pilots" waited, we assumed that we would eventually return. We even sang songs to the wind to make it go faster ("titchazki, titchazki" = get faster). Unfortunately, it bacame calmer and we had to jump off the cliff. It wasnīt that scary after all - it was even a bit amuzing, especially the part when Alon fed the mountains with his breakfast. For the Jewish new year, some Venezuelans were so kind to give us their house for a night. We gathered a few Israelis in Merida, bought some traditional food and came to their house. Although it was funny do celebrate Rosh Hashana with Jesus crucified in the living room, the show went very well. One of the Israelis got some of the prayers from the Internet, and I was in charge of the ceremony. I must tell you that the four years I have spent in a religious school did not help me remember... Currently, like in most of this trip, we have no plans, que sera sera. Three more weeks to go. Shana Tova and all the best, Tomer.