Mérida — almost perfect?

It shouldn’t surprise regular Wrong Way readers that we tend to find ourselves more at ease up in the hills as opposed to down by the ocean. 

That’s not to say we’re averse to sandy beaches, clear water and decent sun when we can get it – indeed, every now and again it’s very much called for – but we’re usually more comfortable inland.

Up in the hills.

Another thing we very much like and strive to find no matter where we are is value for money. It is always nice, after all, to get some bang for your hard-earned buck.

On both these important points (and more), the Venezuelan city of Mérida did not disappoint during a recent, unplanned visit.

Tucked away at an altitude of 1,600 metres-above-sea-level in the Andes Mountains, it is the highest city in Venezuela. Its setting is pretty impressive, surrounded by a host of higher peaks. 

As one of the country’s biggest student hubs, it has quite a relaxed vibe where, from what we could gather in the area we stayed, socialising at night is not a cause for much concern – something you can’t say for all parts of the ‘Socialist’ Republic.

Accused of being a CIA spy trying to bring down the current administration by a drunken local – he took all our details and then subsequently tried to sell us DVDs as well as teach us how to speak Spanish without the foreign accent – was as close to disturbing as it got on our nights out. 

In reality, it was amusing. The US intelligence agency would be pretty stuck if it came looking for us to engage in espionage for it in these parts.

Nice, if a little cloudy.

Now, while we really enjoyed our brief stop in the city itself and indeed there was plenty that we didn’t get to do or see, most of the more alluring attractions as far as we’re concerned are located on the outskirts.

Again, as our stay was limited, we only got to explore a fraction of what’s to be found. What we did see, though, did not disappoint.

On our first full day we made the short trip to La Culata. The main entrance into the national park is at an altitude of about 3000 m, with many peaks further in getting as high as 4,800 m plus. Alas, our time in the region coincided with the rainy season so the panoramic views were frequently blighted by all the dense cloud. 

That aside, the rugged, rolling landscape is pretty stunning, dotted with the abundant cactus-style plant, the frailejón (or espeletia) – a shrub that is renowned in the area for its medicinal properties.

Lots of frailejónes.

You could walk for hours there, as long as you don’t get lost. Perhaps it was just the time of year, but we seemed to have the whole place to ourselves – a nice spot to get away from it all.

On the second full day, invited by our newly made Venezuelan friends, we hit for Lake Mucubají, nestled at, what was the day we went anyway, a pretty chilly 3,500 metres into the sky, 60 kilometres east of Mérida in the Sierra Nevada National Park.

Again the views here are quite spectacular (words just can’t do it justice – the pictures help to do that somewhat) and there are numerous treks to wander along. For those wanting to spend more than just one day in the area, to be ‘at one with nature’ for a bit longer, you can camp there once you obtain a permit.

Lake Mucubají.

Before we returned to Colombia, we wanted to avail of the various bargains to be found in Mérida with our ‘converted on the street’ Colombian pesos (you’ll get an exchange rate to bolívares at least four times better this way than by going to the banks – for more on that see our previous post: http://bit.ly/102xdsi). So our final full day was spent shopping in the city, satisfying our value-for-money fetish.

On the activity and sightseeing front, though, we just scratched the surface as regards what this region has to offer. Indeed, the posada/hostel we stayed in, Guamanchi,* also doubles up as a tour operator and from what we could see it has plenty of decently priced excursions available (as well as having cheap, quality rooms).

Alas, partially self-imposed work deadlines saw us return to Bogotá a little earlier than we ideally would have liked to.

However – and as we stressed in the last post – this brighter, lighter side to Venezuela has certainly given us some food for thought.

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*For more information on Guamanchi Posada and Adventure Tours check out www.guamanchi.com or email: info@guamanchi.com