I woke up fresh but did not know yet that I would need to be that fresh today. I had to drive from the airport back to Maracaibo, then all the way to the other end of the city and through the metropolitan area out to the north and towards the border. I drove against the morning traffic and did not have problems. I had some problems with the signing as there was none. I asked for the way and drove bit by bit closer to the border. The area was very little populated but I could tell from the few people I met that the majority in this remote and desert area were indigenous.

Suddenly I had to break to come to a full stop and I found myself tenth in a row of cars. First I thought that there was another military check point ahead but the cars did not move at all, actually most of the cars were turned off and the people were walking towards the first car. I could not see properly from my car and also turned the car off and walked towards the crowd to find out. The road was blocked with some trees by the local population to demonstrate and demand liberation of water which was running usually through a tube along the road. The water had been cut off now for more than three weeks.

We all had to wait at 38 degrees for the locals to decide and to liberate. I was waiting with two police officers and had a conversation for about an hour about the actual situation in Venezuela. More people joined in and the opinion was unanimous, Venezuela is a disaster. After another half an hour I took the camera and made some pictures of the road block and the people around. At that moment a police car came by, stopped right in front of the crowd and actually tried to drive around the road block. The women grabbed stones and positioned themselves in front of the police car ready to throw. One of the four officers got out of the car but decided right away to go back in and the police car drove off again.

The crowd discussed angry about the attempt of the police but within a minute they identified me with the camera, started to joke about the situation and asked to make pictures of the crowd, then of the women, then of the elder and so on. Within five minutes everybody knew me and my story; I was surrounded and asked all sorts of questions from curios demonstrators. My appearance with the camera loosened the situation a bit and another half an hour later the road was opened, everybody said good bye and friendly asked for 100 Bolivares from each car.

I was now close to the border and military road check points appeared every five kilometers. I had to stop all the time due to my Brazilian license plates, tell my story, show my documents, get out of the car and smile. I passed about six check points before coming to the border town where at the last check point I was asked to turn around. I had a chat with immigration, a chat with a military officer; he spoke with a superior and all agreed, today was not the day for German tourist to go to Colombia. Maybe my writing sounds nice but the situation was tense and various officers told me to be extremely careful, not to trust nobody and ideally go back to a safer area.

I knew now what I wanted to know and drove back to the next village before sunset and parked opposite the hospital entrance on the street. It was a small village and the hospital had no parking, still my place was fine for tonight.

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.

For a small understanding of the days travel, I have included a Google Earth map. The red pins mark the locations I have stopped and taken pictures. At the bottom of the page you will find a link for all the pictures I have taken. The link will open in a Google+ Album.

Please click on map to enlarge!!!

See map and distances / Siehe Karte und Entfernungen / Ver mapa e distâncias / Ver mapa y distancias

0 km                     Maracaibo

145 km                 Guarero

200 km                 Sinamaica

Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.