For a moment this morning I was not sure if I wanted to leave or stay another day, I still had plenty of time in Venezuela and could have easily spent another day and have a special hamburger menu. Just a thought, I got into the car and left. I realized that I had to drive the first kilometers exactly the same way I had come back to Merida the day of my adventure in the mountains, only this time it was still in the morning and I would have the chance to see everything that I had missed that day when I drove already in the night.

I was expecting that at a reasonable distance after Merida the motorway would start again, but this was not the case. The city was really almost at the end of a valley and the way out was just going deeper and higher up that valley.

I passed now all the tourist attractions that I had read about and that had been offered to me at the square of the heroes from the various tour operators, the castle hotel, the stone church and my favorite place the Paramo and the pass “The Eagle”. I would drive on the “Ruta de Las Nieves” and see the cross roads again that I had come down from on that special day of my adventure in the mountains.

Just a few kilometers before the cross roads a sign board indicated one more landscape that I wanted to visit quickly, the lake Mucubaji. I am sure that the visit could have been an interesting visit if you had a clear day.

I did not have that luck this time and was in the clouds and so was the lake. The views were no more than twenty to thirty meters and grey. I had reached a decent height again and the temperature had dropped to just over 10 degrees. I had to put on a jacket when I left the car and went to see what was possible to see from a lake that I could only guess the dimensions.

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My luck appeared today in the form of a ten Bolivar bill that was floating on the lake towards me. Venezuela had no more coins circulating; the value of the biggest coin had vanished due to hyperinflation and so people started to through bills into the lake to wish for luck. I picked the bill up and it is now part of my collection. I hope that bill will bring luck to both of us.

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I came to my famous cross roads and again could hardly see “The Eagle” as the clouds had become even thicker and the views dark grey. The drive in the curvy mountains takes much time and I still had a bit in front of me, not knowing how curvy it will be and so I did not wait for the sky to clear and started to drive downhill. The clouds opened for a while and then closed again, the curves seemed endless and steeper. You had to pay full attention to every curve, leave the first gear in and break most of the time.

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I had made my way almost to the bottom of the valley when the road suddenly started to go up again. I was not sure if I had missed a turning and asked for the way, but I was right and I had to go up to one more pass and then only downhill to my destination for today. I arrived just before sunset and went straight to the hospital. The parking was pretty empty and had police on site. I was sure they would come and check on the only car parked there for the night and went to the hospital in the center of Valera. I parked the car on a little side street which led to the children emergency entrance and prepared myself for the night. I was tired and wanted to rest.

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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                     Merida

65 km                   Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada

175 km                 Valera

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