merida, venezuela.

i am here in the andean town of merida in venezuela, and i am loving it, but i will try to backtrack and say something about the previous days...
from bogota i got on the "wrong" bus to cucuta (colombia-venezuela border) and that's where my bad luck started...the bus took a hell of a long time, stopping everywhere, going through the backroads and loading passengers anywhere!!! so throughout the same night i probably had at least 5 different people sitting next to me! i was looking forward to riding through the colombian andes at night and getting to the border in the morning, but i soon started to realize what i had gotten myself into...anyway, the peak of the trip was when in the middle of the night some soldiers got on our bus with their machine guns in sight, and one sat right next to me for about an hour! needless to say i was freaking out and thinking bad things already, since that was an area with guerrilla and in the middle of the night...you know? i never dared say anything, so i still don't know if they were just getting a free ride or if they were actually supposed to protect us...but i was scared! then we passed some more checkpoints and some were body-checked a couple of times...the view of soldiers with machine guns is pretty common, so i learned to get used to it...
once the endless and annoying ride finally ended, i got on another bus to the actual border, then walked across, had my whole big backpack searched, got the stamps i needed to get on my passport, then took another bus to san cristobal in venezuela, got body-checked a couple of times, ...and then i finally made it to san cristobal! well, little did i know...the last bus to merida (my destination) had already left, i couldn't get any money out of the ATM, and even though a very nice woman policeman helped me (once she knew i was italian), i had to change some colombian pesos from some random person to pay for my ridiculously overpriced little, dirty and muggy room by the bus terminal...oh, i had also forgotten that venezuela is an hour ahead, so i missed my last chance of spending my last money at an internet cafe before calling it a night!
the next day i was determined to finally solve my money problems, and went around 5-6 banks, to no avail! i finally entered one of them and asked for cash advance, which i didn't even know existed! haha (oh, it's "avance de efectivo", very useful term to know; another very useful word i quickly learned is "cancelar": it means to pay in advance, meaning you can't grab the item or be serviced before you pay) well, the person there helped me a lot, welcomed me to venezuela and quickly gave me what i asked for...so that's when fate finally started turning in my favor!
i finally got on a bus to merida, got some food and water, and enjoyed my bus ride with air-conditioning (since it's pretty hot) and loud, fun music (that people always sing along to: fun!). this time the bus almost never stopped! well, except for some more police checkpoints and stuff like that...then i finally got to merida, where i am being hosted by M...
for some reason i already knew that i was going to live it here, and i really do! it's more easygoing, less dangerous, friendlier and cheaper than anywhere in venezuela (although i have not been anywhere yet!), and it's by the highest venezuelan mountains (pico bolivar-5004 meters, and pico humboldt)...it's by the same andes i had explored last year in argentina, only at the other end! i met a lot of european travelers, walked around and i already don't want to leave!
well, yesterday i took the longest and highest cable-car in the world up to 5007 meters a.s.l. by the pico bolivar...after trying to get used to the altitude, i rode a horse for 4 endless hours up and down mountains, rocks and streams...although i felt really bad for the poor horse, it was much more of a physical workout than i thought! the best part was the dog that was running before and by us, it reminded me of belle & sebastien a lot!!! i tried taking pictures of the whole thing, but it was pretty hard and we will see if the results are even decent! thanks to the horse i got to this remote village at about 2700 mt a.s.l. called Los Nevados, where i chatted it up with some locals about chavez, took some nice pictures, got a rustic bed for the night, and before going to bed...dinner was included, so i went down for dinner and talked the "senora" into making me something vegetarian...which was very yummy! i had dinner with a spanish couple that i will meet again sometime i think...then went straight to bed, and slept for a whopping 12 hours!!! i am sad i missed the sunrise this morning, but i couldn't get up anyway...went down for breakfast again (where "down" means down a super steep cobblestone road!) and then hopped on a jeep (4WD vehicle, or offroad vehicle,...) with the spanish girl and 3 italian-swiss tourists and a local...well, down a tiny path running next to the side of the mountain for 4 hours to get back in town...
so that was my fun adventure so far; tomorrow i might have to leave and go to the mochima national park where i will be relaxing at the beach, visiting some caribbean islands and maybe even snorkeling...from there it's onto a more secluded beach by puerto colombia, then a quick trip to caracas before going back to bogota for christmas...
so far i've been loving venezuela, which has been up to its reputation for chavez and beauty queens. the former is everywhere, well, rather, pictures, posters, banners, images, etc of him are everywhere, also because the elections were just 2 weeks ago...i've been asking a lot of people about him of course, and most seem satisfied with what he's been doing...as for the beauty queens, venezuela is statistically the country with the most girls winning international beauty pageants, and you can totally see that walking around...it's not about quantity but quality, definitely!
oh, merida is going to host the 2007 "copa america" this coming july!
i've also been enjoying the loud, dancy, fun, hispanic music blaring everywhere, the cheap internet cafes and the views...i am sure i am forgetting something but i better go now!

bogota!

i'm only two days into my trip (technically it's the first day, since i spent the other one at the mexico city airport) and i'm already feeling pooped! it better be the altitude, because otherwise it's not going to be fun! well, bogota lies at about 2600 meters above sea level, it's chaotic, noisy and very polluted...you can feel stuff down your lungs as you walk around! there are a lot of bikes everywhere, risking their lives among the many other kinds of vehicles that take over the city streets...the arrival at the airport reminded me of one of the take that's tours back in the day, where hoards of screaming, jumping and chanting people holding signs were waiting behind the barriers...trying to find my way out of that was an experience! and once outside the airport, the colombian reality hits you...i've been enjoying riding the TransMilenio today, this amazing public work that was supposed to be a metro system, and instead is a "fast" bus system that rides in the middle of the street...well it's more complicated than that, but oh well...
i was secretly hoping bogota would blow me away for some reason, and it hasn't yet, and it probably won't i assume...it's a nice place with a historic/colonial city center and lots of people everywhere, and yes, i haven't experienced its nightlife, yet it pains me to say it's not unbelievably spectacular...which is fine! haha
i'm headed to cucuta tonight, a border town with venezuela...

the most populous city in the world?

so i am here in mexico city since yesterday i missed my connection to bogota, i stressed out for about an hour, then started bitching at the people in charge, so i finally got on the same plane today, plus i got a nice hotel room and three meals from them...so life is not that bad at all, i am actually glad i did miss that plane! haha i took a nap, watched some soccer from my room, then went into the center by metro straight from the airport, walked around the zocalo (big square) and the surrounding area, then came back and went to sleep...now i am rested (since i was not when i left texas!) so i am ready to tackle colombia and venezuela!

yay for snow!

it is snowing in dallas right now. that's all i am going to say!

la quemada + jerez (zacatecas, mexico)

so my plan to go to real de catorce fell through for lack of bus connections and lack of time on my behalf...so my plan B for the day was to go visit the ruins of La Quemada, which is an archeological site that used to be inhabited by the first inhabitants of mexico, who later on went to found teotihuacan (spelling?)...anyway, ít has such a name because it burnt down, and what was left is what i saw today: a couple of good-sized pyramids, the outer walls, what is believed to be the first roofed building in mexico, and scattered clusters of stones on a hill overlooking the whole desertic valley...then from there i hitched a ride from a mexican-french mormon couple all the way to jerez on the back of their pickup truck...that was fun! now i am here in jerez, which is a nice small countryside town, pretty quiet, yet lively and there's even an abundance of internet cafes! i slurped on several "paletas" (popsicles) and got some bread and pastries for my ride back to zacatecas tonight...hopefully i will also make it to this discotheque in zacatecas which is inside a mine...one of the few in the world apparently! then tomorrow it's time for going back already, slowly but surely...too bad i won't be able to make it to real de catorce this time!
highlights: the state band playing a concert in a square in central zacatecas; riding in the back of the mexican-french mormon couple's pickup truck!

zacatecas, mexico.

2450 meters above sea level right amidst a desert in the center-north of mexico lies zacatecas, the city i am in right now, after a 20-hour total bus ride from dallas. because of the altitude and since it in winter time it is freezing at night, but still nice during the day...my hosts S and P have been wonderful so far, including an awesome night tour that included 2 of the best hotels in town: one used to be an arena for bullfights (the infamous "corridas"), and has rooms in the "stadium" part of the arena, while the pit is still there and the whole structure is untouched. the other one is a giant complex of hoses, alleys and balconies that used to be painted all different colors and used to host multi-family housings for the poor people of zacatecas...now it's been re-modeled and painted all red and yellow and it looks very romantic and different! other highlights included the UNESCO world heritage list cathedral that looks so insane it makes you wonder if it's real, a lot of other churches, an old acqueduct, and narrow, colonial streets full of baroque buildings...today i am set to explore it all, starting by what used to be one of the most important silver mines in the country.
tomorrow i am trying to go to real de catorce, once the silver capital of the region, now a ghost town that seems full of italian restaurants and artsy expats and not much else...well, besides being famous for an annual pilgrimage of the huichol indigenous people, who are famous for using peyote...but more on that tomorrow or the following day!
i also learned that "vengo de dallas" (i am from dallas, i am coming from dallas) can have a double meaning with sexual connotations to the youngsters here, so i am better off just saying i am italian but i am living in tejas right now! :)

sportsmanship is not everything...i guess?!

Last night I went to see my first hockey, and NHL, game thanks to A.! I know it's not technically traveling so it shouldn't be on here, but whatever...the best thing, besides seating right next to the Dallas Stars' bench, was the fight! Yes, the fight...apparently, hockey is the only sport I know of where violence outside the game itself is allowed...no, I am not talking about the tackling and fighting while playing! If you want to fight with somebody they will let you do so; actually, the fans will encourage you, the refs will stop the game, stand aside and watch, their arms crossed, till you're done...so you can have at it, and when you're done you just get to sit in the penalty box for a little bit! It's very different from any sport I've seen before, where the coach or team managers would punish you for being violent outside the sport's boundaries...an interesting concept nonetheless!

please read this!

"Today we consider it obvious and natural that we have sidewalks on every street. Bikeways should be the same. If we are a democratic society, everybody has the right to the same mobility. So, in the future we have to think as bikeways not as something cute or nice but as a right. A quality city is not one that has great roads but one where a child can safely go anywhere on a bicycle."

Enrique Peñalosa was mayor of Bogotá from 1998 to 2001, when term limits forced him to leave office. He has advised other world cities on transportation and is a senior fellow at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. This article is adapted from comments he made at “Manhattan on the Move: A Transportation Agenda for a Growing City,” a conference presented by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

it's been a while!

I haven't written on here in forever, leaving you all (??) with the World Cup tornado...after that and 2 weeks spent in the peace of Guastalla I came back here, in Dallas, TX...school started again, I moved somewhere bigger and closer to school, I got a roadbike, and not much else...oh yeah, I spent my birthday weekend in Chicago and Urbana-Champaign, IL, which I both loved!
I know I was supposed to write from there as I was technically traveling, but I didn't get the chance to...so I am updating from "home", looking forward to my next projects and trips: buying an old steel 90's roadbike and transforming it (or rather, having it transformed) into a fixie, a fixed-gear bicycle (no shifting, no coasting, no derailleurs, no brake cables,...); also, I am trying to decide where to spend my Thanksgiving...it will probably be Mexico, but I don't know where, and it has to be somewhat close to the Texas border...so maybe Real de Catorce, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, or somewhere around there...then I just booked my flights to Colombia for the winter break (mid Dec till mid Jan!): I will be in Colombia and Venezuela for 5 weeks! I will also get to meet my brother and spend Christmas and New Year's with him! Woohoo!

World Champions!

the best of italy's 2006 world cup with commentary by fabio caressa (in italian. duh.)