VIII. 26. Caracas, Venezuela (8): Let´s Discover the Capital

When I was writing this blog, it was around 2 pm, march of 5^th 2013 Mexico City´s time, everything was under control. Until…at 4 pm local time, there was big news: Hugo Chávez died. All media gave some reports about this. RIP Hugo Chávez.

Chávez was phenomenal. Not only like a person in his country but also in the world.

Anyway, I had experience to live in Caracas, Venezuela during he was the president of the country. I don´t want to talk about his politic and to talk the bad things. You will never be able to imagine how´s life in Venezuela without living there. All happened for a reason.

Now, here it is my experiences in Caracas and around…

Since I decided to live more than 1 year (from December 2008 to June 2010) in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, I did not see so many interesting places. Or maybe it´s just me, I did not want to take a risk to walk around the city alone by myself, even if It was during the day. Yes, by the local newspapers or international news, Caracas in one of the dangerous cities in the world.

This is Caracas and its traffic.

Located just near the Caribbean Sea and around the mountain, Caracas´s weather was perfect all the year, between 23 to 32 degree Celsius.

The other side of the city.

If I compared Caracas to others cities in South of America that I´ve been visiting like Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bogota, I felt something different in the capital of Venezuela. I will explain it in my next blog´s story.

The old bus help the majority of citizen to move.

Caracas itself for me, it was like the time got me back to year 80´s in Jakarta when the old buildings were still there, the many old cars on the road, and also the infrastructure of the city. What made it different from Jakarta? 

There is a metro-subway in this capital.

Sometimes during the weekend, I visited some places around the city. These are my 2 favorites places: El Hatillo and Galipan.

I had Indonesian good friends who lived in Caracas at that time with their family. During the weekend, we visited some places together or just had a lunch or dinner together.  

Indonesian girls + an Indonesian-British boy ;)

One Fine Day in El Hatillo

On Saturday afternoon, we visited El Hatillo, a small village was about 15 km from Caracas and we needed less than 30 minutes to get there by a car.

El Hatillo view from Plaza Bolivar.

Started from Plaza Bolivar, we could go around by walking to visit this small village.

THe Statue of Simon Bolivar.

View of the city from Galipan

This small village was the alternative to escape from the city. Located up to the mountain around Caracas, we needed a special car to get there. Don´t worry, we could leave our car in the parking station and then got the jeep to continue until the top of the city.

View Caracas from GAlipan, the top of the hill.

From the top of the hill (or the mountain exactly), we could see the view of the city. A part of that, we could see also the sea and enjoyed the takeoff and landing of the airplanes.

Galipan was a nice place to spend during the day. We could have brunch or lunch or a dinner. It also offered a fresh strawberry and many kinds of fruits that you could consume it directly there.

Have a nice visit around Caracas!

Caracas, from dec 2008 to june 2010.

Photo: LGN, Ita

Photo map: google map