Trip to Lara State, Barquisimetro, Quibor, and Sanare

Waking up to a sleepy Caracas on saturday my friends and I set off to Western Venezuela in search of artisanal crafts and the next adventure. As with all developing countries, you're bound to hit some road bumps (or road blocks) along the way. We wound through the mountains and barrios of Western Caracas and finally reached the two lane, pot hole infested highway where we began our dodging act, keeping our fingers crossed to avoid yet another flat tire.

The scenery of Western Venezuela is very distinct from eastern Venezuela. Eastern Venezuela is drier, has more beaches, and reminds me of a Florida city gone wild during a latino music festival (but just without all those nice American amenities).

Western Venezuela, on the other hand, is covered with mountains, and numerous pueblos tucked away in every corner. Upon entering the city of Barquisimetro (one of the cultural capitals) you seen a vibrant city with a park. Even though that doesn't seem so spectacular, it is for Venezuela. And I was impressed to see actual trash cans. Not sure if people use them, but at least they pretend. Beyond the city you can see a landscape that reminds of the Western U.S--30 miles of open land with rocky green mountains at the very end.

We got lost, of course, trying to find the small towns that supposedly have great wood and crafts. After a torrential rain, desperately searching for food, and a long trip down a dirt road, we came upon the town of Guadalupe. The town was so small that it consisted of a plaza with a church and roughly 5 or 6 buildings. Tucked away behind the church was a small shop that had everything wooden (Animals, Fruit, bowls, statues, utensils). Trying to get the best prices on what we wanted (big mistake since that was the cheapest place) we continued down our dirt road. There were little stands scattered along the way. We stopped at a few and saw how each artisan varied their technique slightly yet still had a beautifully finished product.

We continued to wind through the towns and came upon one that specialized in inlaid wooden boxes and tables. I guess we got lucky, because he had friends around the corner who specialized in bowls and coffee tables. Going from house to house and buying items from people's living rooms was interesting, but that's how you find the good deals. All of these artisans work out of their backyard and sell items from their house. I got a coffee table and numerous boxes.

After driving through the countryside for endless hours, we decided it might be good to venture towards our posada before nightfall. Too late! We got lost again and luckily didn't get robbed when we stopped and asked for directions in the barrio. Finally, approaching the posada up a mountain that was tucked away from time and all neighbors, we pulled into a quaint little honeymoon-like getaway. We basically gobbled down dinner and passed out from the day's exhaustion.

In the morning we saw the view that was obscured by the pitch black night. Beyond the posada (and the interesting unicorn that the posada was so proud of) you could see for miles and miles. Hills rolling into mountains folding into sky. The different shades of green and blue and brown swam through the landscape. We could have stayed there for hours, but our drive back to Caracas forced us to get our sore backs and tired bodies into the car and set off.

Passing through the vendors of black beans, dulce de leche, coffee, oranges, and those random people who sell cell phone car chargers and hubcaps (I wonder which tourist they stole them from) we weaved our way back to the capital, taking our purchases and full stomachs through the spectacular views and horrific traffic. Just another road trip in Venezuela, but the views made it all worthwhile!