Day 8 - Tabay - Barquesimeto:
Fact Sheet: 496 Km
Tabay – Merida – La Azulita – Capazon – Barquisimeto
Hotel ?? (were so tired, we just payed the bill!)
Through Merida, then over the mountains (La Azulita, at arround 3,000 m.) to the Panamerican Highway close to the Maracaibo Lake, direction Barquisimeto, for a night’s rest. Hard driving, due to the traffic conditions, which were heavy, and the tropical rain showers all along the lake. As it is raining and overcast, we do not extend to see the lake-side: the region is not very picturesque, and very poor, without a decent infrastructure. Only after entering the State of Lara, do the roads and the infrastructure improve. We arrived late at night in Barquesimeto, and as we were totally nackered, we stopped at the first cheap hotel we found - the cheapest and tackiest of the whole trip! But we managed our well-deserved rest!
Events:
| Amarildo's car decided to go funny in the mountain track: the engine temperature indicator showed the danger-zone, although the engine seemed OK: the water in the reservoir was not even steaming. As a precaution, we shorted the radiator fan, and strung a wire from the fan to Ivone's window, and manually switched the fan on and off, controlling the temperature indicated on the dashboard. We believe that the dashboard temperature indicator packed up after climbing to the 3,000m mark for a second time. Once back under 2,000m it seemed OK again. |
| Ramesh's was car chased by a young bull on a mountain track! Funny for some, but not for him at the time! |
Pictures:
