Chats and Private Concerts, Merida style.

25April.
I went up the Teleferico, the worlds largest and longest cable car system. It comprises of 3 sections and a car takes 40 people. It was built in 1958 in France, and the music they played on the way up felt like I had travelled back to the 50s. but the scenery was pretty good even if mighty cloudy. A few days ago it was clear skies but of course not now. I met the 2 london guys I had met in Los Llanos. They said that Tony, their guide, was a bit of an ego maniac and toward the end was beginning to get on their nerves. I had to laugh. They were also unhappy with how long the creatures were held and Tony even tied rope around the mouth of the caiman he caught. I guess I got the better guide on my trip.
I went in search of food and ended up in this rather nice vegetarian restaurant. Then on the way back I went to an internet cafe. However, as I tried to connect, the electricity went off. So I waited with the staff outside until it came on. The guy working there turned out to be from Edinburgh, Scotland and had been living in Venezuela for 1.5 years. Another chap joined us from Canada. They told me that they never wear shorts as the Venezuelans consider it rude, unless on the beach. Also around here it is rude to haggle as it questions their honest, if you question their price etc. They also said if you disrespected a drunk or beggar on the street etc. Then they would bad mouth you and word would get around and if anyone was going to be robbed then it would probably be you. The French Canadian and I ended up chatting for hours, as the electricity didn't come back on. He is one of the most interesting chaps I have ever met. He lives here but was born in Canada. He is a writer but worked as an investigator in company performance, fraud etc in industry. When he was 15 he decided to not own anything like a house etc. and over the last number of years has written about 600 articles that he has not been paid for but writes as he wants to expose general ignorance and the lies in the media. He has interviewed people from all walks of life even guerillas in Colombia etc. He transported people out of wartorn Kuwait and worked extensively in the middle east and Venezuela and Colombia etc.. He has met Chavez and supports him wholeheartedly and also happens to be an artist, musician, mathematecian etc. oh yeah and also happens to be severely dyslexic. He also said he had been arrested for entering Holland etc as well as the US and Canada. Again, he did not know why but figured it was due to his travelling in the Middle east and that he has quite Arabic features. Although he looks pretty Latin American to me. He had also seen Zeitquest and said that he has been researching the central bank issue for 2 years and has at least another 5 years of work before publishing is possible. He said everything about the central bank, in the movie was true, as per his research. He has had attempts on his life as has people he knows due to his job, as an investigator and his writing. He recommended some books for me to read (The Discoverers and the Pillars of the Earth) which question the whole idea of what poverty is and why we came to have this concept. One is factual and the other is fictional but they complement each other and so I will have to go in search of these. He is also researching his theory that the northern Europeans have a particular gene that makes them more violent than say Indigineous Indians. There is work being done on this by others and he is researching this and about to write on it. He also told me to look up sociopath in Wikipedia. Well lets just say I did that today and it led to some interesting reading.
I went off to bed as I intended to go to Colombia next day.
26 April.
I woke at 6am but was wrecked tired and didn't feel like going to Colombia. I woudl have to set off at 7 but still had to pack. As there was no electricity I couldnt do it last night.
I got up late and went to find food. On the way back, I met the Canadian again and as he was heading to this cafe, he invited me along. We chatted for an hour maybe more, then he was joined by a musician friend of his Edgar. The Canadian ran off to get his guitar and Edgar played me a selection of songs from around Latin America. He is a fab guitarist and singer. The Canadian also played some of his songs and then this old man joined us but as he started to sing and interupt Edgar, we moved to the communal area of the Canadians Posada. I was there for hours listening to their music. Egdar even played my favourite piece of music, Concerto de Aranquez. They are trying to record an album of the Canadians Compositions. A young Venezuelan girl was listening in and later sang a little although she was very reticent about doing so. However, she had a superb voice and could play very well. The guys actually asked her to record wtih them. It was just such a great day. And there was I thinking I could get some reading done.