Caracas

Hi all,

The Morrison is located about one and a half Square to the east from San ignacio Mall, in Chacao/La Castellana border. Is like passing in front of the mall towards the Altamira Square, at the right side of the road (not visible from the avenue, you have to go a little down in one of the streets)

For what i heard, too costly and no rooms, you have to empty your pockets and sell your family just to cover the exit fee.

I've been reading reports that the bridge that connects Caracas to the international airport has collapsed or been closed for safety reasons, and that the only way to get to the airport is via an old, winding mountain road that goes through some of the worst slums of Caracas. I have a round trip ticket to Caracas a few months hence, my idea being to use Caracas as the starting point for a trip via airpass throughout South America. Now I am rethinking this, maybe just start my trip somewhere else, or just skip Venezuela, or at least Caracas, altogether. I'd like to know if anyone has tried getting to/from the airport since the bridge has been out of service. Maybe the press is exaggerating the whole thing. Also, I wonder if there is helicopter service from the airport to downtown Caracas; that may be the easiest solution. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Lorenzo

The way from airport to Caracas takes now between 3 - 4 hours instead of one hour and the taxi cost is around 200.000 Bs. Thats a little bit painfully but do not be scared about that. You are not alone on that road, there is a lot of traffic and a lot of police / military guys at the road. You may be should avoid to travel there late night. I drived that way yesterday two times, the second time around 2 AM at night.

You heard correct senor ... the main road is closed ... pain in the butt.

I was just there ... they're saying at least a few months to fix the problem.

There is another airport in the city itself ... don't know much about it though or who flies there.

Suerte.

It seems to be the cancer of this goverment, as many main roads to Caracas suffer from the same agony. The authorities just closed the way to Maiquetia by now, leaving the old road as the mayor way to get to La Guaira and back (now is about 3Hrs of a very unpleasant journey).

The taxi rates skyrocketed also.

La Carlota airport is a military base, pretty much in the middle of the city, so i really doubt that any mayor flight can be redirected to this one.

If you really need to avoid the long road time to Caracas, might be a better idea heading to Valencia, from there you can still get to Caracas in about 1-2Hr, or just stay there.

Let's hope this problem clears... any time this century.

Ricker,

Its me Aussie Greg, where´s the best strip club and day places in town, you know me I dont mind paying for quality but not to much hay !! the best day place and night place, thanks mate, regards.

The Aussie.



[QUOTE=Ricker]You heard correct senor ... the main road is closed ... pain in the butt.

I was just there ... they're saying at least a few months to fix the problem.

There is another airport in the city itself ... don't know much about it though or who flies there.

Suerte.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Lorenzo]I've been reading reports that the bridge that connects Caracas to the international airport has collapsed or been closed for safety reasons, and that the only way to get to the airport is via an old, winding mountain road that goes through some of the worst slums of Caracas. I have a round trip ticket to Caracas a few months hence, my idea being to use Caracas as the starting point for a trip via airpass throughout South America. Now I am rethinking this, maybe just start my trip somewhere else, or just skip Venezuela, or at least Caracas, altogether. I'd like to know if anyone has tried getting to/from the airport since the bridge has been out of service. Maybe the press is exaggerating the whole thing. Also, I wonder if there is helicopter service from the airport to downtown Caracas; that may be the easiest solution. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Lorenzo[/QUOTE]There is helicopter service to the city from the airport but the rates have skyrocketed as well. It would probably be wise to skip VEN altogether or just avoid the city and use the airport as a jumpoff point to your other destinations. It is amazing that a country with some of the worlds best building engineers could let this happen. Has nuthin to do with Chavez, just 50 years of neglect.

My good friend will be working in Maracaibo for the next 6 months. He needs to comute through the Caracas airport every few weeks, So I will let you know on the progress.

Borrowed from [url]http://www.tripadvisor.com[/url] site:

Bridge to Caracas is Out.

The main road will be closed a long time. One of the bridges on it is in danger of collapsing, so the traffic through it has been suspended.
There are 3 alternate roads, none of them is very good, so travel times are much longer than the 40 minutes it used to take before.
You can take the old Caracas-La Guaira road, and depending on traffic it will take between 2 and 6 hours, also, at night this road is closed for cars and taxis and only trucks are allowed. (did this one last week to get to caracas, was lucky, took only 2 hours)
Then, you can go through Galipan, up and down the mountain, for this you need a 4x4 vehicle, it takes about 1.5 hours and costs 150.000 bs. (did this one last week to get to the airport, and it was ok, there isn't much traffic and you can even enjoy some views of the city and the sea)
There is also the road through "El Junquito" which is the one I think taxis are commonly taking, and travel times are around 2.5 hours.
The government is very inefficient, they are building a temporary way to bypass the broken bridge, but it will take a couple of months, and then a new bridge will take years to be done.
Other alternatives are to fly from Maiquetia (the international airport) to a small airport in caracas using aerotuy or avior, also you can fly to valencia and then drive 2 hours to caracas.
If you can read spanish, take a look at this page in "El Universal" (one of the main newspapers in vzla)
[url]http://caracas.eluniversal.com/[/url]

I would like to know if the road to La Guaira and Macuto is closed also?

WT69

[QUOTE=WorldTravel69]

I would like to know if the road to La Guaira and Macuto is closed also?

WT69[/QUOTE]

I assume you're referring from the airport to La Guaira and Macuto right? No it's not. If you mean from Caracas then yes because we're talking about the same highway for the 3 destinations. As for the closure of the main highway between Caracas and the coast an article in today's online El Universal says they are working 24/7 on the bypass and hope to have it ready by late Feb ie before the start of Carnaval. The bypass amounts to a 1 1/2 mile detour around a bridge.

Reinaldo:
Thanks, I read that too, but I don't want to deal with it. I am thinking about just flying to Puerto La Cruz and hang out there for a while and maybe they will be finished when I am ready to go to Caracas. Or maybe it will be easier to get there.
Is there a big Carnaval celebration in Caracas?
WT69

[QUOTE=Reinaldo]No it's not. As for the closure of the main highway between Caracas and the coast an article in today's online El Universal says they are working 24/7 on the bypass and hope to have it ready by late Feb ie before the start of Carnaval. The bypass amounts to a 1 1/2 mile detour around a bridge.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Reinaldo]No it's not. As for the closure of the main highway between Caracas and the coast an article in today's online El Universal says they are working 24/7 on the bypass and hope to have it ready by late Feb ie before the start of Carnaval. The bypass amounts to a 1 1/2 mile detour around a bridge.[/QUOTE]

Seems like you have the inside to what's going on... please update us with what's going on. I hope that I can make It into the city under 1 hour upon arrival with the new bypass in working order. I am only flying into Caracas for 3 days and 2 night until Sunday evening b4 I head to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad for Carnival!

[QUOTE=WorldTravel69]Reinaldo:
Is there a big Carnaval celebration in Caracas?
WT69[/QUOTE]

I don't have any first hand experience but my understanding is that many caraqueños head for the beach to celebrate Carnaval and the closest ones are accessed via what is now the closed highway to the airport.

I am looking for a hotel for a about 20-30 dollar in Caracas. I would like to stay in Las Mercedes area or other safe area. Any info?

More out of curiosity than any thing else I paid a visit to what is arguably Caracas most famous or is that infamous brothel which occupies two floors of Edificio Volta. Turns out it is located on Bulevar Abraham Lincoln in Sabana Grande equidistant between the Sabana Grande and Chacaito metro stations. If memory serves me the closest cross street is Humboldt. The letters Volta on the building aren't huge so if you aren't paying special attention you could miss it. There is a food court across the street.

I went in the afternoon for safety reasons. There was a guy sitting at the doorway and I asked him if there was a estudio in the building. For the uninitiated estudio is a euphemism used in Caracas for brothel. He laughed and said there indeed was a burdel and recommended the second floor. The entrance to the building is on the ground floor.

Prominently displayed was a sign with the price $20,000B. There weren't many girls working or if there were they were mostly busy. There were just a few sitting around. I thought one of them was doable so I went with her. I would say she was a 6 in her late 20's. Morena, Her best feature was her rack. Her face was just average She took me to a room that overlooked the street.

I thought the fact that I was a foreigner although a spanish speaking one would spark her curiosity but it didn't. Service was perfunctory but included cbj and several positions although she did not completely disrobe. The room was sweltering albeit equipped with a slowly revolving overhead fan.