fresh n juicy chunks of oyster :: RTW travel blog

Since I've last written I took a day off to recover from my brush with death, then made my way out of town on the next nightbus. Got kept company on the bus by a young Indio and an Argentine who's been traveling the world for the last four years straight. Phew... Also found out a piece of trivia:
Q: How long does it take the Guardia Nacional to hand search the luggage of a busload of passengers?
A: Half an hour. Hmph... :)
Anyway, half-way to Santa Elena the Indio tells me about a beautiful waterfall and little village, Kama Meru, by the side of the road. So I was let out of the bus on the side of the road (try that with an English bus...) and, true to his word, it was gorgeous. A good 40m drop of water continuing along a picturesque river flanked on both sides by luscious, rolling green hills with patches of dense forests. Wow...
So, I slung up my hammock in a shelter by the road and spent the night there. A small dog from the village guarded me and kept me company through the night, Undoubtedly drawn by the boon of being fed morsels of Saltine crackers. Yumm...
The next morning I washed my clothes by the fall (dirty from trying to find my way back to the shelter in the dark, stomping through thigh-high mud).
After unsuccessfully attempting for two hours to hitch a lift to Santa Elena, I finally figured out the secret. Hide the dog behind the backpack (she'd stuck to my heels incessantly the whole while) and wait at the top of a steep hill: by the time most Venezuelan cars reach the top they've slowed to a crawl and are huffing and puffing so it's much harder for them not to stop!
And indeed, a friendly family drove me to St. Elena and, leaving behind a wildly disappointed bitch, here I am. Santa Elena is a cute little border town with Brasil with a lot going on and tons of hotels. And so it has come that I've taken my first hot shower since in Venezuela and will have the luxury of spending the night in a bed (a double even!) at a lovely but surprisingly cheap hotel (plug: Hotel Michelle).
I'll probably stay here for a few days and relax a little or do minor excursions (the surrounding area, Gran Sabana, is gorgeous - possibly a cross between the American Great Plains and the Wild West, but with palm trees). There's also a 'cinema' (more accurately a video store with private booths with VCRs) so I may get the much needed movie fix I've been craving recently, although my official excuse will be to brush up on my Spanish... :)
Just in time before entering Brasil soon where it'll probably be pretty much useless... :)