[Paisleychick-lj] Teleferico in Merida

[Beatrice M's blog]

[Photo set on Flickr.][1]  
  


[![][2]][3]   
[Empty tram descending][4]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][5]. 

Friday morning (November 10) we woke up early (6:00 am), packed up our belongings, had breakfast of leftovers and made our sleepy way to the [longest and highest teleferico in the world][6] to wait in line for tickets. The line inched along, but soon enough, and sooner than expected, we found ourselves in the first train up the mountain. These trams don't go in a loop, just back and forth on the same cable, so there are two trams for each station (eight in all), each departing at the same time. They always pass each other at the midpoint. Most of the time, the other tram was empty. There was a lot of cloud cover on the mountains, so we didn't see much, but what we did catch was still breathtaking. Also, because we couldn't see below for most of it, I wasn't as scared as I was going up the teleferico in Caracas. The change in biomes was quite dramatic and it was cool to see in action something I [learned about in Env Sci class][7] in 9th grade. The cloud forest gave way to the alpine, which because a desert and then tundra.   
  
  


[![][8]][9]   
[Kragen and Burro][10]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][5]. 

The ride is divided into four different trams with each section taking between ten to twelve minutes with a ten-twenty minute wait at each transfer point. This is so we can go potty, and more importantly so we can buy stuff. There are knick-knacks, food and hot chocolate for sale. At the halfway point up on the mountain (la Aguada) we waited for the second tram so Kragen could acclimatize as we were way up there - 3,452 meters (11325 feet). We walked out and had a look around at the trail system, petted the mules for rent, the dog and Kragen got to see the crystal smooth lakes as there was a brief break in the clouds. Unfortunately, I missed out, but he assures me it was beautiful. Way to rub it in there buddy! It was cold - around 8 degrees Centigrade and was only going to get colder as we got higher up. It was also difficult to breathe easily as we were climbing in altitude. We took two more trams and finally got to the top to Pico Espejo and saw the [statue of the Virgin of the snow][11] and the bust of Simon Bolivar. Kragen was enchanted by [the rock formations][12] and [the mica][13]. He was so excited! News flash - I'm married to a GEEK! The rocks were interesting, but I was more inclined to look at other things and wait back inside where it wasn't so cold. The top is at 4,765 meters (15,633 feet) and there was some snow on the ground and the air was definitely very thin and cold to breath.   
  
  


[![][14]][15]   
[White tree][16]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][5]. 

The rides back down were uneventful, but gorgeous. We got to see more as the clouds were breaking up just a little bit. Some of the desert terrain looked like [a seabed covered with anemones][17] and not a mountainside at all. Pretty freaking cool. We even saw a little bit of blue sky. In the hills just above the city of Merida are these white trees, which stand out as these strange white clumps in the sea of green. I don't know why the leaves are white, but they sure are pretty. We got back down to Merida around 12:30, and we caught a taxi back to our Posada to pick up our bags and then took the same taxi to the bus terminal. Traffic was a little crazy that morning because there was a sea of red throughout the town. Chavez had come to town to give a campaign speech and he gets his supporters to wear red t-shirts. It's quite [a dramatic sight][18]. Some of the streets were closed, but we made it to the bus station early and got on our cold bus for the what turned out to be TWENTY hour bus ride to Puerto la Cruz! Where we met up with [Naudy][19].   


   [1]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/sets/72157594375252693/
   [2]: http://static.flickr.com/107/296472425_cf90c79f36_m.jpg
   [3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296472425/ (photo sharing)
   [4]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296472425/
   [5]: http://www.flickr.com/people/blmurch/
   [6]: http://www.telefericodemerida.com/
   [7]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome#Altitude_and_latitude_classification
   [8]: http://static.flickr.com/116/296493130_1a787c73f2_m.jpg
   [9]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296493130/ (photo sharing)
   [10]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296493130/
   [11]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296497556/in/set-72157594375252693/
   [12]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296505992/in/set-72157594375252693/
   [13]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296502853/in/set-72157594375252693/
   [14]: http://static.flickr.com/118/296521124_342c5c8fa4_m.jpg
   [15]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296521124/ (photo sharing)
   [16]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296521124/
   [17]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/296508887/in/set-72157594375252693/
   [18]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phauly/198252/
   [19]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/92195278@N00/

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/270844.html