Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Choroní (see p.879) and Ciudad Bolívar
(see p.900) have excellent budget options.
Cheap accommodation is generally poor
in larger cities such as Caracas and
Puerto La Cruz, where tourism is not
adapted to suit backpackers. It's not
uncommon for budget hotels in larger
towns to rent out rooms by the hour,
and although this is no cause for safety
concern, it may offer a clue as to how
backpacker-friendly your hotel is.
Nevertheless, you can always expect clean
sheets and towels. Hot water is rare
outside Mérida and other Andean towns.
Dormitories are not common, while
youth hostels are virtually non-existent;
solo travellers are often stuck paying for
a
matrimonial
(for couples), cheaper
than a twin but more expensive than a
single. Quality is much higher beyond
the big cities and usually appears in the
form of
posadas
, affordable family-
owned guesthouses, often with lots of
individual character. Many posadas and
backpacker spots are run by French and
German expats who have started families
in Venezuela.
Camping
hasn't caught on among
Venezuelans, and in general is not
recommended due to robberies, even
on isolated beaches and cays. The safest
time to camp is on weekends and during
national holidays. For more information,
contact Inparques (
T
0212 273 2701,
W
mechada
(shredded beef ) and
reina
pepeada
(avocado and a mixture akin
to coronation chicken).
Though rather difficult to find,
vegetarian food
(
comida vegetariana
)
and health food (
comida dietética
) are
usually available in larger cities, often in
restaurants dedicated to these cuisines.
Breakfasts are generally small, usually
little more than an
empanada
or
cachapa
,
and always accompanied by a thimble-
sized cup of scalding-hot coffee. Lunch
is generally lighter - a good economic
choice is the
menú ejecutivo
(soup,
main dish and a drink) which many
restaurants offer. Common dinner
options include fried fish, rotisserie
chicken, southern-fried chicken or any
number of international dishes, including
pizza and pasta.
The Venezuelan national dish is
pabellón criollo
, which consists of
shredded beef, avocado, plantain, cheese,
rice and beans; a breakfast version of this
is the
desayuno criollo
.
Pabellón
-stufed
empanadas
are particularly good and
should be sampled if stumbled upon.
You'll also find delicious burgers sold at
street kitchens, whose plastic tables and
chairs line the pavements in the evening.
The ocean, abundant rivers and mountain
lakes afford plenty of fresh
fish
, the most
common varieties being
mero
(grouper),
dorado
(dolphin fish),
pargo
(red
snapper),
trucha
(trout),
corvina
(sea bass)
and
corocoro
(grunt).
Common
desserts
are strawberries
and cream,
dulce de leche
(caramel) and
sweets made from guava or plantains.
Venezuelan
cacao
(cocoa) is considered
among the best in the world but, as
nearly all of it is exported to Europe,
Venezuelan chocolate is difficult to find.
However, the Nestlé
Savoy
chocolate bars
are pretty good.
Restaurants tend to open around
6am for breakfast and stay open for
dinner, which ends around 8pm.
Although restaurants close early, burger
and hotdog stands keep serving until
around midnight in most towns. In most
restaurants, it's customary to leave a tip of
around ten percent. Restaurants may also
add the 13.5 percent tax to the bill.
11
inparques.gob.ve).
FOOD AND DRINK
Venezuelan cuisine, like that of most
of the Caribbean, centres around
meat
,
with the most common accompaniments
being rice, beans and plantains. PAN
corn flour, a brand ubiquitous
throughout the country (although it's
now manufactured in Colombia), is a
large component of many Venezuelan
staples, most notably the
empanada
(fried savoury turnover), the
cachapa
(a sweet-meal pancake folded over a slab
of cheese) and the
arepa
. The latter, the
most typically Venezuelan of all, is a fried
savoury corncake, stuffed with fillings
which depend on the time of day. Among
the most common fillings are
carne
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