I woke at 3am well short of the alarm at 4:30am. I had a feeling something was wrong so started to think. Checked the alarm and made sure that we were using the correct timezone. I tossed and turned being very tired but unable to sleep. I just managed to snooze off when the alarm went.

Both of us were still feeling a bit sick - I think that we got a mild stomach bug at the same time as the hangover.

One taxi later we were at the airport and a bit behind time. I raced around looking for a money exchange that was open. Thank god I found one, I bought all their Bolivars and ran back to Liz who was too slow to be with me. As we were getting to the gate we heard the final call for us - we made it just.

The plane ride was rough and the landing rougher still. We sat in the plane for an hour whilst the technicians tried to get the gangway up to the plane. Eventually they gave up and decided to let us out of the back door.

It was overcast, 25 degrees C and feeling chilly to us. Large forested mountains rose abruptly into the clouds.

The airport nuptials were different we first had to prove that the bags we had were ours. Secondly one of the baggage handlers offered to exchange money on the black market even before we were officially in the country. This wierdly was a good sign, I was worried that the goverment had stamped this out. The goverment sets a very bad exchange rate by law making it very expensive if you cannot exchange on the black market, something everyone does here including tourists.

We also had to put the bags through an X Ray to get them into the country. Then we braced ourselfs - we were in the airport and being the only gringos prime targets for the touts. I ignored the touts and looked for the official taxi stands that were inside the airport as promised by the guide book - they weren't there.

Plan A was to see if we could avoid Caracas by getting a plane out towards Angel Falls. By this time we picked up a guy that was suspiciously keen to help us. Him being there kept the others at bay so I went with it. The plane idea was expensive and there was no space. Plan B was to get the bus but we had to catch the bus in Caracas center.

After a lot of susing things out I went with the touts suggestion of a place near to where we catch the bus - I didn't have any other options and I started finding him very useful and possibly trustable. I decided he was getting a commission from somewhere but the price into town was what I expected and I could always walk away from the suggested hotel.

However some very big alarm bells rang when the tout got into the taxi just as we were setting off into town. Steffany said that some friends of hers were held hostage in one of these taxis. My gut reaction was that it was OK he is simply getting his commission despite him saying otherwise.

An almost endless line of shanty towns were pilled onto improbable slopes on the sides of the road. A massive landslide here killed thousands once. The road gained height until suddenly the view opened up showing skyscrapers ringed by shanty towns and then mountains draped in clouds - "welcome to Caracas" the tout exclaimed. It was an impressive sight similar to La Paz in Boliviar, but for me a daunting sight. I couldn't help think 'welcome to hell'.

Even bigger alarms went when they went off the main road and down side streets into a very bad area of town. Caracas has horrendous traffic so I assumed were taking a short cut to avoid the traffic. It was facinating seeing the bad area of town in a city that some stats suggest has the highest murder rate in the world. It of course wasn't pretty, there were large piles of garbage and the whole place was the polar opposite of a nice place to spend your holiday.

We went to get the bus tickets first - it was a daunting experience but I had help. A short distance further on we arrived at the Jolly Hotel. It didn't look jolly from the outside but we both didn't want to spend a lot. Inside wasn't as bad as the outside. We insisted on seeing the room, the first one was rejected as the door handle fell off so couldn't be locked. The second one was a bit away from the road and quieter. Some of the glass slats in the windows were missing but apart from that it was habitable but very basic.

We did not want to risk going out after dark so we headed straight out to get some food and water for now and later. We were near a shopping area where there was an amusing street performer doing a dance with a dummy dancing partner - Caracas was feeling more normal.

Back at the hotel I went into catch up mode with the blogs listening to the rain outside. Occasionally a drop of water would hit you on the head through one of the many gaps in the window. This is the end of the wet season and prime Angel Falls viewing time.

A 5:30am rise tomorrow.