We boarded our bus at 3pm to Merida in hope that we could get a bed and shower when we got there...The bus journey was the most comfortable yet. Having learnt our lesson from previous journeys we had our sleeping bags so we were toasty. The seats were really comfortable, fully reclining and we had about 7 of the rear rows to ourselves!Arrival in Merida came the next morning and we were greeted in the bus terminal by a German guy representing a possada run by a Swiss guy who informed us that Carnival was indeed country wide and Merida was mostly full. He did have a room however (convenient). We stayed there one night and although it was a little above budget it was very nice. A day of rest and finding our bearings in the town was just what we needed. The town centre is walkable and the whole place is pretty safe. Merida, being in the foothills of the Andes is the Venezuelan centre for outdoor and extreme sports such as mountain biking, canyonning, white water rafting etc. It also boasts the longest and highest climbing cable car in the world. We moved to a cheaper possada the following morning which is also a little closer to the centre so all is well. We are existing on about 10 pounds per day at the moment including accomodation and believe me we are not going hungry...