Anybody knows the musts and mustn'ts of traveling to Caracas?

Question

In terms of safety, things to do, places to go to, etc.

Answer 1

What he said, plus you must go to La Colonia Tovar. Its this cute german style village in the mountains. El Avila for sure will take your breath away. If you get the chance to go to La Isla Margarita take it, you wont be sorry. I wouldnt suggest the downtown core but you have to be super careful on the highways. As long as your conscious of what youre doing and take certain steps safety-wise youll be finneee. I miss my fam alot I wish I could go too :)

Answer 2

SECURITY:

DO NOT wear high-class brands such as shirts, pants, watches, whatever. The better you dress the more money people will think you have, and the more chances of you getting mugged. The newer the car model you drive = the more money you must have. In the movie "Secuestro Express" this is the way they chose the people. Stay away from downtown! It is EXTREMELY unsecure and dangerous. Go only if you have no other choice. Go with someone never, ever alone.

NEVER roll down your car windows. People can literally snatch this from you while in your car and *walk* away. ALWAYS keep your doors locked from the moment you leave you house, hotel, whatever. Do not leave valuable in plain sight in your car. Like, an iPod on the from seat, a watch on the dashboard. My brother left his cellphone on the dashboard once by mistake and someone broke in the car and stole it (this was last year)

PLACE TO GO:

Visit "El Avila" the ride to the top is amazing, and the view of Caracas will leave you breathless! It is like 20-30 min I think (I haven't gone there for over 2 years) The beaches are also a MUST, but if you see people selling oysters never buy them. A lot of people get hepatitis from them! So unless they're from the restaurant, stay away.

Visit little towns outside of Caracas if you can like Barquisimeto (famous for its guitars) The people they are super nice. Plus, the guitars there are cheap, and you can negotiate with the people to sale them to you for even less. I think my mom bought one there. The original price was 100.000 Bs. (today it's like 20$) and after she talked to the lady she left it at 80.000 (so about 16$!) Oh and get a hammock! You can't leave that town without one! They patterns are really beautiful. My mom left the store there with 4 hammocks. Tip: Browse a bit, don't buy in the first store you enter. The next store might be cheaper.

If you want to party go to pretty much any club you can enter. I like to think that nobody can party like Venezuelans. The parties start at 10 o clock and finish the next morning! (about 5)

MISCELLANEOUS

Have fun! Venezuela is dangerous, but not any less fun because of it! The traffic has become and issue the last couple of months, but overall Caracas is full of everything. You have to be careful though. I was talking to my mom last night and she was complaining she couldn't find milk, the prices of meat was higher than ever, just as and f.y.i.

What else? I can't think of anything else. This is pretty much the basic you need to know. Hey, if you have any other questions email me at [e-mail] we can chat if you want in case there is something specific you want to know, and I might have forgotten to put in here.

PS: I had to leave Venezuela because of Chavez. I talk to my mom a lot to see how she's doing. You see, the Bolivar has gone through 1000% inflation since Chavez got to power. This last week, it got devaluated 20% more or less, so I talk to her because it's hard to live there.