First Hike up the Ávila

I finally went hiking! I get to see the beautiful mountains every day from my bedroom, from my classroom, on my walk home from school... and I've been anxious to go hiking since I got here and I finally got to. It was so great :) 

Panorama of Caracas (near our starting point)

The first half of the trail was paved with concrete, but it was steep. The whole trail was quite steep. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was surprised by the degree of incline. It was good exercise that's for sure. After 3.8 km of hiking and two hours, we reached the ranger station where we bought what were essentially homemade fruit popsicles. It was the perfect treat. I haven't been able to find popsicles here yet…The struggle is real.

This is a picture of the teleferico we took back down the mountain. This picture was before our halfway point. When my friend told me we were going to the top of that mountain that you can't see because it's in the clouds, I was secretly not that excited. This picture doesn't do the scene justice, but this was my favorite view from the whole hike. 

The rest of the hike was actual trail hiking. It was so nice and peaceful. One of the Venezuelans who was with us said that lots of Venezuelans enjoy hiking because it's an easy way to get away from the craziness and hardships in the city. I can see that. 

After another 4 km and two and a half hours and we finally made it to the top.

Usually from this point you can see the Caribbean, but the clouds were blocking our view. There were different vendors at the top and lots of people. I guess it is often cold at the top because many people were in hats and scarves and boots even, but it wasn't. There is also an ice skating rink at the top and they sell hot chocoloate?

I find that this picture illustrates part of my perception of Venezuela quite well. The tower in the background is a hotel that was built in the 50s but was only open for a short time. It is pretty interesting to read about and the pictures of it are like a time capsule (http://www.loosarchitects.nl/navigationpages/newsimages/damn-humboldt.pdf). It was basically something the dictator at the time wanted and so he got it. There has been numerous rumors over the years that it will be renovated and opened, but the same has been said about the old teleferico that goes down on the other side of the mountain and check it out:

Overall, I hope I can go hiking at least once a month. There are lots of other trails that I would like to explore and it is really was nice to be "out" of the city for a little bit.