My advice for anyone planning to come to Venezuela is don’t come at Easter and don’t put me in charge of the planning. A big chunk of yesterday morning was spent queueing at the bus station. There you have to give your passport or identity card before you can buy a ticket. I suppose that’s because criminals and drug dealers prefer using buses rather than 4x4s or BMWs. From Thursday onwards it’s impossible to get anything returning to Caracas. All the accomodation listed in the guide books is full.

It turns out the reason for this is that since the collapse of the bolivar affluent Venezuelans who used to leave the country for their holidays are no longer able to and take their holidays at home. Unlike most other places I’ve been there don’t seem to be any other foreigners. On the other hand I suppose Caracas has never really been known as one of the world’s great holiday destinations.

So after a morning spent at the bus station and trying to find somewhere to stay it was off to Simon Bolivar’s house and various bits of sightseeing. The sight I’d most like to have seen was the US ambassador’s car being attacked. Instead I had to make do with a minster droning on for 20 minutes about how unfortunate it all was.

The timimg of my arrival and departure, plus slack planning has made it so far not possible to get into the barrios and do the more interesting things. I’m hoping that will happen at the end of next week.