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Currency issues, super corrupt police, distrust, political unrest, and insecurity make Venezuela an intimidating and dificult destination, but your road-hardy persistence and travel smarts will reward you with incredible experiences in a unique, dynamic, and nearly untouristed gem of a country. Buy your money on the black market, talk to people, observe but don't opine upon the political situation, have a nice glass of Cacique rum or a couple of comically small Polar beers, and let the rumba begin.
Venezuela's territory encompasses every imaginable climate. In the south, you can find snow capped mountains, charmingly anachronistic Andean villages, and the bizzare dreamscapes of "el paramo". In the northwest, you have the desert peninsulas of La Guajira and Coro. The caribean coast can suprise you with paradise beaches that you'll have to yourself, rowdy fishing villages, and beautiful beach spots where tranquility is unknown to hordes of rich kids in SUVs, each one blasting the ubiquitous reggaeton on gigantic speakers, and rumbeando all night long. The center of the country is the plains, a popular area for viewing wildlife. The Orinoco and Amazon river basins are straight up rainforest. People live in houses built on stilts and commute in canoes in the area around Maracaibo. The southeast, known as the Gran Sabana, is an undescribably amazing landscape like nowhere else on earth. Don't listen to what the news says about Venezuela; go experience its amazing natural beauty, taste it, smell it, let it charm you and then spread the word.
In Venezuela a ride is called "la cola" and hitching is called "agarrando la cola", a linguistic survivor from the bygone days of grabbing a horse's tail during an exhausting trek. Pretty cool, no? Even cooler is that hitching is ten times easier than in neighboring Colombia and twice as easy as in Brasil. Classic thumbs up hitching works, but asking for "una cola" at gas stations, in congested city traffic, or at scenic lookouts never hurts. Toss some soldiers a few bolivares and you can have an interesting ride in a military vehicle. It's even possible to hitch on yachts to the postcard perfect archipelago Los Roques. Rich people from Caracas pay a captain to navegate their yacht from the mainland to the islands then fly to the islands, play with their expensive boat and fly home, meaning that empty luxury vessels are making the journey to the islands every Thursday/Friday and returing every Sunday/Monday. Ask around at the ports nearest Caracas, buy the capitan and crew some food and maybe some rum and enjoy jetset vagabonding.
== Going to [[Brazil]] ==
According to some hitchhikers, it is quite possible to hitch all the way on this route (from [[Ciudad Guayana]] to [[Manaus]]), although it might take some time (~4 days), and the road is in quite a pity condition. Although it is common in Venezuela to take passengers on the back of pick-ups, in Brazil such practice is not allowed.
