Tattoo

Up and out by eleven. Had my normal egg, ham, toast, strawberry
juice breakfast &; off on a jaunt up the Telefrico. It's mental.
Sunny in Merida, but as soon as you go up a couple of thousand feet,
it's pissing down with rain &; you can't see a thing because of the
cloud cover. Standing in a cloud is quite a strange experience,
actually. You can see other clouds around you, but you just have this
haze of tiny water droplets in front of your eyes. Not too dissimilar
to being on acid. Great up the top though. You're just surrounded by
majestic peaks, one of which is the highest in Venezuela (Pico
Bolivar), a couple of very clear looking lakes &; a shrine devoted
to a Charlie Chaplin look alike. I haven't got a clue who it is &;
have the fear in asking anyone, just in case I offend. The air is
bloody thin. I strutted about quite a lot in a short space of time
&; eventually had to stand still &; breath deeply for a good two
minutes before my tunnel vision subsided.

Plenty of endemic plants to be seen everywhere. Whilst you trundle up
the 1.5km ascent of the Telefrico, you have wonderful vistas of Merida
the town &; the lower peaks, which is soon replaced by pure white as
we enter a cloud. Then a jungle of trees climbing up the steep banks of
the mountains. (At all times, I'm surrounded by Venezuelan tourists in
their dodgy, brightly coloured, bobble topped woollies - me cotton
jeans, polo shirt &; anorak). When the Telefrico reaches non tree
growing territory, you're just confronted with a pretty harsh &;
rugged landscape, dotted with waterfalls, lakes &; thousands of big,
furry, yellowish, dagger leaved plants. Never seen anything like it. To
touch, they are much alike peaches, but must be a tad sturdier, to
survive the extreme winds &; temperature they get at this
altitude.

Since I've been away there has been a nuclear disaster in Japan, war
has started again in Chechnya, a volcano has erupted on the outskirts
of Quito &; an earthquake of 7.5 has just hit Mexico. Nice.

Back down &; to Bum Bum Tours to see whether my mother has replied.
No, but she was told to contact me a couple of days ago. I need to
contact the chaps. I don't know where to go when I return home.

Next, I decide to get a tattoo done. The tattoo that James Lee Burns
&; young Danny Nelson did for me on vomit night is shite. They were
pissed, so I suppose that is a valid enough point. Found some little
market stall in this attractive little row of 'ethnic art &;
jewellery' makers, that was run by some very shady looking chaps. They
found it damned hilarious that I only wanted a better version of the
'FP' I had acquired back home. Good to know they knew what FairPlay
meant though. A global tattoo for a global man!!!! One of them was
obviously the markets dealer &; asked me whether I wanted any bro'.
I told him I was sorted, but could do with some herb. Another five
o'clock meeting is scheduled. He promised me that for a tenner, I'll
get shit loads. Let's hope so 'cos I'm starting to feel a little pain
in my arm, due to my newly acquired lettering. I couldn't believe it.
The geezer wanted to do the letters about five inches long. I told him
to poke it right up there. Next, he started showing me these designs
that I can have around the lettering.

'NO - I ONLY WANT 'FP''

More laughter followed.

Yet again, the five o'clock meeting brought great fruits. Had a couple
of schnifters beforehand - An ounce for 15 quid. The dealer knew
somebody from Manchester. What is it with Manchester &; Merida?
Issam knew a Manc. It seems any Englishman/woman that a Venezuelan
knows is always a dodgy Mancunian. Unluckily, there was a local
reprobate hanging around when the deal was done. I had to give him some
to get rid of him. This little deal has made my mind up as to whether
to meet Horace &; Jorge. A big no, no. I'm going to munch up &;
chill out.

I think I'll contact Issam within the next couple of days. It'd be nice
to keep as many friends as possible. It's really cool though, I'm
picking up quite a few Venezuelan pals. Feel like the O.G. at the
moment, as I give the thumbs up to numerous newly acquired
acquaintances.

Seeing as my hotel room hasn't got any windows &; hash is obviously
illegal, all I can really do is munch up. The twigs make wonderful
tooth picks. I think I might actually have to purchase some incense
from Horace &; Jorge when I meet them, so as a non paranoia fuelled
tump up can be enjoyed.

The truth drug has made me do some mathematics though &; I realise
that I have been overspending, as expected. The two day luxury in the
Park Hotel did it. Time to hunt for a visa cashpoint/bank, which are
few &; far between in these reaches. Anything to do with obtaining
money seems to be an absolute arse, to be quite honest.