Ruta de las Nieves (Route of the Snow)
Trujillo - Mérida

The journey from Valera (Trujillo State) to Merida City or vice versa, through the National Park Sierra Nevada is another tour you may highly enjoy. If you have the time, before reaching Timotes it is well worth making a detour to see the charming Jajo village. You will not regret it. Back on the main road you will find Merida's towns Timotes and Chachopo.

Timotes

Chachopo Bolivar Square

In Timotes you can observe the church with its high belfry. In Chachopo, facing the church as usual is Bolivar Square, a pleasant place to rest for a while.

Chachopo seen from the road to Pico El Aguila (Eagle Peak)

To pass by Pico El Aguila the highest point (4118 m.) on a driving road in Venezuela can be an unforgettable experience

As you drive upwards the vegetation gets scarcer and scarcer, up to a point where only Frailejon, a typical bush from the moors, survives.

After Pico El Aguila you will get to Apartaderos, where the roads to Merida, Barinas and Valera meet. If you turn left to Santo Domingo, soon after you will get to Lagoon of Mucubaji. This is another excursion that is worth considering especially on clear days. Going along the road you will find Santo Domingo well known for its trout, mushrooms and handcrafts. The place also offers excellent choices for food and lodging.

In Apartaderos there are hotels and inns you may also consider. In this town you will pass by La Loca Luz Caraballo, a monument to Andres Eloy Blanco's famous poem. Here native children will recite the poem for you in exchange for a small tip.

On the way down there is Llano del Hato National Astronomic Observatory where you can watch the outer space through any of four telescopes and visit the Astronomic Museum.

Watch the flowers that grow in some houses at he edge of the road

San Rafael de Mucuchiíes

In San Rafael you will admire a stone chapel and a hotel whose shape suggests that of a castle. This town is the homeland of the famous dog breeding Mucuchies.

Mucuchies

Tabay church

The road keeps going down and reaches Los Aleros a museum town, which successfully re-creates the 30's. Then comes Tabay where the Sierra Nevada National Park gets to an end.


On the way you will also pass the recreational parks Alberto Carnevali and La Mucui, point of departure for the glacial lagoons La Coromoto, El Suero y Los Anteojos.

Soon the road will come to an end, as you reach Merida City capital of the state and heart of one of the most enchanting zones of the Venezuelan geography.