There are two main borders between Colombia and Venezuela and I will explain here step-by-step how to travel overland from Colombia to Venezuela.
Option 1:
In case you are in Medellin or Bogotá the border Cucuta x San Cristobal is convenient.
Option 2:
Otherwise, if you are in the Colombian coast, the Border Maicao x Maracaibo will be the best option.
My route to border town Maicao (Colombia)
Since I was in Tayrona National Park, in the coast of Colombia, I took a bus to Palomino (6.000 COP) then another bus to Riohacha (10.000 COP). The city of Riohacha is located only 1 hour away from Maicao and the transport between those two cities was 5.000 COP.
My route to Maracaibo (Venezuela)
The city center of Maicao is very tricky, full of people, markets and street sellers and I did not felt safe there. The car dropped me 2 blocks away from the local transport to Venezuela. I could pay in both currencies but I decided to exchange my leftover Colombian currency to the Venezuela one. The driver told me there was no proper bus to Maracaibo witch I discovered after it was a lie. I payed about 8.000 COP for this transport from Maicao to Maracaibo.
We waited from 9am until 11am to get the car full. Around 30 Venezuela citizens, bags of food supplies and me were sharing the tight space.
The border crossing
And here comes the surprise, this guys were planning only to cross an illegal border that is controlled by a paramilitary group called “Los Paisa“. If I did not asked the driver and beg him to stop in the immigration I would have entered Venezuela without a passport stamp.
I was the only person to do proper customs. The car took another road and picked me on the other side of the immigration. A indigenous guy that was in the transport (they have free pass between the two countries) accompanied me to the other side. On our way to Maracaibo 2 plastic containers fall from the car and we needed to stop to reorganize the mess.
The Venezuela Side
People were super friendly with me and telling me I should be aware with the Maracaibo terminal that was quite dangerous. Armed robbery could happen in the surroundings of the terminal and even inside. There was plenty of police road checks where the driver asked for a little bribe from every passenger and distribute to the police. In every stop the national bolivariana police was asking for documents and checking the stamps in the passport. I wasn’t asked directly for any bribe from a police in this route, but I was using the Brazilian passport and speaking Spanish fluently.
Around 3 PM we arrived in front of Maracaibo bus terminal where I got a bus at night to the city of El Vigia then Merida.
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