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This week we had one of those hot afternoons with even and dim sunlight, which is great for taking my bike and going for long rides while taking some photos. That's how I ended up on the road that leads to the small village of "Aguirre", which is basically a satellite hamlet of our town Montalbán and depends administratively in every way on it.

"Sacred Heart of Jesus" parish church

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"Entrance road at the west side"

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"Entrance to the former "Hacienda El Reposo"

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The road is flat, asphalted and only about 5,5 kilometres long, so after less than 45 minutes on my bike I'm already in the streets of "Aguirre"... It is already late afternoon, around 4 PM, so the light is soft and eloquent. You can also appreciate the relative loneliness of the streets of this village whose population has been decreasing steadily for several years.

"Old façade of a colonial mansion"

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"Bejarano Family Chapel"

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"Old houses on the main street"

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This small village became the "tourist jewel" of our region until the beginning of this century. Its image was even more important than that of the other larger villages around it. At that time, the old tobacco and citrus plantations were converted into tourist developments, some of them, and others into plots of land for urbanisation. However, with the arrival of the bad times, the economic crisis has been turning this place into a sort of "ghost" of what it was during its boom years.

"Old house ruins I"

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"Old house ruins II"

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"View in the town centre"

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Many things here are still looking good and from time to time there is a recovery in visitor numbers and tourist movement. However, a good number of the houses and streets show serious signs of decay and have even fallen into ruin. But either way, it's still a place you can get to and find an inn, and it's also good for quiet walks and bike rides. Overall it is a fairly quiet place and the people are friendly. So if you visit Aguirre you will never be disappointed and will certainly have a good time.

"Main street from the south"

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"Entering main street from the West"

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"View of the town centre from the north"

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Aguirre is nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains with cloud forest to the east and north. Its climate is slightly cooler than the other surrounding villages. There are still a handful of hostels and healing centres in the village. Also some people from the city have cottages here which they visit on weekends. Although many of these houses are for sale since the arrival of the crisis times, given the difficulty their owners have in maintaining their properties and even coming to stay here from time to time.

"Town's Bolívar Square"

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Tourist inn "Pozo viejo"

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"Leaving the town"

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ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL INFO: Photographs captured with my Nikon D7000 DSLR camera in RAW format, then processed in Adobe Camera RAW for adjustments regarding light, sharpening, contrast and depth... The pictures are then exported to JPG format on which minor modifications such as straightening and adding watermarks were carried out using PhotoScape 3.6.3.

"Back to Montalbán"

Thank you very much for your visit and appreciation!

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Aguirre, Montalbán, Carabobo, Venezuela.