Hotel Ancon Trinidad

... zurueck nach Trinidad und ihrem Nachtleben duesen.

Dann heisst es Abschied nehmen. Wir nehmen den Bus zurueck nach Havanna und bleiben dort noch 2 Naechte, bevor wir den Flieg** weit** in Richtung Costa Rica nehmen. Da sich Sascha den Magen irgendwie v**dorben hat, bleiben wir letztlich die meiste Zeit in d** Unt**kunft, ruhen uns aus und lesen im Reisefuehr** ueb** Costa Rica.

... 25. Now the challenge is to pack it without it turning into klibutz. For the uniformed, klibutz is what happens when you put 10 pounds of **** into a 5 pound bag. I keep forgetting to put my pen in my pants pocket because when it is my shirt pocket someone is always approaching me to have it for their kids. Unfortunately my gold and silver Parker set me back too much to give away. Next time I'll bring a pack of Bics for the kids. Incidently, my Bic lighter attracts quite a ...

... on the terrace by Julio's wife asking me whether I want lobster or shrimp for supper. I'll take the shrimp ... gracias. Grilled or in sauce? Grilled ...gracias. Nobody has any food in the stores but everyone is cooking. I think that maybe because I am in a small fishing community that there are things available that are not on the shelves. That seems to be the case everywhere. When I was in Vinales and going through the fields of crops with Armando, I asked him if the crops ...

... districts. Though superficially interesting, it's more naďve than art, especially if they think I'll buy it, analogous to the street musicians here who can't play their instruments and the poseurs with their cigars and heads full of flowers posing for tips. I suspect mass-production and the hiring of 'local color' to peddle it. They're parasites on the true musicians and artists who deserve to be seen and heard. So there, I said it. Hopefully I'm wrong.

... two or three of these to give them 'bravery' and to make them feel 'strong'. One of these later and I was well on my way to joining the rest of the Cuban army!! Rafael did allay our fears saying that we'd be fine getting about 25 cigars each through customs and that no receipt would be necessary - just what we wanted to hear!!

We then walked down to town to have an ice cream. It wasn't long before shady toothless lady had hunted us down and again led us back to The Cigar ...

... bus I hear a rare thing - an English accent. I later introduce myself to Moira and Gordon, mother and father to 2 kids in their mid-twenties, who have decided to follow in their son's footsteps and travel Cuba for nearly 4 weeks. We spend the first 2 hours of the 7 hour journey to Trinidad chatting non-stop and when we get to their stop at Ceinfuegos, we agree to meet up in Santiago and Baracoa (the last 2 places of my trip). I arrive in Trinidad to a hoard of locals trying to ...

... been built on the wealth generated by local sugar plantations. It was also quite close to the infamous 'Bay of Pigs', where US-backed insurgents tried to invade Cuba in the early 60s in order to seize power from Castro. History records that this effort was a complete ...

... were hot and sore but good all the same! The ride back was nice too and reminded me of home up in the mountains in the rain with green fields all around! That night me n mick went to the casa de musica, really good and went on to have a late night, was in bits all of the next day as we waited for our direct bus to Vinales, which didnt materialise, got a taxi to havana instead, which was nice, then cahnged for that nice car to an auld LADA!!! Pimped lada at that with a mad sound ...

... so we merrily puff away -- I make hardly a dint in my 7-inch cigar -- then we all sit down to a typically wonderful dinner. Near the end, the whole family appears and sings the Spanish equivalent to Happy Birthday, bearing me a cake. The social barriers, which have been breaking down as Lucy has followed Sandro (7) around, vanish for a magical night. Sandro and his brother Sergio (11) sing Jonathan songs, play games with Lucy, and we all take turns singing. It's a ...

... the back of his bike! His mate then fixed the puncture for me! While I was waiting one of the guys brought a chica round to hopefully entice me with. I think it was his daughter. It made me really depressed to see the lengths these generally good people would go to make a few extra bucks.

The next day was equally as jam packed. At 10:30am Lee, Pailin and myself got a cab up to Topes de Collantes. There was an amazing view over the coast from the hills up here. We went on a one ...