Hotel Islazul Sierra Maestra Bayamo

... it all for granted. 
The next day we took in the sites including the cemetery of Santiago. There you will find the resting place of Jose Marti. The impressive mausoleum is guarded by the national service 24hrs a day whom conduct a ceremony every half hour for the changing of the guard. It is rumored that the cleared area beside this mausoleum is being prepared for Fidel. But don't tell anyone we said that. 

... langsgelopen om het eten voor vanavond te bestellen en daarna nog even het stadje in om wat inkopen te doen en wat te eten. Onderweg allerlei oude nederlandse bussen gezien die de originele naamplaten nog dragen, erg grappig.

... heldere dagen kan men zelfs Jamaica en Haiti zien liggen. Na het avondeten richting hun casa gelopen om verder af te spreken. 12-12-2008: vandaag afgesproken met de portugezen om La Gran Piedra te bezoeken. Na wat rondvragen een Lada met chaffeur gevonden die ons wel heen en terug wil brengen. Halverwege de rit worden we aangehouden en moeten we onze paspoorten tonen. Geen van ons vieren blijkt die bij zich te ...

... Holguin aangezien de bus naar Santiago de Cuba pas om 17:00 vertrekt. Holguin wordt vanwege zijn lommerijke pleinen wel "parkenstad"genoemd. Het is een moderne stad met kaarsrechte straten, gebouwd tussen twee heuvels. Het Parque Calixto Garcia is vernoemd naar de beroemde generaal die de stad in 1872 op de spanjaarden veroverde. Verder zie je hier ook veel oude nederlandse bussen rijden met de originele naamplaten zoals papendrecht, buitendienst etc....

Le pire trajet en bus de ma vie: 9h et malade comme un chien... un mec monte je ne sais plus dans quelle ville et s´assoit à côté de moi, peux pas lui parler, enfin si je lui parle mais pas très bien! il s´appelle Christian. 2 jours à Santiago ou j´ai un peu planée mais bien quand même. je recroise Christian dans la rue. Départ pour Baracoa à 7h lundi 18 matin, je recroise Christian à la oficina Viazul, décidemment Viazul...!!!

... couple and American girls that I met on the bus look as equally surprised by the crowd of Casa owners and bicitaxi drivers that crowd around the bus station entrance like a mob on a picket line. You can physically see each tourist steal themselves and gather the courage ready to push through the crowd. I look for my name on a sign in the hope that Klaas and Annelies have arranged accommodation but there's nothing. I push through the crowd with people grabbing at me and a ...

... feel the relaxing element of traveling again. Up until now I've felt a little guilty about chilling and spending time just doing the things I could do anywhere like reading, sitting in a café, soaking up the sun. Knowing I'm away for so long, I decide I'm here to understand the people, the way of life and see some of their stunning country - and I need to keep away from the excursions that are created to fill tourists time and take their money. Cuba hasn't really got the ...

... a quality pig sandwich with some local currency, and then bought the pig's head for the jinat**o - he loved it! We ended up back in the bar next door to our hotel, wh**e we got more hassled but w**e happy enough playing along whilst sinking some Cuba Libres. Hard life! Th**e was also a pretty funny cabaret on in one of the areas, but I'm sure we got more attention! Monday 7th July We got up early doors (mainly due to the ...

Ross and I both slept very well, but woke up with pretty upset bellies. (Our sleep was aided by the '60s era Russian airconditioner.)We did manage to eat breakfast in our courtyard where we had the usual fare of eggs, fruit, and bread, but also accompanied by some of the best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life. Delicious! After breakfast we had to lay down for a while to regain our strength. On our way out we ...

Is rather strange that the last posting I made was boasting about going to the Bahamas... there's not really a worse place to be right now!! I arrived on the 30th August and the weather was fine. The locals were all saying that a hurricane was coming but not until Sunday (5th) and that it wasn't that bad!!! Slight under exaggeration! To be fair, a lot of the forecasts we checked also had no signs of hurricanes or bad weather either. On the ...