Hotel Neptuno-Triton Havana

... back the other way down what seemed like a main road and it wasn´t long before we were befriended by a very untidy looking local. He was carrying his shoes and a plastic bag containing what seemed to be fried rice. He started the conversation the same way all Cubans seem to "pssst, pssssssssst, where you from?" He walked with us down to the memorial for Jose Martí which turned out to be in Plaza de la Revolución where Fidel makes all his ...

... seatbelt) and crossed himself and said a prayer as we were taking off, glad I was sat next to the window and now him as there was an old plane being pulled apart next to the runway! LOL. Lots of cars as old as 50 years which are pretty cool then there are also plenty of Lada's, (I wondered where they went to) plus the newest addition seems to be Peugeot 206's. The buildings are very decorative with their architecture a lot of them are pretty run down but I believe there ...

... Cuba. Due to the political and economic circumstances of the early 1990's era, Robert never secured a proper job in his home country, despite being a fully qualified engineer. He now serves as a guesthouse servant in Camaguey, as employment opportunities in Cuba dictated that he performs such duties to manage a living. With much pride, Robert showed me his University Masters degree (printed in both Cryllic and Spanish), as his eyes gazed wistfully into space for a ...

... Pat and her family. I almost jumped into their arms I was so happy to see them. I checked in and met them in the food court on the otherside of security. They had already checked my other bag as one of their own and put the wedding dresses in it. I was talking a mile a minute and to anyone that would listen including the girl from North Carolina in the Burger King line-up simply because they all spoke English and I hadn't spoken ...

... loi y a qques années limitant le montant que les Cubains Americains peuvent dépenser quand ils rentrent au bled voir Maman (vazy Georges, continue à te faire des potes c'est bien). Mais le blocus américain, ça m'explique pourquoi les Cubains ont pas le droit d'avoir internet chez eux? Ca m'explique pourquoi y a 2 quotidiens en libre circulation? Ca m'explique pourquoi ca fait deux semaines que les Cubains peuvent avoir des tel portables (que de ttes fa ...

... later, so they can bring me to the bus station for my trip to Trinidad. Taxi fare: 25 Cuban pesos ($1) After exploring and taking photos for several hours, I duck into a small bar to wait for mis amigos. I order a mojito and one for my new friend sitting next to me. New Friend: Where you from? Charles: Soy Americano. NF: AMERICANO!!! Whooo Hooooo!!! C: Si NF: Americano, you want cigar? C: No gracias. NF: You want rum? C: No gracias And so on.... My ...

... any friendliness and as 10% had already been added to the bill for 'service', we paid the amount and left. Back at the hotel I used another 'Free' ticket and managed to use the blog to wish everyone a Happy New Year. As it was running slightly faster, I was also able to send a couple of emails to close family and friends before I was out of time again. Monday 31st Another visit to our hotel tour rep to book the tour for Wednesday. She contacts someone to see if it's running and is ...

... answer, only its bitterness. Night had fully fallen, I had a short walk in the semi-obscurity dark to reach the Cabana fort. Leaving the Morro, a couple of women on the side of the dark road were calling me. A bit strong, I thought, that girls would be waiting for tourists in the bushes! It turned out that they were working at the fort, and setting up an ambush to frighten their colleague...so they were asking me if I had seen her coming over! Childish? I ...

... at a 'bureau de change', then once we got to Cuba, change the pounds to Cuban convertibles. We would most probably lose out on the exchange rate by doing this but had no other choice. What a palava! Previously in Ecuador, we had a bit of trouble using our debit cards and unfortunately, today was no better. They wouldn't get accepted. More panic ensued - what now?!! We would have to use our credit cards but this would incur yet another ...

... photos taken, amongst them an old man with a straggly grey beard wearing a cheap touristy army beret – who, without a shadow of a doubt, is the face on the cover of the 2006 edition of the Cuba Lonely Planet.

As dusk neared we all met up again and set out to walk most of the 7km length of the Malecón and, surprisingly, even Gato seemed almost cheerful about this. It’s this coastal promenade where the rest of Havana’s posers like to hang out, from the ...