Hotel Rex Santiago de Cuba

... it all for granted. <br>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. 

... Museo del Ron en het Plaza del Marte. Dit alles is gelegen op slechts enkele minuten lopen van mijn casa, dus ik zit prima centraal. Onderweg nog een aantal portugezen tegengekomen die ik ook al in de bus was tegengekomen. Zij gaan morgen naar la Gran Piedra en vroegen of ik zin heb om mee te gaan. Dit schijnt een monoliet te zijn van ruim 1200 meter waarvan je een prachtig uitzicht schijnt te hebben en ...

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...!!!

... of it. They're even going to be on my bus back to Havana. I also bump into another lady I briefly spoke to in Baracoa and we arrange to meet later to get a cab to the bus station. It's a day of chance encounters as Ellen (Pauline's friend who I also me when I met Pauline), Pauline and I bump into an Italian couple I'd met a few times along the way. We have a drink together on a roof-top terrace overlooking the city of Santiago before I have to dash off to meet Beatrice and catch my bus.

... This is Cuba. I'm meeting Yolanda and Paula again for dinner and find myself lost on my way to the main square. I openly ask locals in the historic cobbled part of town which direction I need to go (there are so few street signs here) and I take a street at a time before asking another local sat in their doorway. The people here are really friendly when they're not trying to get money out of you. I would have loved to have experienced life here before the collapse of the ...

... awake for ages, the last thing i wanted to hear was the story about how a vicar stole his girlfriend. Yeah, probably because she was bored of his bloody stories! Anyway, we got on our flight to Santiago de Cuba, which was on some old Russian military plane, wh**e the air-con meant smoke coming up through the floor. We took off and landed through thund** and lightning, and I swear even the Cubans w**e saying their pray**s ...

Of course, the morning of our first cross-country, 12-hour bus trip, Ross and I wake up feeling less than 100%. I seemed to be worst off with some lingering gastro-intestinal distress, but I was soon proven quite wrong - Ross was quite sick, and would get worse throughout the course of our trip. I rebounded quickly enough and we got to the bus with time to spare. The price to Santiago de Cuba was 33CUC each. Kara &amp; Leigh showed up a few minutes ...

We spent a few days here, visiting the Castillo del Morro [our taxi was an old American chevrolet- lots o Cuban cars date from the 50s] and enjoying the Carribean festival that was taking places in Santiago. There was live music in the main square every night and a parade throught the city.

... Santiago would be such a beautiful city if they were able to fix up some of their streets and buildings. When we arrived at the grave yard, I discovered that the government not only treats tourists better than the citizens, but the dead get treated better as well. It was the most beautiful graveyard I have even seen (although I don't exactly have much basis for comparison). The changing of the guard was interesting to see although I felt bad for the guards for having to wear big ...

... to be played every day. You could even hear it underwater with your fingers in your ears. On the plus side, the food improved markedly as the hotel was partly Canadian owned and the Canadians were not taking any notice of the illegal export ban being applied by the US. For the first week, food was a bit of gamble - the tour guide would ask "Do you want pork, beef or meat? Ooookay....... So, well done Canada, we ate better for the second week.