Villa Gaviota Santiago de Cuba

... Cuban people.  It is so easy to be discouraged travelling through the country as it is somedays a constant hassle from touts pulling your heart strings and then asking you for clothes, money or just about anything you possess and they don't and the guilt lies with the truth that a  lot of people don't have anything besides a roof over their head and basic food yet we seem to have cupboards of possessions and ...

... en er rest ons niets anders dan weer terug te keren naar onze casa's. Na onze paspoorten te hebben opgehaald en het tonen kunnen we uiteindelijk aan de steile klim beginnen. De Lada laat geregeld van zich horen en onderweg moeten we een aantal malen stoppen om de motor te laten afkoelen. Even hebben we het idee dat ie het niet gaat redden maar na een aantal keren uitstappen en een stukje lopen bereiken we ...

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...!!!

... fact they pretty much don't have anything at all, including milk for the coffee and water. Instead, I entice K&A with the suggestion of good food at the posh hotel outside of town so that I can go complain about my hotel at their tour company desk. K&A are hooked, we enjoy some poolside snacks and when I return from my unsuccessful rant at Havantur, K&A are enjoying a glass of vino tinto! all this while our cabie sits outside catching a few zzzs. As we sit and ...

... house to my apartment outside at the back, thinking of the dirty wet footprints I must have been leaving over their immaculately clean tiled living room floor. Oh well. Another fantastic breakfast on the patio and more chilling before I move around the corner into my 3rd Casa in Trinidad. This time I'm staying at Carlos y Melvin's and I'm not sure which one the lady is who looks after me. She very house proud and knows here cooking is very good. I enjoy staying here for my ...

... 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 ...

... to get us to go with them. We managed to keep our wits about us and we found an official driver who took us to Casa Maruchi. We got to the casa, but unfortunately it was full. However, Maruchi had us come in and gave us juice while she sent her son to check and see if a casa down the street was available. It was, and the lady came back (with her hair in curlers!) and took us to her place. We were starting to feel hungry, so we asked if there ...

... They have performed overseas and I was very lucky to see a show of theirs the next afternoon (a German producer was over to see the show with the intention of organizing a tour) - it was amazing!! All the passion and vibrancy that I had been looking for but had not yet found - in abundance! Ramon invited me to another show that night at a place called the Casa Caribe which was also great - and he and the guys from his band were just really nice. We met ...

... euro trance, golden oldies and hip hop which the cubans seemed to lap up. Had a mojito which in Cuba is essentially is a glass full of rum, a slice of lime and some manky mint leaves. The next day we spent in the mountains, trekked up there pretty much from sea level in flip flops, and spent the day lying in the pool under a waterfall. we were brought the best fish and rice meal by some local and this was probably my favourite day in Cuba.

... I'm Canadian doesn't make me any better than the people that live in Cuba. I know it might sound dumb and I shouldn't have let it effect my holiday - but I started to feel very guilty and wanted to leave. I felt like I was no better than Fidel Castro - a communist dictator who lives like a king while his citizens live in poverty. Cubans are good honest people and Castro should be shot for the way he treats them (I love freedom of speech. O Canada!). After we left La Maison house, my ...