TravelStream™ news feed for member c-hampden on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/c-hampden en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:25:07 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/12/1229606640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/12/1229606640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/12/1229606640/tpod.html Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:25:07 -0500 Pre-Christmas Partying - Year 2

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Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Vienna
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/11/1227446340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/11/1227446340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/11/1227446340/tpod.html Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:20:52 -0500 Post-exam Partying in Poland

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Wroclaw, Western Poland, Poland

Wroclaw
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1216588500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1216588500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1216588500/tpod.html Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:33:41 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Havana, Cuba

Friday 18th JulyAfter getting about an hour's sleep on the last night in Trinidad we managed to get the bus to Havana.  It took about 5.5 hours so I just dozed on and off for most of it (a bit like those of you reading this!).  We got a cab to Havana Vieja (Old Havana)  but struggled to find a casa, so we went and got a drink to relax and think things through.  Ben went on a reccy and came up with the goods!   We then had a bit of a wander, heading to the Havana Rum Museum.  There, we went on the obligatory tour, and I bought a bottle of the good stuff from there.  We also went down to some shady boxing club to try and see some Cubans in action, but no one was there. An old man assured us to give it a go in the morning, when we would have more luck.  So we went and got some food in an arab restaurant, then headed to Cafe Paris for some more live music, mojitos and a couple of fat Cuban cigars!!!Saturday 19th JulyThe old man got it wrong - 9am start and there was no bloody boxing!!  Ah well, it gave us more time to do the touristy stuff.   From the boxing club we went to the Capitolio, which was the seat of government in Cuba until after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.  Pretty impressive building actually.After that we got a cyclo to the Revolution Musuem, which was the only musuem I had any interest in visiting.  Despite the obvious bias, it was quite interesting to wander around (despite the heat) and check out the history of Cuba's biggest uprising.  After all that culture there was only one thing for it - ice-cream!!!  We got a coco-taxi (ie shaped like a coconut) to the Coppelia, Cuba's most famous ice-creamery.  We nailled a couple of ice cream 'salads', which were much needed.  I then gave Ben a pasting at 'shithead' as we wiled the afternoon away.  No visit to Havana is complete until you've taken a wander along the Malacon, the sea boulevard that crawls 7 km along the historical areas of the city.  We walked along most of it, stopping for drinks when necessary!! The Cubans were just diving off the wall, amongst rocks, into the sea. So it was a pretty productive last who day in Cuba, seeing wuite a lot of stuff!  To finish it off we repeated the nightly routine of beers in the plazas and then had our last rum cocktails in Cuba...  As Sunday came, our holiday was over.  Back to Blighty and the real world..Cuba was a quality place to go, and I'm glad I've seem it before it changes too much as Fidel's influence declines.  What Cuba lacks in "sights" it makes up for in their living culture.  The best thing about Cuba is the way that life just passes by, with a little help of music and rum!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1216847580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1216847580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1216847580/tpod.html Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:16:30 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Trinidad, Cuba

Sunday 13th July to Thursday 17th JulyAfter managing to get a place on the Viazul bus at the last minute (you are meant to book a place a few days in advance), we were on our way to Trinidad, Cuba!!  After so much travelling in the first week Ben and I decided we were probably going to kick back here for a few days no matter what.  The problem with 2 week holidays is there is not enough time to do and see everything, so there is no point killing yourself trying to!Trinidad is an awesome little place.  It is about 15k from Playa Ancon, a really nice beach that we spend a couple of afternoons at.  On the other side of the town is the Sierra and mountain ranges behind it.  Trinidad also comes alive at night.primarily at the Casa de la Musica, where live bands perform every nigt, people salsa, and everyone just mingles on the steps with the help of rum!!!  We went to the Casa de la Musica all 5 nights we were in Trinidad, and we met some really cool people there, including two Mexican girls who were really sound (although one of them took a bit of a liking to me - can't blame her!).  It was here that this Spnish girl I had met in Ljubljana last summer randomly game up and said hi - what a bloody small world!  We hung out with her and her cousin that night, which was pretty cool.It was in Trinidad that the reunion with the Oxford  girls happened too.  It was quality to see them again, and I think Ben was pleased that he didn't have to put up with me on my own!  The day after they got to Trinidad, we all went horse riding in the Sierra..  I've done it before in New Zealand, and a Emma and Catrin had ridden a fair bit before (cheeky!) too.  Ben and Ana had never been before though, and it was pretty funny at the start listening to them shouting at their horses to stop.  I'm not sure Cuban horses speak English!  We rode out to a waterfall, which was heaven after being in the heat for a few hours.  It was a quality day, and made a nice change.  The saddle sores weren't ideal though...The casa we had in Trinidad was quality, purely because the family was so nice!!  We had a good laugh with them, despite our limited Spanish, and I think they liked us staying there for a while!  Orlando the old guy, got drunk on rum one night and was shouting at the TV in support of a speech Rauol was giving.. and he was trying to tell us how great the Castro regime was.  His wife Esther kept telling him to shut up.  It was so funny!  We also got them to cook us lobsters one night, which cost a whopping £5 including shit loads of other food with it. Hard life!!As I said before, Trinidad is awesome.  It's so chiled out, some cool people there, and it is easy to pass the days.  It was quite tough to leave in the end, especially as it was the parting of the Oxford girls and us.  It also meant we were heading to Havana, our last stop before heading home - I hate only having 2 weeks holiday!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215896880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215896880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215896880/tpod.html Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:57:57 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Santa Clara, Cuba

Saturday 12th JulyWe got up relatively early to sort out plans for getting to Santa Clara.  It turned out the old woman who owned our casa thought the bus was at 11.20pm, so we got there in plenty of time for then.  But when we got to the bus station it wasn't going to be until 12.40 or something.  Instead of hanging around the bus station for ages we decided to go and have a chat with some of the hustlers who organise dodgy lifts to places.  For the same price as getting the bus, we managed to get a lift to Santa Clara with 3 Cubans in a pretty small car.  It was a tight fit!!  Who cares though - we got there is less time than the bus as he drove like a bit of a lunatic!  He took us right to the centre of Santa Clara too, which was a bit of a result.After sorting out a casa (it took literally 2 minutes), we went to get a ciego montero lemon (Ben is mildly addicted to these!) and sort out a plan of action.  We ended up chatting to a couple of crazy Irish girls who were in Cuba by mistake.. They were meant to be going to Brazil, changing flights in Cuba. But they ended up on a flight to El Salvador the country, rather than Salvador in Brazil.  In short, they had been fucked over by the travel agents and were unexpectedly working their way around Cuba.  We didn't speak for too long though, as they could talk the hind legs off a donkey!!  And that is saying something coming from me...We made our escape and wandered up to the Che Guavara mausoleom, which is based in Santa Clara as it is where his most important mission during the revolution took place.  It was pretty cool to go up there, and it is the main reason for heading to Santa Clara.  But to be honest, Santa Clara itself was pretty dull.  We hung aound in the main plaza for the rest of the day, avoiding a massive storm and power cut by drinking in a bar.  The only other observation of Santa Clara is that it seems to be full of gays!!  We left the next day...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215721500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215721500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215721500/tpod.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:01:58 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Camaguey, Cuba

Thursday 10th JulyHaving arrived at just after midnight, we dropped our bags off in the shitty hotel room (it was too late to find a casa), we headed straight to the bar area for a quick pizza and a bottle of rum.   We then headed up to the hotel "nightclub" which lasted about 10 minutes whilst we were there.  So we played a bit of "I have never.." which is never a good idea!!  Never again...We then got in a cab to "the best late night bar in Holguin".  It was shit, and I ended up getting a bit stroppy until we left and hit the 24hr bar by the pool in the hotel.  That was a bit better, before having a drunken swim until 4.30am in my boxers!After about 5 hours sleep we were up and on our way to Camaguey to drop the girls off for a coach to Cayo Coco for a few days (via Cielo de Avila).  We stopped of at a random restaurant en route and I had the best omelette ever!  Simple things for simple people, so they say..  Anyway, we got the girls there in plenty of time (just), so Emma you really didn't need to panic hun!  After we said our goodbyes (it was emotional), we ended up heading into the Centro Historico with the aid of a demon bicycle jinetero who sorted us out an awesome casa amongst the labrynth of streets!  After a kip (Ben had done shit loads of driving) we dropped the car off and headed to a paladar for an awesome feast of steak, ham & cheese, along with plantain, salad, rice, black beans... the list goes on - all for about £4.We ended up in the La Cambio bar for the standard beverages before getting a relatively early night.Friday 11th JulyThis was a kind of lazy, kind of touristy day really.  We got up when we got up, and then headed to the Plaza de Revolution and the baseball stadium.  Then we just played cards all afternoon in a random street cafe.  Just what the doctor ordered after such a hectic few days since arriving in Cuba.In the evening we hung out with some husslers, and they kept trying to bring girls over to us.  We were our usual charming selves, being polite but not misleading.  Ben and I then went to Club Copacana, which wasn't that great so we headed home when we seemed tired!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215667560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215667560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215667560/tpod.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:27:21 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Holguin, Cuba

Holguin
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215388800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215388800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215388800/tpod.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:23:01 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Sunday 6th JulyWhat a bloody long day!!  Me and Ben had no problems having a beer first thing at Gatwick before the 9 hour flight (just under) to Havana.  We then had to wait around in Havana airport to catch an internal flight to Havana.  Again, this involved sinking the first of many Bucanero beers, before we were acosted by the most annoying Cuban guy ever - Hector!!  This guy talked, and talked, and talked and talked... after being 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, where the air-con meant smoke coming up through the floor.  We took off and landed through thunder and lightning, and I swear even the Cubans were saying their prayers.  Also on the flight, I got talking to some cool black Cuban guy who was an international Badminton umpire.  Unfortunately Hector kept saying to Ben "don't trust the niggers" - what, the guy who was a laugh, and interesting??  Hector was a twat!Once we landed safely (just about), me and Ben made our excuses and jumped in some random black dude's car and got a lift to our hotel.  The guy was pretty sound, 21, and whacked up the volume of the Reggaeton music in his clapped out but cool Lada.We dumped our bags off hen went straight out for the Fiesta del Fuego.  Unfortunately we didn't realise we weren't completely central and ended up a pretty intimidating stage area surrounded by jinetaros (hustlers) offering us literaly everything and anything we wanted.  We went and got a few beers with one of them, and people stared a bit less after that!  Then we grabbed a quality pig sandwich with some local currency, and then bought the pig's head for the jinatero - he loved it!We ended up back in the bar next door to our hotel, where we got more hassled but were happy enough playing along whilst sinking some Cuba Libres.  Hard life!  There was also a pretty funny cabaret on in one of the areas, but I'm sure we got more attention!Monday 7th JulyWe got up early doors (mainly due to the traffic) to have a bit of brekkie, and then get kicke out of the hotel because they were full that night.  We were going to leave anyway!  The hotel manager then rang some old woman up and got her to the hotel to persuade us to stay at her casa particulaire nearer town.  We decided to go for it, and it ended up a pretty good move as it meant we got to meet these 3 girls from Oxford Uni who were staying next door.  They were intrigued by the sound of Ben's spanish (Be-eh-eh-nay), and our combined conversation based around baseball and boxing!! Anyway, we ended up spending most of the 2 weeks with these three girls - Ana Isabel, Emma and Catrin.  That morning they begged us to join them on their day out (Ok, maybe we invited ourselves.. Girls, if you read this I expect I will be saying a lot of things tongue-in-cheek!).  Once everyone was ready we got a taxi to the Castillo de San Pedro del Maro - with Ana's awesome Spanish (her parents are Spanish) helping us get a decent price. Before the castle we went up a lighthouse to check out some views.  The castle itself is effectively a museum showing the history of the Pirates of the Carribean (not the cheesy films), with a lot of pirate history located off this coast.  It was getting bloody hot so headed for a quick dip in the sea with the locals, but were ut off a bit with the sewage pipe sticking out of the water!  We then got a boat taxi across to Cayo Granma, a call little island where life seemed pretty slow.  We quickly found our way to a bar, where we chilled for a fair while before leaving the island and hitching a free lift back to Santiago de Cuba central for some mojitos on a roof-top terrace and to discuss a potential road trip around the east of Cuba!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215637200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215637200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215637200/tpod.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:22:20 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Baracoa, Cuba

Tuesday 8th JulyFirst things first, me & Ben headed to the Cubacar office near the Santiago de Cuba Hotel and got ourself a sexy little car for 3 days, as the girls had decided to brave a road trip with us!  That was easy - the tricky part was finding our way out of Santiago de Cuba after paying for our casa and some cheap Cohiba cigars!!.  After various people telling us the wrong information (including a policeman) we managed to get on the right road out of town.  Ana will claim she navigated us out perfectly, but it was more by luck than judgement!The drive was pretty cool, passing loads of Communist propoganda on our way to Guantanamo - viva Fidel!!  Guantanamo was pretty much a stop-off for us to get some money out, but we ended up sitting in some little cafe eating dirt-cheap local food and buying bottles of rum because they were even cheaper!  Guantanamo seemed a cool, little-visited place although we never made it to the US prison base.  My idea of dressing up in orange jumpsuits wasn't too popular so we got back on the road towards Baracoa.The drive there was quality, with great mountain views and coastal roads.  The 1st beach we came to, we stopped at to cool down.  Pretty cool beach that looked like it would normally be busy but was deserted that day.  After another driving stint we ended up in Baracoa, a sleepy coastal town.  We ended up getting followed by some guy on a bicycle, who offered us his casa.  We decided to check it out, and we hit the jackpot!  The 5 of us had our own colonnial house for £15 total.  We only stayed one night, but if I was in Cuba for longer I would have been happy staying there.We had dinner in a paladar (family home restaurant) then went back to the casa to get on the cheap rum we bought in Guantanamo.  It got nailed!! Wednesday 9th JulyThis was a quality day!  The girls had spotted something in the Lonely Planet about some random walk you could do in the local hills, so we decided to give it a go.  To get there we had to walk along the beach past a whole load of military guys, over some rickety old bridge and through some village.  Ana, being the only one fluent in Spanish, got talking to a local old lady who invited us for a drink in her house.  We said we'd go after the walk..So as we carried on along the path we bumped into Wilson, one of the family members who does the walking tour. This guy was cool, and he lead us through the jungle to a cave/watering hole that was soooo nice to cool off in.  We gave Wilson a grilling about Cuban life, which was really interesting.  I hate to keep banging on about it, but if we didn't have someone who could speak the language it wouldn't have been anywhere near as inciteful!  Anyway, Wilson whipped his machete out (oooh-errrr) and climbed up a coconut tree (as you do).  He knocked a whole load down and then cut them open to have the juice with some lime squeezed in.  It was so refreshing!After the walk, we decided to pop up to the old woman's house.  It seemed a really good idea, until we walked up some ridiculous hill, which made most of us feel pretty lightheaded.  And when we got there they offered us coffee!  It was so hot so we declined and drank all of their water, which tasted of soil - perhaps a gamble but worth the risk.  Then we had a quick trot on their horse, although it struggled a bit in the heat too... We ended up giving them a bit of money for their hospitality, but what they said they really wanted was some clothes.  We couldn't help them there!Absolutely knackered, we headed back to the casa and threw our bags into the car for what was supposed to be a relativelt short drive (we thought) to some campismo place.  It was full.  Then there were no casas in the next few towns.  We ended up driving for hours, getting to Holguin eventually at about midnight.. To be continued in the next entry..
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215546600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215546600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/c-hampden/10/1215546600/tpod.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:51:14 -0400 Viva la Cuba!

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Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Guantanamo
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