Havana
Trip Start
Nov 20, 2006
1
7
9
Trip End
Jan 22, 2007
12 days in,
Cuba
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
It is difficult for me to describe in words how much we enjoyed Havana. After travelling through some 21 countries over the past 6 months I was still completely blown away by Havana. The sights, sounds, smells and people were simply overwhelming. Dani and I spent two full days just walking the streets of Havana for hours and hours. At every turn it was a photographer's dream and I took more than 100 pictures on my first day in this breathtaking bustling city.
I had wanted to visit Cuba for many years mainly to see how it had evolved under the socialist rule of Fidel Castro for the past 48 years, but mostly for the thousands of old classic cars that are still driving around
01 The view from our hotel in Havana
. This aspect did not disappoint as American cars from the 1940's and 1950's were everywhere. As we walked around Havana there were majestic Chevrolets, Fords, Buicks, Plymouths, Dodges, Packards and many others classics driving past us every minute, waiting in traffic or merely parked on the street looking graceful. Many of the old cars were run down seemingly beyond repair and a handful were in stunningly restored pristine condition with the majority of them falling somewhere in between. There were kerb-side repairs going on every few blocks with greasy overalls tucked head down under enormous bonnets and grubby legs sticking out from under the broken down cars. One old guy was sanding back the roof of a battered yellow 1950's Chevy in the street, caressing his car with love and willing it to go on for a few more years of faithful service. Other old cars were still rattling along protesting with creaks and groans, belching clouds of blue black smoke but still looking so cool. The colonial Spanish architecture in Havana was that good, it almost stole the show from the classic cars. Many of the larger buildings were stunningly beautiful with ornate stone masonry. Most of the colonial era homes were in various states of disrepair with crumbling facades that hadn't seen paint for 50 years, windows were broken and some roofs had collapsed decades ago, but you wanted to stop and photograph every building. The architecture was art in its purest form.
Another thing that is difficult to comprehend is that Cuba operates two currencies - Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUCs) and Cuban Pesos
02 Wonderful stately colonial buildings
. One CUC is about $1.10USD (The govt taxes foreign currency about 10% when they convert it!), where as you get 25 Cuban Pesos for 1 CUC. Nearly everything that tourists buy is in CUCs which is a blatant govt policy to shaft the tourists where as the locals are paid in Cuban Pesos and almost everything they buy is in that currency. As an example the internet is 6 CUCs an hour (and you need to show your passport to use it) where as we bought a piece of chocolate cake for 1 Cuban Peso. However, the Cuban people themselves take the cake. The vast majority of Cuban people are very poor but they radiate happiness in the face of adversity with broad smiles. The people are all manner of shapes and sizes ranging in skin colour from the darkest black through multitudes of mixed race honey browns to some people that are as white as snow. It is truly an eclectic mix. Everyone is friendly and so full of life.
Havana is a truly fabulous city but after three wonderful nights here it was time to catch a flight to the eastern end of the island to pick up our rental car. After a 4am wake up and a cramped flight, we checked into our hotel at Santiago de Cuba at about 9am. Our hotel was on the main square and our balcony overlooked a beautiful church. We hit the streets in search of some breakfast and after walking a few blocks we came across a delightful trio of ancient musicians gleefully playing their classic Cuban tunes on a park bench. The streets were filled with hundreds of locals going about their business but seemingly having nothing to do
03 Dani and the roof-top pool at our 5 star hotel
. We walked around and around the streets enjoying the sights competing with trucks, bicycle taxis, cars, horses & carts, scooters, push carts, bicycles and classic old cars. We caught a cab to the war memorial on San Juan Hill where one of the last battles was fought ending the Spanish Cuban American war in 1898. Then it was off to Jardin de los Helechos, a lush peaceful fern and orchid garden a few kilometres from town. We didn't ask our taxi to wait for us so we walked for an hour or so along the rural road back towards the city centre before catching a taxi for the last bit.
The next morning we needed to catch a taxi back to the airport to pick up our hire car. As fate would have it we scored a 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air taxi to the airport. The Chevy was super cool and it would have been amazing to drive around Cuba in it. We arrived at the airport at 10am with big grins only to find the car rental office completely deserted with note saying they would be back at 11.30am, so plan B.
We left our bags at the airport and hoofed it in the blaring sun for an hour to visit Castillo de San Pedro del Moro. This stunning 15th Century castle and fort stands proudly at the harbour entrance with gorgeous views of the Cuban coastline. After having fun exploring the fort and taking some pics we gladly jumped into a cab back to the airport.
After waiting for another half an hour the rental car guy finally showed up and we did the paperwork then took off in our beast for the next week, a midnight blue Hyundai Accent that had about as much character and class as a dusty plastic flower (Oh we so wished for an old convertible 1950's classic)
04 Looking to the ocean
. Although I bagged the Hyundai a lot in the initial few days, it proved its mettle on the very dodgy roads we encountered over the first few days narrowly avoiding thousands of potholes that could have easily ripped a wheel off. Our first drive was heading further east for about four hours to the end of the island and the port town of Baracoa Running the gauntlet of the ocean waves and spray along the Malecon (ocean retaining wall), we arrived in Baracoa at dusk and checked into a hotel on the sea front (Surely it is OK for rental cars to drive through salt water). Luckily we had a room at the back of the hotel, or we would have had waves crashing through the windows! We had our first dinner in a Casa Particular (private residence) where they served us lobster and we got chatting to 4 crazy Canadians who were cycling the length of Cuba. They proved to be about the only other tourists we spent any time talking to on the entire trip...most of the time feeling like we were the only tourists around.
We had read in the guide book that the next stretch of road (only 210km) would take us 5 hours...and they weren't kidding with potholes galore! We passed the Canadians cycling about 80km out of Baracoa, still pushing along through one of the most polluted nickel-mining towns on the east coast of Cuba.
Arriving in Gibara on a Saturday night and finding the town gearing up for a cheap rum & music party, we decided to stay in one of the Casa Particulars - local people's homes where you sleep in one of their bedrooms and they can cook for you too (it's a bit like staying at your grandma's but you can't understand a word she is saying)
05 The Capitolio building at sunset
. After being turned away from a few of them as they were full due to the Saturday night fiesta, a helpful tout took us to one where there was a room left. The room only had one double bed in it and it was quite funny trying to explain that 6 months pregnant Dani and I were not a couple and that we wanted two beds (?dos camas por favour). It was funnier still to have to enter the other room where guests were staying and man-handle a broken ancient bed out their door, down some narrow dodgy stairs and in through the old lady's lounge room to 'our' bedroom. Funnier still was realising that the bed was so delapidated that it had literally broken in half and it only had three legs! One of the landlady's grandsons came to the rescue with two bricks to put under the corner where the missing leg was (like he did it every time they moved the bed). I sat on the bed and the broken wooden frame touched the ground so two of my paperbacks and a Lonely Planet came out of my bag and supported the busted frame perfectly. The granny and her wrinkled old mother gleefully cooked us a lovely prawn curry and with our bellies pleasantly full of local fare we headed out for some tunes and to experience the Gibara fiesta local style. Down at the square on the waterfront the musicians were re-joining the stage after a short rain delay and the teenagers in the crowd were bopping away to the DJ. The 10 piece band kicked things up a bit and we listened to a few never ending songs lifted straight from the Buena Vista Social Club set
06 Spectacular rays of sunlight at sunset
. There were people of all ages from couples in their 60's through to pre-schoolers dancing, drinking and having a merry time. Most of the people were drinking some local spirit out of old 1 Litre plastic water bottles and they were comical in their efforts to re-fill them from a huge barrel in the back of a truck in the middle of the square. We left the locals to it and tried to sleep with the locals partying on to the early hours, oblivious to the stonking hangovers many would wake up with. We were awoken early by some horrendous squeals from a pig that wasn't real keen on being slaughtered. After our appetites returned we had a yummy breakfast cooked by grandma, then bid our farewells and went for a walk around the town and bought some cheap peso ham rolls. Afterwards we returned to our car to find that a guy had washed all of the mud off it (without us asking) so we gave him a tip and headed off on the twisting road to Playa Santa Lucia, a subdued beach side strip on the north eastern shores of the island. About half way there, we were stopped by a policeman for another roadside check. We asked if we were going in the right direction and before we knew it, he was hitching a lift with us! Hitchhiking is a way of life here for many people, but I think the policemen find it pretty easy to get lift pulling scams like that. We arrived after lunch and checked into the recommended hotel - it was simple, cheap and right on the beach - perfect for some chilling out on a white sandy beach under the palm trees
07 Classic car, cool as can be
. We spent the afternoon soaking up the sun and did the same the next morning before driving to Camaguey for lunch. We arrived in Sancti Spiritus late after driving the last half hour in the dark on scary roads dodging bicycles, horses, cattle, horse & carts and other unlit vehicles (Don't ever drive in Cuba at night!). We stayed in a lovely hotel on the main square with splendid courtyards and postcard views.
After exploring the town in the dark and doing some late night internet-ing we needed to get some grub and went into a pleasant looking restaurant. When we sat down we didn't realise at the time that this was a Cuban Pesos restaurant (ie not really for tourists). They were about to close up and only had two things left on the menu so we ordered two lasagnes, a chicken salad to share and two cans of lemonade. About three minutes later after hearing the ding of the microwave, the waiter presented us with two tea cup sized plates with tiny portions of something that didn't look like lasagne and a tiny serve of spaghetti with white sauce that looked wrong and was inedible. We ate the lasagne, which was easily the worst lasagne I have ever eaten then asked for the bill. I think we were finished about 6 minutes after entering the restaurant. The bill was 14.40. I thought what a rip off if it was CUCs but I didn't know what currency they were charging. So I tried it on and gave the waiter a 20 Cuban Peso note (80 US Cents). He returned with my change and our meal cost 60 US cents (compared to $10-20USD we normally paid for a meal) so it wasn't bad value after all and it showed us a true lesson in the double Cuban economy world
08 The museum of the Revolution
. After breakfast we walked around Sancti Spiritus and bought some souvenirs, then drove to the beach at Playa Ancon and had lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. After that we drove the picturesque town of Trinidad for some sightseeing then onwards to Topes de Collantes and our hotel in the mountains. It was late in the afternoon but we went to do the 2 ˝ hour waterfall hike. Unfortunately the guards at the gate would not let us enter as it was too late in the day and they said that we wouldn't have time to finish the hike and the Police would have to come looking for us. So, disappointingly, we sensibly skipped it and went back to the hotel for a swim in a bizarre pool a lifetime past its use by date and then had an even more bizarre buffet dinner surrounded by a truckload of eastern Europeans on some type of package holiday. No recommendations from us for this hotel!
After lovely early morning hike to explore the wonderful La Batata cave we drove more 500km westwards on the autopista to visit Pinar del Rio province at the western end of Cuba. We arrived at the town of Vinales in the late afternoon and checked into our cabin at the lovely Hotel Ranch San Vicente, about 7km past the town. After a swim, a couple of well deserved beers by the pool and an early dinner it was snooze time after another long day in the car.
The next morning we found another guy washing our car (bizarre), drove into Vinales where I unfortunately dropped my camera and broke it
09 Tank outside the Museum of the Revolution
. At bit of a shame but my battered camera has thankfully made it thus far, hopefully I can get it fixed back in Aus. We met our guide and went for a 3 hour scenic hike through the local farmland and the foothills of the mogotes (limestone hills) that typified this area. There were several birds, fabulous rock formations, beautiful forests and stunning scenery to soak up. After climbing half-way up a limestone hill, we stopped at a farmer's lean-to and he chopped up a couple of coconuts for us, gave us some nourishing stumpy bananas and a grapefruit too. After the hike, our helpful guide Roly offered to take us to a traditional tobacco farm where they also roll their own cigars so, enthusiastically off we went.
Roly told us that he had only been guiding for 6 months since he graduated from Vinales university with a history major. When we arrived at the tobacco farm we asked Roly many questions about life in socialist Cuba and what it was like to live there (some of these questions had intrigued us since we got off the plane on our first day in Havana). Roly told us that everybody has to work for the government or they are working illegally and that all the males need to do 2 years of national service. His wages as an official tourist guide were paid by the government and were a measly 175 National Pesos per months ($7USD) regardless of how many tourists he guided or how often he guided the treks and they would rise to 300 pesos per month ($12USD) after he became fully certified later this year
10 Monuments to Fidel's revolution
. According to Roly, almost all Cubans receive measly wages from the government and that is the cause for most of the angst so maybe a small pay rise for all might make a huge difference. Roly said that you want to use your own home as a Casa Particular and rent rooms to tourists, you have to register it and pay the government 175 National Pesos a month for the privilege, regardless of whether any tourists stay with you. Roly said that the government took 85% of the tobacco that each farmer grew and that the farmer was 'allowed' to keep the rest of it. He said that in comparison the government only took 10% of a normal fruit farmer's crop (obviously the tobacco brings in some much needed hard currency from exporting cigars). Roly talked about some of the benefits of the socialist system and many of the restrictive constraints such as not being able to buy a car or a house, not being able to rent a room when travelling with his former English girlfriend (mixed relationships with Cuban Nationals and foreigners are a big no no). He said that doubted that the system will change very much when Fidel passes on. He said that everyone learns English at school and we suspect that as tourism increases more and more of the younger generation will be uneasy, possibly leading to the next Cuban revolution for better or worse. It was a fascinating and enlightening conversation that deeply touched our souls.
At the Tobacco farm we walked past the crops seeing fresh cut tobacco leaves drying on the racks in the sun and entered the drying building where row upon row of tobacco leaves were hung up to dry
11 Statue of Jose Marti, hero of Cuban indepence
. We met the head cigar roller and we sat down with him to some splendid fresh grapefruit and an espresso of home grown coffee. He opened up a bag of dried tobacco leaves that had also been fermented in a mix of rum, sugar, water and honey and gave us a sniff. He then selected some tobacco leaves from the bag, stripped out the veins, trimmed them with scissors and rolled us a perfect Cuban cigar in about 2 minutes! I was sold on buying some genuine 'Cubans' from this guy rather than any dodgy fakes on the street and I took five of his finest cigars and he threw in the one he rolled in front of us for free. We left the tobacco farm and Roly very happy as many of the missing pieces of our Cuban knowledge jigsaw had been filled in. Back in Vinales, after a fruitless wait at the internet café we headed back to our hotel for a swim and bask in the sun by the pool. As we were lounging there in our own little world we reminisced the magical journey we had just been on, thinking about what life was like for Cubans and what was missing. As you are exploring Cuba it is the things that you don't notice that eventually just come to you. No newsagents selling stands of hundreds of trashy magazines, no threatening figures or evidence of hostility or crime, no billboard's marketing so called desirables, no crippling credit card debt or 30 year mortgages, no materialistic culture wanting more and more. It is a simple hard life for the vast majority of Cubans. They barely have enough money for clothes and simple food but they somehow get by, are super friendly and all seem to carry a wonderful disposition
12 1950's Chevy taxi cruising by
. After our reminiscing, Pete had a sulphur bath whilst Dani got a mud pack facial. Then it was a lovely last supper in Vinales listening to a perfect Cuban band on our last night on this wonderful Cuban odyssey.
The next morning we paid the guy for washing our car again (???) then drove for three hours back to Havana airport. We got lost for the first time in Cuba as it took us more than half an hour to find our elusive airport terminal. If there is one thing I have against Cuba, it has to be the complete and utter lack of road signs to anywhere, you navigate by the sun and gut feel - fortunately Dani was brilliant at navigating whilst I just drove along narrowly avoiding potholes, trucks, cars, horses and people hitchhiking. We had to return the hire car with an empty fuel tank and believe me, the fuel light had been on for a long time when we thankfully parked the car at the airport. We checked in ok, had some lunch and parted ways with Dani flying back to Venezuela for her course and me off to Panama for 3 nights. Cuba was a truly magical experience for both of us, an unforgettable journey through a wonderfully unspoilt country!
