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| Cruising Havana in 1952 Chevy style! |
We have visited 37 countries since 1972, all but five of them together. And we’ve visited some of them multiple times,
like Nepal, India, Mexico, Thailand, Spain, and Indonesia. But among all of them, Cuba ranks as one of
our most favorite.
Why? We’re not sure. Perhaps because it’s the most recent. Most likely, it is a combination of
uniqueness, warm and friendly people, music and art everywhere, history,
architecture, beautiful landscapes, a living vintage auto museum, its racial
diversity, and a part of American and Spanish history. That’s quite a blend, but it comes together
nicely. The Lonely Planet quote in my
last blog nailed it: “Timeworn but magnificent, dilapidated but dignified, fun
yet maddeningly frustrating—Cuba is a country of indefinable magic.” More observations and a link to photos follow
the brief chronology below. Also included below is a separate link for nothing
but vehicle photos, and another one for short music clips.
Havana
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| A side street near our first hotel, constructed in 1920. We felt perfectly safe wandering the streets late at night. |
After 18
hours of travel, we started off with three full days in Havana. It wasn’t enough, but fortunately, we had a
couple more days there later. Our definition
of hell is a capital city, border crossing, or 3rd class train ride
in a 3rd world country. But that
was not the case in Havana. It was
downright pleasant. Havana is a mix of
old, new, under construction, clean, dirty, and dilapidated. Above all, it’s a city of energy and color,
with lots of history—and propaganda.
Moka, Vinales,
and Soroa
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| During a walk in the Vinales countryside |
We then
traveled to Moka (a self-sustaining eco-village from a replanted coffee
plantation) then to the beautiful area of Vinales where we biked, hiked, and
enjoyed fun music in the town square. We took a walking tour in the countryside
to visit a coffee farm and a tobacco farm, where we learned about the 90/20 percentages-
90% of all production goes to the government, and 20% is kept by the farmers
for “personal use” and sales. Somehow this math works! From there we spent a night Soroa,
in a beautiful forest waterfall region.
The wind was so strong at night that rain blew in through the window
cracks of the restored 1943 mansion. Our
place lost its water pump, but the staff cheerfully brought us buckets of pool
water to flush the toilet.
Road Trip
to Bay of Pigs, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad
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| Reinaldo, our guide and driver for five days |
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| Cienfuegos from our historic hotel |
Reinaldo,
our guide and driver for the next five days, made the last part so fun. A former government lawyer making only $44
per month, he’s now a guide living the dream.
(Coincidentally, Gretel—a former teacher and our first guide in Havana--is
his girlfriend). Like her, Reinaldo gave us the back story on what it’s like to
be Cuban. I can’t begin to condense five days of extended conversations in this
blog, but we got insights we rarely get in our other travels. The second half of the photos in our photo
link pretty much describe the beauty of these areas. Trinidad, at over 515 years old, is the
oldest colonial city in the Americas.
Go if you can!
It is still
possible to travel to Cuba, just not on cruise ships or large “people-to-people”
tour groups. It’s cheap and easy
enough to travel independently—much cheaper than a similar time period at a Hawaiian
or Mexican resort. And other than Japan, we have never felt safer--more so than here at home. We'd go again in a heartbeat--but only after we learn more Spanish. And we'd use Cuba Travel Network again.
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| Our last hotel, built in 1930. A mafia HQ and casino until 1959. Saw a lot photos of dead and alive celebrities. |
Photos and videos
Here are
three highly curated photo links, best enjoyed on something larger than a smartphone. Sit back with your favorite
beverage and enjoy!
Cuba summary
and our best shots, mostly in the order of the above chronology: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yfB52w2A5XkvQ3fn6
Cuba cars
and other vehicles (something that makes Cuba extra fun!) https://photos.app.goo.gl/6vdKAaEEEy1KpY9p8
Music—just a
few short clips of some of the abundant and fun music we were privileged to
enjoy.
"What We Can, While We Can!"
Odds and Ends
Here are but
a few random thoughts and observations.
Marketing—Cuba
is mostly devoid of advertising. The only billboards we saw were political,
highlighting the revolution 60 years ago.
The country seems stuck in its past, but paradoxically wanting to be a
player in the modern world.
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| Cubans (and this chika) love their cocktails! |
Alcohol—Bars
are everywhere! The cocktail lists are
often longer than the menus. It’s hard to find more than the two national
beers, and they are seldom on tap.
People can walk around with a drink, but not guns—just the
opposite of the States.
Food—We
found it very bland, and condiments were in short supply. Quantities, however,
were too huge for us. Unlike other countries
we have visited, the markets were sparse and lacked variety.
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| Actually this was one of our better meals |
Toilet
paper and soap—we were advised to bring our own, but it wasn’t necessary,
except in just a couple of instances in public bathrooms. We never got sick, and
we used water purification tablets and/or our Steripen. The ice in our mojitos and whiskey sours
was fine.
Staffing—most
businesses, especially the restaurants and hotels, were way overstaffed. However, where it mattered the most for
essential services like banking, internet, phone, ration card shops, bus
tickets, etc., they were woefully understaffed. And speaking of banking, it took over two hours to change money at a bank. After that, we used hotels for almost the same rate, plus they would change US dollars.
Noise—We
heard no wailing sirens like we constantly hear at home. We saw, but didn’t
hear, many electric motorcycles. But the
ancient autos and gas motorbikes seem unmuffled with screeching brakes. Vendors
with push carts had unbelievably loud voices.
Just about every street had the sounds of hundreds of voices echoing off
the concrete walls through open windows. This continues through much of the
night, supplemented by the sounds of night clubs and an occasional rooster.
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| Empty tables everywhere with the new restrictions |
Tips—Cubans
in the tourist industry depend upon tips.
Most government employees--and thus most Cubans--work for less than $40 per
month. They get by with monthly ration
cards and side hustles (Remember the 90-20% split mentioned above?) Those that can, try to get into the tourist industry
where than can earn many times more just from tips alone. One of our largest
expenditures beyond airfare and accommodations, were tips. These directly support the Cuban people,
whether their employer is a private or a government hotel, restaurant, guide, or
taxi.
Communications--Like everywhere else in the world, it seems like everyone had a cell phone. We purchased one-hour blocks of wifi time at our hotels and from a tourist office. They cost about $1 per hour. We didn't buy a local chip, so we relied on What's App, could send and receive emails, download the morning newspapers, and post on social media. Hotels and some restaurants had wifi, and we could always find a strong signal in public squares (using our VPN, of course!) Unlike Hong Kong, nothing was blocked or censored. We could also see uncensored live CNN and BBC if our room had a TV.
History and Culture--We found them particularly interesting when compared to other places. Part of that is because it is intertwined with ours, especially over the past 120 years. Hemingway, the Mob, music, our vintage autos, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban missile crisis are all part of the mix. It was interesting to hear Cuba's side of the story. We don't believe all of it, and we found the propaganda in the museums a little wearing. However, it reminded us that revolutions happen for a reason--often huge inequality and oppression, and the US has sometimes found itself on the wrong side of history by supporting Baptista and the Shah of Iran, among others.
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| One of our scratch-off wifi cards |
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| Cuba's capitol building is modeled after the US in Wash DC |
Cubans—We
loved them, and they love Americans.
Although their markets are sparse and they don’t have a lot of material
goods (except cell phones), Cubans are warm and friendly.
They seem joyful with their abundant music and open affection with one
another. Very few we met said they wanted to move to the USA if they had the chance. What struck us the most upon
arrival and throughout our two weeks was the ethnic diversity and apparent
harmony. Descendants of black slaves,
blue-eyed Spaniards, and Hispanics socialize, work, and intermarry as one
society. The music videos in the link above illustrate this diversity. It seemed like women were empowered. Many of the Cubans we met were divorced but in a new relationship. One clerk at a hotel had three wedding bands on her finger. When I asked her about them she said, "I was married three times--to the same man!"
