This year we decided to go to Cuba - one of the very few remaining Communist countries in the world. Cuba is one of the Caribbean islands, but deceptively large, measuring almost 1000 km in length. And it turned out to be quite interesting country:
!!! Cuba operates double currency, convertible CUC that supposed to be used by the tourists and cuban pesos; with the exchange rate of 1CUC = 25 pesos and 1£ = 1.5 CUC; in reality once we got hold of the local currency our spending went significantly down, we ended up paying for coffee 1 pesso = £0.06 = 0.30 PLN instead of 1CUC; but having local money doesn't always means that you can use them - we been escorted from icecream village because it was only for locals
!!! Internet is not widely available, it can be accessed only at top hotels or ETECSA boots; foreigners need to show the passport in order to buy the internet card because the locals have supervised access to internet
!!! The government owns all the hotels in at least 51%; the small private sector was allowed to operate in 1996, and this was birth of the casa particulares (B&B - private rooms) but the government regulations are tough with max 2 rooms at the time allowed to be rented, no room rentals is allowed in the resort areas and heavy taxes (even when rooms are unoccupied)
!!! Restaurants are not so inviting in terms of food, ambience and staff looks extremely bored; the much better options is eating at the casa particulares or paladores (small private restaurant)
!!! we met more people begging for soap or pen than for money
!!! there seem to be two kinds of shops (like old times in Poland) - ones with some stuff on the shelfs where you have to pay in CUC and others with long queues accepting local pesos only
!!! cigars are widely available in the shops and on the street but unfortunately during our stay all the visits to tobacco factory (Havana and Pinar del Rio) were suspended; surprisingly we hardly seen any locals smoking cigar - if anyone it was tourist
!!! Bacardi is most famous rum, originated in Cuba but currently not obtainable here - when Fidel Castro began the nationalisation of all the businesses in 1960 then company moved the headquarters to Bahamas and main factory to Costa Rica; Cuban 3 famous coctails: mohito (rum, lime and mint), cuba libre (rum and coke) and daiquiry (with shaved ice). Havana Club is most popular rum.
USA embargo started during presidency of Kennedy, was response to nationalisation of banks, farms, electricity and oil companies by Fidel Castro (but before signing it Kennedy ordered 1000 cuban cigars). This means that there is no tourism exchange with Cuba, no flights between USA and Cuba, and there is no McDonnalds and no Coca Cola (it is replaced by similarly looking tuCola). Canada and Mexico resisted USA pressure and continue trading with Cuba. Today Cuba is mainly visited by French, Germans, Russian and Canadians.
Now a bit about the history and heros, as they are present everywhere.
Jose Marti was hero of war of independence against Spain (1895-1898) and now in every town centre there is a street named after him. In 1898 US declares war on Spain, wins and US occupation of Cuba begins. Wary of raising nationalistic voices US gives Cuba choice - accept written by us constitution with the amendments giving us right to intervene and access to Guantamo Bay (and control over Panama Canal) or the occupation continues. So on 20 May 1902 the Cuba become republic and Batista president. This resulted in USA quickly getting control of most of the farmlands, mineral resources. Batista popularity is quickly disappearing so keep the power he staged the military coup few weeks before the election (Fidel Castro supposed to be standing for a presidency) and makes a deal with US mafia - he gives them carta blanche in return for a cut of their profit. Next year began The Cuban Revolution (1953-1959) lead by Fidel Castro with support his brother Raul and Camillo Cienfuego and Ernest 'Che' Guevara.
Today Che Guevera is present everywhere in Cuba (and Argentina and even in Camden Town in London) on the t-shirts, souvenirs and graffiti. He was Argentinean doctor that fought in Cuban Revolution and later hold ministry position for a few years, which he left to fight in Guatemalla and Bolivia. He was captured and killed (CIA was involved) at the age of 39 and then buried in unknown grave until his remain been returned to Cuba in 1997 and lay in Santa Clara.
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As most of the tourists arriving here we landed in Havana and spent the first 3 nights in the capital. Havana, like most major capital cities, is quite busy with traffic, although the Centro Historico is traffic free. The standard of living seems very poor for most people and even the top end hotels appear to be somewhat dated and run down. Our one (Raquel Hotel) was a prime example of some great historical building that despite the fact that was restored recently certainly wouldn't pass as a top end hotel anywhere in Europe. As with so many other government run establishments in Cuba the food was poor and the staff generally bored, although not unhelpful.
The biggest attraction of Havana are of course cuban cigars, good local rum (Havana Club) and hordes of 1960's american cars including Buicks, Pontiacs etc.
An interesting city to visit but a couple of nights is certainly enough to savour the atmosphere and cultural attractions are somewhat limited including a few poorly furnished historical museums and some tourist focussed dance and music shows.
===================
From Havana, unlike most tourists, we took an overnight Viazul bus to a place called Baracoa, located right at the very opposite end of the island. The trip actually took over 18 hours but the bus was relatively comfortable and once we've settled into our El Castillo hotel located at a top of a hill with great views overlooking the town, we went exploring this peculiar small town.
Baracoa turned out to be our favourite place in Cuba. The small town was originally the site of the first landing of Spanish in Cuba and the first settlement, but was divided from he rest of the island for ages by mountains and dense tropical forests until a mountain pass road was built in 1970s. The place is certainly different from any other place we've ever seen and it seems like the time has stopped there in 1950's or it's at least 50 years behind the rest of the world - almost no cars, horse carriages. Somehow, however, it retains it's charm and friendliness with hardly any touts (what a relieve) and this is the place where we had one of the best dinners ever at el Poet (and best drink - open mouth and they they will squeeze sugar cane and pour rum from the bottle)
It's surrounded by some great scenery to explore and people are very friendly and inviting, despite the fact of our very limited ability to communicate in Spanish. 7K walk around National Park Aleksander de Humboldt was like being in open air pharmacy - every tree had some medical use.
====================
The next stop on our trip was Santiago de Cuba - the second largest city in Cuba. It was a shock to the system arriving from a friendly and hassle-free Baracoa to the bustling, sweltering Santiago where you can't walk down the road without being hassled by people trying to make some cash on you. It's not that they are unfriendly or aggressive, but after a while it just gets too much and coupled with the heavy traffic of motorcycles and cars it makes every minute very intense. Needless to say we didn't enjoy the place too much, despite the fact that it's the fist place we we've learned to buy an eat local (made by and for the locals and paid for in local currency, rather then the convertible) pizza and ice cream.
=======================
From Santiago we took another overnight Viazul bus to the city of Trinidad. Trinidad by comparison is a very quiet place but quite touristy on the other hand. Cobbled streets, souvenir shops, plenty of little bars and cafes and of course tour busses. Everything seems to be made for show, even the old chap riding a donkey who requires a donation for taking a picture of him. Despite all of that the town is very pleasant and it's easy to spend hours wandering up and down the little cobbled streets and doing noting.
Coupled with a very nice Ancona beach 16km down the road which is accessible by taxi, or our preferred method of transport - a rental push bike it's easy to see why so many tourist busses arrive here (and surprisingly it turned out to be nicest beach we visited in Cuba).
=====================
The next stop, only 70km from Trinidad was Cienfuegos. I's another larger city, but unlike Santiago very calm and quiet and so different from other cuban cities. Nicely restored, full of French architecture, including it's own version of the Arc de Triumph, it seems very much up market comparing to all other places we visited in Cuba and even the prices of almost everything a slightly higher that everywhere else. Pleasant enough though for a one or two day break, it's also a place vibrant with nightlife and music and it's a place where Bobby More was born.
======================
Varaderro, famous for it's all inclusive resorts and the best beaches in Cuba was our last stop, unfortunately it's like a cheap imitation of Cancun in Mexico. Except that it's not that cheap any more and it's a long way off the beaches of Cancun, Florida or even top European locations. As with a lot of such places it's seems to be the favorite of the young Russian - locals spoke better Russian than English here. Not our favorite to say the least but we try to make the best of our stay here - in all inclusive Melia Valadero resorts with sunbathing in the morning, attending dance lessons, taking Spanish classes and going for a bike rides.
Overall Cuba is a country quite unique in it's Communist admiration and split into the poverty and friendliness of it's local people and the wealth and greed that the tourist industry invariably brings. Well worth a visit before it completely looses it's character, but not our favorite destination. But we will never forget the honesty of the people, it's the only place we visited so far with drink and souvenir price remaining the same at top hotel and local shop (assuming you pay in convertibles CUC).
!!! Internet is not widely available, it can be accessed only at top hotels or ETECSA boots; foreigners need to show the passport in order to buy the internet card because the locals have supervised access to internet
!!! The government owns all the hotels in at least 51%; the small private sector was allowed to operate in 1996, and this was birth of the casa particulares (B&B - private rooms) but the government regulations are tough with max 2 rooms at the time allowed to be rented, no room rentals is allowed in the resort areas and heavy taxes (even when rooms are unoccupied)
!!! Restaurants are not so inviting in terms of food, ambience and staff looks extremely bored; the much better options is eating at the casa particulares or paladores (small private restaurant)
!!! we met more people begging for soap or pen than for money
!!! there seem to be two kinds of shops (like old times in Poland) - ones with some stuff on the shelfs where you have to pay in CUC and others with long queues accepting local pesos only
!!! cigars are widely available in the shops and on the street but unfortunately during our stay all the visits to tobacco factory (Havana and Pinar del Rio) were suspended; surprisingly we hardly seen any locals smoking cigar - if anyone it was tourist
show how to make the cigars in the cigar shop
USA embargo started during presidency of Kennedy, was response to nationalisation of banks, farms, electricity and oil companies by Fidel Castro (but before signing it Kennedy ordered 1000 cuban cigars). This means that there is no tourism exchange with Cuba, no flights between USA and Cuba, and there is no McDonnalds and no Coca Cola (it is replaced by similarly looking tuCola). Canada and Mexico resisted USA pressure and continue trading with Cuba. Today Cuba is mainly visited by French, Germans, Russian and Canadians.
Cuban Cola - tastes like Coca Cola and in our opinion the design is very similar
Jose Marti was hero of war of independence against Spain (1895-1898) and now in every town centre there is a street named after him. In 1898 US declares war on Spain, wins and US occupation of Cuba begins. Wary of raising nationalistic voices US gives Cuba choice - accept written by us constitution with the amendments giving us right to intervene and access to Guantamo Bay (and control over Panama Canal) or the occupation continues. So on 20 May 1902 the Cuba become republic and Batista president. This resulted in USA quickly getting control of most of the farmlands, mineral resources. Batista popularity is quickly disappearing so keep the power he staged the military coup few weeks before the election (Fidel Castro supposed to be standing for a presidency) and makes a deal with US mafia - he gives them carta blanche in return for a cut of their profit. Next year began The Cuban Revolution (1953-1959) lead by Fidel Castro with support his brother Raul and Camillo Cienfuego and Ernest 'Che' Guevara.
Today Che Guevera is present everywhere in Cuba (and Argentina and even in Camden Town in London) on the t-shirts, souvenirs and graffiti. He was Argentinean doctor that fought in Cuban Revolution and later hold ministry position for a few years, which he left to fight in Guatemalla and Bolivia. He was captured and killed (CIA was involved) at the age of 39 and then buried in unknown grave until his remain been returned to Cuba in 1997 and lay in Santa Clara.
Photos of Che on the Trinidad bus station
As most of the tourists arriving here we landed in Havana and spent the first 3 nights in the capital. Havana, like most major capital cities, is quite busy with traffic, although the Centro Historico is traffic free. The standard of living seems very poor for most people and even the top end hotels appear to be somewhat dated and run down. Our one (Raquel Hotel) was a prime example of some great historical building that despite the fact that was restored recently certainly wouldn't pass as a top end hotel anywhere in Europe. As with so many other government run establishments in Cuba the food was poor and the staff generally bored, although not unhelpful.
The biggest attraction of Havana are of course cuban cigars, good local rum (Havana Club) and hordes of 1960's american cars including Buicks, Pontiacs etc.
Capitol - copy of the one in Washington, unfortunately closed during our visit
Havana Libre hotel - originally Hilton but 6 months after opening it has been nationalised and Fidel Castro set up the headquarters on the top floor of the hotel. Today it still operates as a government run hotel but we didn't find it inviting.
An interesting city to visit but a couple of nights is certainly enough to savour the atmosphere and cultural attractions are somewhat limited including a few poorly furnished historical museums and some tourist focussed dance and music shows.
===================
From Havana, unlike most tourists, we took an overnight Viazul bus to a place called Baracoa, located right at the very opposite end of the island. The trip actually took over 18 hours but the bus was relatively comfortable and once we've settled into our El Castillo hotel located at a top of a hill with great views overlooking the town, we went exploring this peculiar small town.
welcome committee - on each bus station lots of people always waited for tourist offering them services (accommodation, taxi or tours)
View from our hotel
Baracoa turned out to be our favourite place in Cuba. The small town was originally the site of the first landing of Spanish in Cuba and the first settlement, but was divided from he rest of the island for ages by mountains and dense tropical forests until a mountain pass road was built in 1970s. The place is certainly different from any other place we've ever seen and it seems like the time has stopped there in 1950's or it's at least 50 years behind the rest of the world - almost no cars, horse carriages. Somehow, however, it retains it's charm and friendliness with hardly any touts (what a relieve) and this is the place where we had one of the best dinners ever at el Poet (and best drink - open mouth and they they will squeeze sugar cane and pour rum from the bottle)
Bici-taxi
It's surrounded by some great scenery to explore and people are very friendly and inviting, despite the fact of our very limited ability to communicate in Spanish. 7K walk around National Park Aleksander de Humboldt was like being in open air pharmacy - every tree had some medical use.
Cuba national flower - during the revolution women hidden the messages in the flowers and put them in the hair
sugar cane
The next stop on our trip was Santiago de Cuba - the second largest city in Cuba. It was a shock to the system arriving from a friendly and hassle-free Baracoa to the bustling, sweltering Santiago where you can't walk down the road without being hassled by people trying to make some cash on you. It's not that they are unfriendly or aggressive, but after a while it just gets too much and coupled with the heavy traffic of motorcycles and cars it makes every minute very intense. Needless to say we didn't enjoy the place too much, despite the fact that it's the fist place we we've learned to buy an eat local (made by and for the locals and paid for in local currency, rather then the convertible) pizza and ice cream.
our first local pizza purchased for peso national not CUC
camiones (truck) are cheap way to travel between the places
=======================
From Santiago we took another overnight Viazul bus to the city of Trinidad. Trinidad by comparison is a very quiet place but quite touristy on the other hand. Cobbled streets, souvenir shops, plenty of little bars and cafes and of course tour busses. Everything seems to be made for show, even the old chap riding a donkey who requires a donation for taking a picture of him. Despite all of that the town is very pleasant and it's easy to spend hours wandering up and down the little cobbled streets and doing noting.
in Cuba there is quite a lot of polish small fiats
Coupled with a very nice Ancona beach 16km down the road which is accessible by taxi, or our preferred method of transport - a rental push bike it's easy to see why so many tourist busses arrive here (and surprisingly it turned out to be nicest beach we visited in Cuba).
=====================
The next stop, only 70km from Trinidad was Cienfuegos. I's another larger city, but unlike Santiago very calm and quiet and so different from other cuban cities. Nicely restored, full of French architecture, including it's own version of the Arc de Triumph, it seems very much up market comparing to all other places we visited in Cuba and even the prices of almost everything a slightly higher that everywhere else. Pleasant enough though for a one or two day break, it's also a place vibrant with nightlife and music and it's a place where Bobby More was born.
As our Spanish was getting better and better and Mike was missing his cycling, he couldn't resist swapping places with bici-taxi driver
Arc de Triumph
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Varaderro, famous for it's all inclusive resorts and the best beaches in Cuba was our last stop, unfortunately it's like a cheap imitation of Cancun in Mexico. Except that it's not that cheap any more and it's a long way off the beaches of Cancun, Florida or even top European locations. As with a lot of such places it's seems to be the favorite of the young Russian - locals spoke better Russian than English here. Not our favorite to say the least but we try to make the best of our stay here - in all inclusive Melia Valadero resorts with sunbathing in the morning, attending dance lessons, taking Spanish classes and going for a bike rides.
Cubans really perfected the art of making unimaginable things from the towels. This was usually accompanied with the note wishing happy stay and not forgetting yo leave the tip.
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