A Week in Cuba
One of the first quotes we read describing Cuba was: "A country as frustrating as it is intriguing", which is the perfect way to describe this island nation. Communism can really deter one going the extra mile at work and this is visible across Cuba. From servers to bartenders, and doctors to cigar makers. When the the playing fields are always even and the government constantly has their sticky fingers in its peoples pockets, it obviously constricts a country's growth and forward advancement. When taxi drivers make more in a day than doctors do in a month alarm bells should be sounding.
On the surface, as a visitor, Cuba seems like a dream holiday destination. With landscaped gardens and polished walk ways, rustic cafes, bars and beautiful restaurants littering the historic centres, Cuba seems to be thriving and hospitable. The problem is, however, that a lot of people don't get out of these tourist traps. Venturing only a few blocks away from the centre of Old Havana you can get a glimpse of how Cubans really live. Home wifi is almost non-existent, so masses of people gather on their mobile phones in the few public squares that provide access (with a pre-purchased internet code). The concept of a grocery store is also foreign. The few stores that do exist contain next to no fresh food, and only a variety of alcohol, drinks, and a few non-perishables. Visiting outside the Old City might be uncomfortable for some, as everything is raw and visible. We had some of our best meals here however, at a cost of about $1.25 vs the $20 you would pay for the same thing in the tourist area.
Because there is no internet readily available (unless you are staying somewhere a bit fancier that does include it), making travel plans can be complicated. We stayed in Casa Particulars (basically people's houses that they have renovated to have guest rooms), so we relied a lot on the advice of the owners we stayed with. It is possible to book an AirBnB, but you need to do this before you arrive in the country. There is a local bus company , Viazul, that does provide transport between most major cities. The prices are slightly less than the taxi/shared cars, but we found that the cost and hassle of getting a taxi to and from the bus stations, vs being picked up and dropped off right at your accommodation, made it a less attractive option. Travel isn't cheap in Cuba, so it is worth understanding where you want to visit and minimizing the trips you need to make to cover that ground.
Because there is no internet readily available (unless you are staying somewhere a bit fancier that does include it), making travel plans can be complicated. We stayed in Casa Particulars (basically people's houses that they have renovated to have guest rooms), so we relied a lot on the advice of the owners we stayed with. It is possible to book an AirBnB, but you need to do this before you arrive in the country. There is a local bus company , Viazul, that does provide transport between most major cities. The prices are slightly less than the taxi/shared cars, but we found that the cost and hassle of getting a taxi to and from the bus stations, vs being picked up and dropped off right at your accommodation, made it a less attractive option. Travel isn't cheap in Cuba, so it is worth understanding where you want to visit and minimizing the trips you need to make to cover that ground.
We began and ended our trip in Havana. Our favourite thing to do here was walking the streets and people watching. Everyone always comments on the old cars, and it's impossible not to since they line the streets waiting for tourists. There is a sharp contrast between the touristic old city and the real areas that people live. Make sure you have cash on you, as using the ATMs can be an adventure of its own (that's a whole other story!). There are actually two currencies used in Cuba, one by tourists (CUC) and one by locals (CUP). If you stick to the tourist areas you likely won't see anything except CUC, but if you go to a local restaurant the prices will likely be in CUP. You can usually still pay in CUC, but you will likely get a poor exchange rate (1CUC is equal to 1 USD. 1 CUC should be about 25 CUP).
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A few things we really enjoyed in Havana were the Camera Obscura in Plaza Vieja, walking along the water near the Castillo de la Real Fuerza and the area around El Capitolio. The best thing you can do is grab a map and wander. You will stumble across so many interesting sights. If you are planning to visit a cigar factory in the city, do your reserach. We walked into Partagas Cigar Factory as they were starting an English tour, but they would not (or could not) sell us tickets, because you could only buy tickets at hotels in the Old City. This seemed very odd to us since we were standing in the factory, with money to buy a ticket, and were refused entry.
Through our Casa in Havana, we booked a shared taxi car to take us next to Vinales. We arrived and were greeted by our Casa family, who were lovely and welcoming. Vinales has so much to offer, in a small town with a more relaxed vibe than Havana. There is one main street in town and the prices are much cheaper than Havana, especially drinks. It was easy to find a 1 CUC happy hour (about 1 USD) for mojitos and cuba libres. We ate, we drank, and we explored by foot. There are a lot of tours on offer in Vinales, but we decided to just venture into the countryside with the help from our MapsMe map (which was pretty accurate, but not entirely). We stopped in at one of the several Fincas that offered us a cigar tour and rolling demonstration. We loved it here and could have easily spent a few more days.
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While in Vinales, we weren't really sure where to head to next. We had several conversations with our Casa hosts, and they highly recommended the tiny town of Soroa (it is where the mother and father spent their honeymoon). We decided to stop by for one night on our way East, and took a shared taxi. Soroa was...an experience. If you are heading here, I would highly recommend having a car. We quickly found out there was no way to get a shared taxi onward, but lucked out by meeting an awesome couple that was staying in our Casa and heading East the next morning. We walked the small main street, stopped in to see the "waterfall" and swimming holes (there wasn't much water at this time of year so the water levels were very low) and then walked back to our Casa. There is a hotel with a pool that you can pay to use, but we opted to spend the afternoon in the lovely garden at our Casa instead. There is NO food available in this town, except at the Casas and hotel. There is no grocery store, so if you don't want to buy all your meals you need to bring food with you.
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We headed East on the way to Trinidad, but made a few stops along the way (the joy of having a hire car!). We first detoured to an old, abandoned Angerona Coffee Plantation. We didn't have a guide, and didn't speak great Spanish, so only understood some of what the lovely older man at the house told us. We walked around the ruins and read about the history of the site in a guide book to try to get a better sense.
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About 2.5 hours outside of Trinidad, we stopped at a weird animal fair park in the small township of Australia. Our reason for stopping- guinea pig roulette. As most gambling is illegal in Cuba, this seemed like too odd of an experience to pass up. The actual "fair" has little to offer aside from a bathroom and a decent cup of coffee...and of course your chance to bet on which house Fifi the guinea pig will run into. After the spin is over, and Fifi is in a house (all of which takes about 3 seconds), you feel a bit bad for Fifi and wonder how many times a day she needs to do this.
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Our final city visited was Trinidad. It was a long travel day from Soroa and then another long day in the car on our way back to Havana to get our flight to Canada. But it was a beautiful city. Again we explored on mostly on foot and enjoyed some downtime during a downpour. Head to Plaza Mayor to people watch, see the beautiful historical buildings and catch some local music.
In hindsight, for a shorter trip in Cuba we would probably stick to the West side or East side instead of trying to cover off so much ground. Like everything in Cuba, travel takes time and the cars you are in aren't often the most comfortable. We probably would have also chosen a more relaxing final week for our 53rd week of consecutive travel. But it was a great way to close our one year around-the-world trip. |
Questions about travelling in Cuba? Email us and we will be happy to help!