Hasta Cuba Siempre! Part 2: On the (bumpy) road
The better part of my week in Cuba was spent touring about half of the island (in reality only three other towns). First off, let me say the roads are awful! Even the national highway is riddled with potholes, and we had a weaving driver (playing with the steering wheel) so the bus would sway from side to side as well as up and down, plus the sudden stops for speed bumps, not to mention all the horse and carts (yes, still a major form of transport in Cuba)! Many of us were quite carsick, especially the longest day where we were 7 hours in the bus.
Our first stop was a botanical garden in Soroa on the way to Viñales. It was quite beautiful, on a small hill, and had many orchids.
At Viñales, we stayed in a homestay. The town is riddled with these privately run homes - essentially renting out spare bedrooms. Our lovely hosts Lydia and José Alberto's two children had grown up and left home (and had their own families) so they now rented out these two rooms. I stayed in one, and my lovely house companions staying in the other room were the two Bente's from Norway (yes, they had the same first name!). We had a lovely evening sitting on the rocking chairs on the porch and drinking their Jägermeister liquor and smoking our cuban cigars!
Lydia cooked up a magnificent feast for our dinner, as well as a splendid breakfast. It seemed we were having multiple showers a day, but that was partly the long walk in the valley to the tobacco farm (where we bought above mentioned cigars), as well as the salsa dancing lesson. That was fun, and I was a little pleased when the dance teacher whispered in my ear that I was the best learner in the group!
We went on a tour in the afternoon to some of the local sights, including a large mural painted on the side of a mountain, a cave with a river where they took us along it in a small boat, and a lookout over the valley where Viñales is located. It has limestone mountains around it which is reminsicent of parts of China and Vietnam.
Our next stop was Trinidad - which is located near the coast and is a colonial town originally built on the wealth of slavery and sugarcane plantations (now all gone). It had treacherous cobblestones to walk on, but gorgeous buildings. I took many photos, but will only include the famous view that I saw on all the postcards - a miracle to not have bus loads of tourists in the shot!!!
Our group leader was great in explaining some very Cuban practices to us - like how the ration book and grocery stores work (see the Blog Gallery for a picture of one). In return for letting us take over their shop for a few minutes, we offer pens to them - yes, pens. They are really appreciative of biros!
But the amazing thing about Trinidad was that the daily business hasn't changed in centuries. You are woken up by the clip clop of horses and the cries of men selling their wares. There are not many places left in the world where this still happens.
On our way between Trinidad and Cienfuegos we stopped at Santa Clara - famous for the battle that Che Guevara lead against Batista's army and the decisive one in the rebels winning. There is a memorial there with his remains. I enjoyed the museum and would have liked more time there, but ever onwards... (I at least leave you with the monument's statue of Che as an older man, had he lived, as the key photo for this blog entry!).
... to Cienfuegos, a town founded by the French escaping Haiti's revolution. It has very grand buildings, as well as a lovely boulevard that everyone strolls along to the seafront while eating icecreams.
Our hotel was at the end of the peninsula with great views of the Moorish Palace that was abandoned by the family that owned it after the revolution. It has been kept in the same state for over 50 years, and looks like a little Alhambra inside. We were only one night in Cienfuegos before returning to Havana - but there was a lovely sunset (and indeed lovely weather the whole week) that finished off our travels. See my snap in the Blog gallery.
Well, that was a bit of a whirlwind tour, but I really need to get to bed, as I have a 5am taxi pickup to travel to NYC tomorrow. I predict another long day of waiting in airports tomorrow... but then a week in NYC which will be a welcome change.
Cheers for now, Aveline. xxx
