I have returned!
Well I'm back. Cream crackered, but thoroughly relaxed and feeling very lathargic. What a wonderful long 3 weeks. I wish I was still away, but to be honest it does actually feel good to be home!
Cuba is an awesome awesome place. It is completely different to anywhere else I've been. The people are so friendly, the music and nightlife is awesome, the scenery and diversity of the land is mind blowing, the beaches are idyllic, the hustlers (jineteros) are a pain but are easily shooed away after a gentle friendly chat, and the women can shake their very fine asses in a way that lures you more than it should. Fortunately Roz was carried away in the moment and shaking hers too
(i.e. I wasn't being too obvious....
) Gilly would love it there just for the fact that they LOVE dancing, and the women can dance!
We arrived in Havana, and somehow got upgraded to one of the top 5* hotels called Parque Central - which was nice! We proceeded the next day to get hustled and cocked up and hence changing $100 US to stupid monopoly money (Pesos) instead of the proper currency (Convertibles), that was a bit of a bummer.... Ah well we got over that and got into the swing of things, spent about 6 hours walking round havana that day, managing to give myself minor sun stroke (I forgot my hat in the UK.... and I'm going thin on top - oops!). A few more days exploring havana whilst enjoying the luxury of our hotel was a nice way to get the holiday started.
We then headed off by bus to Cienfuegos 4.5hrs drive SE from Havana where we stayed in a very friendly casa particular. The husband had served with Castro and Che so we had fascinating evenings chatting about it all - what a character he is! Cienfuegos is very small compared to Havana but boy does it have a lot of history and culture. We had arrived in the middle of the "festivals of books", lots of parades, music and too much rum drinking. (Rum is drunk like water over there... it's great!) There's a lot of history in Cienfugeos (like there is everywhere in cuba really) there is also some amazing scenery in the provinces. We took a trip to a lake, and farming village up in the mountains - I had to fold myself in half to fit into the "taxi" that our friends hard organised for us. It was a Lada of some kind... almost like the Zaz in goldeneye!!
Politics is high on the agenda of conversations with the locals, but only in private. Publically they must all love the government and Fidel etc... however privately if they trust you and there are no loyalists eavesdropping you will discover that actually there is a lot of discontent now for the current way things are going. There is so much anti-US propoganda (I have taken pictures) and the musems do leave you feeling a bit shocked - however one must try to remain objective. However the US still have an embargo (an illegal one) on Cuba, and refuse to trade, send food, medicine and any other dealings with cuba all together. A US citizen who is caught going to cuba will get fined up to $250,000 and could lose his home and be imprisoned! It's that bad!
They have ration cards and are allowed a very strict amount of food per person per month. It's all really well run, and a lot of the government institutions are run efficiently and fairly. However it is still a shocking way to get by - the cost of living in Cuba is a lot higher than it should be. However people home's are beautiful and spacious - if a little derelict. To compare poverty, over here in the UK a poor man will probably have eaten chocolate, but not have a roof over his head - in Cuba, a poor man will have a home, but will probably never taste chocolate in his life. It's a funny contrast but it does highlight a big difference. Cuba isn't poor - at least not socially and culturally. They litterally love their music, their friends, comrades and have a very laid back attitude to life - however they do face a very uncertain direction - they feel a little stuck in the middle of a grey spot as to where they are going as a country, as a people. A common phrase when talking about any strife is "no es facil" - it's not easy... it is a sentence closely associated with their work, life, income etc...
Trinidad was our next stop where we spent a decent time there. Here the vibe is definitely more touristy, but the music events are awesome. There is also a nightclub in a cave which is an amazing venue. When there isn't classical salsa music, reggaeton music fills the streets. Bicycle taxi things usually have tunes blaring out of them (gasolina seems to be popular) - but that very obvious hiphop-cum-reggae-cum-salsa beat is easily recogniseable and you can't help but want to bop your head to it or get up and dance. There is a fantastic beach called "playa ancon" which is well worth disappearing to for a few days of beatiful beach time - taking a "coco taxi" is the way to do it; a fiberglass shell, travelling on a tricycle with and engine the my washing machine could outperform! Trinidad is the place for a big night out and lots of funky music (away from Havana of course). As ever there's lots of history to see, and amazing squares, and buildings.
Cuba is probably one of the safest and least corrupt places I have been to in a long time. The culture shock of seeing a cop embrace a friend, or lighting a cigar for a passerby is incredible. I shall miss the music in every street corner... I shall miss the dancing. The cigar smoke, the classic american and russian cars which spew horrible black clouds, the sight of a car jacked up or a cuban man investigating the innards of his engine bay trying to get it to start again. I shall miss the fresh fruit and vegetables, the lobster and fresh fish. I shall miss the pearly white sandy beaches and the sunshine. I shall miss the friendly smiles of people you pass in the streets, the people who will share their homes and stories with you. I shall miss the beautiful colonial buildings, and the multicolour paint schemes on the houses down little cobbled streets. I shall miss the hitchikers (very common practice in cuba as the public transport system isn't the most reliable) and their stories and how they litter the underpasses of motorways!
Casa particulares are the best way of staying around and visiting cuba. For a start it's cheaper, and you get to spend time with lovely, diverse and interesting cuban families - you literally rent a room in their house. They will often offer food, and from experience the food is excellent. Typical creolle food: rice & beans (made in an amazing and more-ish sauce), deep fried thin slices of bananas (sound gross, but actually it's delicious), pork, chicken, fish - if you're lucky lobster and shrimp. They love their fried foods there - especially chicken! Anyway, you get to chat to the families and they can recommend places to visit, get you cheaper ways of seeing things, organise tours for you and so on. Being able to speak Spanish is a lifesaver - some people speak extraordinarily good english, however I would not rely on this fact. Fortunately Roz is fluent, and my spanish can hold it's own pretty well. Beside I felt less like a useless tourist that way!!!
Casas particulares are licenced by the government and the owners of the houses have to conform to strict regulations and guidelines. Furthermore they have to pay $210 (covertibles) per month to retain their licence. The government is trying to phase them out or no give out any new licences as they feel that people who run such houses are living a better quality of life as a result and it is unfair on families that don't have the ability of offering a room. Room prices and rates do vary, as do the quality of the rooms. For example "hot water" is a feature that is advertised, as well as "private bathroom" - I wouldn't stay in a hotel over any of the casas we stayed in though. It's hardly sleeping rough, in fact I often felt spoilt!
Another way to taste authentic food is a "paladar" which is once again a licenced premises for selling food in a restaurant style which is again, someone's home (usually backyard, or front room). Legally they are only allowed to have 12 people, but often the usher people to the backyard to increase their quotas. Legally they cannot serve you lobster or beef as they can only be sold by state run restaurants. Paladares are fabulous, and the food is often tremendous - however it's a tough gamble between eating in a casa or a paladar - they are both similar in quality, but the paladar may be a bit more expensive, however of course, you get a bit of diversity in cooking styles if you explore a bit.
There's a lot of rule bending in cuba, but not in a way which corrupts or destroys the authority or the laws. For example, tourists cannot ride on horse drawn carriages (Which are everywhere) or coco taxis, or a lot of unlicenced or "private" taxis... there are a lot more of these rules. Lobster and beef can only be served in state-run restaurants (which tend to be over priced in my opinion) as well as typical menus, but there will often be places which will turn a blind eye. Staying in an unlicenced casa is also common, but it is at the owner's risk - he could lose his home and get fined a 000's - the tourists wouldn't have any problems. We stayed in one in our last days in havana - it was a friend of one of the casas we stayed with - to be honest, it was perfect. Selling cigars on the cheap is also common - though NEVER by them on the street as they are made from the dregs - they may look nice, but having tried one I can assure you they are crap.
Wow I don't have digress do I?! Anyway after a lazy séjour in Trinidad we hooked our way up to Vinales right on the west of the island. A tiny town in a valley surrounded by huge hills and "mogotes" which are massive chunks of limestone formations almost mountain like. Most of them have underground rivers flowing through them. I have pictures, but not yet! Vinales is a lazy place, and a scenic one at that, a complete contrast in character to the other towns.
After a few days here it was time to head back to Havana where we did more visiting (there's so much to see) a bit of beaching at Playa del Este and we spent a day at Varadero just to see what the fuss is about - I must say it is beautiful (beach wise - otherwise it's a place full of resorts and is pretty lifeless until you get into the main town where the cubans live!).
There's an amazing array of cuban type of people too. From european looking to hispanic/latin to very african looking. Thing is if you had to define a "race" for cubans you couldn't - as soon as the african slaves were integrated into society during revolucionary periods the bloodlines were well and truly mixed by then. It is a wonderful mix, but so typical of the region. There is no racism at all in cuba.
I heartily recommend to anyone who is interested in a bit of an adventure holiday to give it a thought. Furthermore not just to go there for a beach/resort holiday - there is so much to see and so much to do. Cuba isn't cuba if you don't meet the people and spend time with them and get lost in the environment. To understand cuba you have to become almost part of the people - it's a strange deep, almost drug-tranced comment to make, but I don't know how else to describe it really.
As soon as the photos are developped I shall post them up to share. I just hope they have come out well!! Right I'm going to get back to my jetlag, and my cigar, and just sit and watch the world go buy.... until I have to go back to work tomorrow....
I can't be bothered to take my rig all the way there 
