Living la vida cubana!

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While studying spanish in Cabarete we had a week off now and then. During one of the weeks my friend Susann and I decided to go to Cuba to explore one of the last communist countries in the world.
We left Cabarete early the 23th of october. Our plane left from Santo Doming (5hour bussride away). We arrived the airport exited to go to Cuba, but we was met by a big neonsign telling us that the flight to Habana was cancelled. The reason was Wilma, she had decided to pay Habana a visit the same day. A friend from Santo Domingo, Juan Carlos, picked us up at the airport and we spent the evening with him. The day, which had started pretty bad developed to be a very good day after all. The next day Habana was once again ready to welcome travelers.
We spent our two first days in Habana, after a taxiguy diched us and we missed the buss to Trinidad. In Habana we mostly wanderd around in the old city. And wow! Habana has so much history and so many beautiful old buildings, churches and sculptures. It was a beautiful city, a lot different from what I had expected. We also met two cuban guys, they followed us around and showed us a lot of things we wouldnt have found on our own. So I guess being ripped off was worth it! Moral: Dont trust englishspeaking cubans, there is a reason they speak english;)
On our third day we went to Trinidad, about 5 hour bussride. Trinidad was a very nice and cute little city. The houses were painted in different colors and the streets were made of stones (hehe... i dont know how to say that in english, in norwegian: brosteinsgater:)). We also spent some hours on the beach here, as the weather was nice and the beach not too far away. Trinidad was a very calm and relaxing little place well worth to see.
We spent our third and our forth day in Trinidad and on our fifth day we went back to Habana. I forgot to mention that we lived in Habanas best Casa Particular while staying there. A casa particular is a normal cuban home which rents out one or two bedrooms. And our was the best. The woman we rented from was a great cook and hostess. We even went out to dance salsa one night with her son-in-law and the other spanish señor renting a room there. We had a great night. The reason we went out with them was because of all the unwanted attention we got in Habana as white girls and tourists. It felt safer for us to go out in the company of two protectors;)
So on our seventh day we went back to the airport. On the airport we met two american guys whom we later spent a lot of hours of waiting with. The plane kept on getting more and more delayed and after around seven hours of waiting also this plane was cancelled. This time because of technical problems. in the end it got the decided that the airline payed for a night in a hotel. We didn't expect much, but this was a nice hotel! A five star all-inclusive hotel. It is probably the nicest hotel i've ever stayed in. We even had a pillow-menu. 5 different to choose among:) And Susann and I spent our last money on roomservice! The next day we left Cuba and arrived Santo Domingo.

A few traveling advices for those who want to go to Cuba:
1. Live in a Casa Particular. Its absolutely the cheapest and the best standard accomodation.
2. Bring your own snacks! supermarkets are non-exicting on Cuba.
3. Pirattaxis are alot cheaper than taxis. And hichhiking is also a good way to travel as this is a very much used and relatively safe way to travel on Cuba.
4. Eat at your casa particular. Food is a funny experience here. And the standard and prices are best in cuban homes.
5. Get to know the locals, but expect to get ripped off. Remember that it is still communism there. If they have anything to share, they will. But they expect you to act likewise:)

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