Blogs from Oeste, Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 14

Walking around the streets of Old Havana, it feels like the city has not changed in a long time. The majority of the wonderfully architectured buildings have not seen a coat of paint, let alone any maintenance in decades, whilst the potholed streets have piles of rubble and debris that has fallen from above, and the sound of salsa bands and old men playing domino's echoes from within the hollow buildings. If the street is large enough, then an American Yank Tank from the 50's will roar past full of big Cuban men with their arms firmly planted on the open windows, trying to let in any cool air from the oppressive heat. If it is a small street then expect to see a motorbike with sidecar splutter past, or a bicycle tuk tuk painted in ... read more

When planning my trip to Cuba, I was concerned about spending too many days in La Habana. I don't care much for most big Latin American cities but my friend Tracy was pushing to spend three nights in Havana and then one more before leaving the country. We actually enjoyed the capital so much that we ended up leaving the Cienfuegos / Trinidad area a day early to get more time there. It might be the most interesting and entertaining city I've ever visited. We still didn't end up seeing everything we'd hoped to, so it could be necessary to spend about a week in Havana to do it properly. What distinguishes Havana is that it lacks all of the qualities that make many Latin American cities challenging. Most are loud, dirty, dangerous, and difficult to ... read more

April 10Met David for our old Havana (Havana Vieja) walking tour, we had saved the best part of Havana till last - lots of grand old buildings from the days when Cuba was wealthy, and amazing architecture. After the tour, we said farewell to Gabrielle :-( then the girls had liqueur coffee and cake at La Escorial cafe in the plaza,while the boys went to the Boutique Brewery opposite! (not Scarlett and Nathan of course!). Went up to the Camera Obscura, which gives a live 360 birds eye view of the city, complete with a hilarious commentary! Did a bit of souvenir shopping along the pedestrian mall, then wandered up to Parque Central for a snack. Rained heavily early evening, just when we were heading out for our final group dinner, it was a traditional Cuban ... read more

This February my family took a vacation to Cuba. My dad planned this one, so it was a holiday to a resort with the purpose of snoozing on the beach all day and drinking lots of beer. This is not my ideal type of vacation but it was still a nice getaway with perfect weather and nice facilities. Locals comment that Varadero isn't Cuba, it's tourist. I would agree. It is a nice town and the people are friendly, but they all have something to sell you. My favorite part of the town was their little museum. Its an old beach house tucked in at the end of the street with a big wrap around balcony that overlooks the ocean. The lady working there didn't speak english and the displays were all in spanish, which was ... read more

We have been back home for a few days, celebrating Christmas, and on December 28th we took a long and turbulent flight to Havana. Most of time Zoe was scared during the flight. We arrived in Havana airport, it took Gyanendra for some time to get in. It seems they have never seen a Nepalese tourist before. We spent one day in Havana, walking around the atmospheric streets for hours. It is the first non-european city we see which is not extremely chaotic and nice to stroll around (and easy to find your way!). There are also no "no-go" neighborhoods and we didn't feel unsafe for a second (not only in Havana but in the whole country). The next day we shared a taxi with two other tourists (because the busses were fully booked) to Trinidad, ... read more