Blogs from Trinidad, Centro, Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 5

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Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad August 11th 2009

World Heritage Site Trinidad - a fine, half-preserved town on the south Cribbean coast. Not sure what I was expecting, but this was a surprise; small, immensely peaceful and virtually no tourists...there are beautiful, ornate Portuguese-style houses, surrounded by wrought-iron grilles, sitting quietly on sunny empty streets. Walk past an open window and you'll see a still-life: an old rocker, wood smoothed over decades and decades of use, waiting for someone to warm it...a tiny market full of lace and cobbled streets full of people who smile rather than talk - none of the hustle and stridency of markets the world over... It was founded in 1514 by Valazquez and the architecture is a strange - but wonderful - mix of Moorish and Baroque (if that doesn't sound too bizarre!) a town of teracotta roofs and ... read more
Small town transport...
Trinidad from the top of the church
Fantastic building

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad August 8th 2009

We have had our 2 days getting 500km by different routes. James did it hard with 4 flats on the 1st day )150km) , 200km ) 9hrs23min biking time) on the autopas the next day and a cruisey 150km today in the heat. I got into town 3 hrs before and got a casa. He got to the town square at 4pm on the dot, well done. The two towns Chris stopped at had beatiful town squares with nice spanish buildings and Trinadad is the best at that. Quite beautiful. My bike suffered a bit of damage on the bus trip, broken spoke and not tolls for changing, removen hub. But it ran well today so it might be fine and I will look out for a mechinico. We are heading to the coast for a ... read more
carnival girls
093
carnival beer

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad August 7th 2009

The rest is over. We did a couple of 110km days out of the dry south east. Over the Sierra Maestrra´s . Thankfully not that high by road. Yesterday we started differnet routes to Trinidad. 450km away. James wanted to do 3 big days . I cycled to Bayamo ' historical town and stumbled acress the canervial. Vet cool but my bus to Stainti Spirtitus was at midnight so a long day after 70km to hang out. I drunk homebrew and roast pig. Been on a bus for 7 hrs overnight ) few hours sleep) . So I will stay here '' beatiful town square etc today and bile the 80km to Trinidad tomorrow. If I leave later I might see James on the way. Today he will be on the main route between Camaguey and ... read more
Cuba and Chile 09 Chris 069
Cuba and Chile 09 Chris 042
Cuba and Chile 09 Chris 077

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad January 22nd 2009

Hola amigos!!! Daa har vi forvilla oss inn i dette veldige merkelige Cubalandet. Vi veit egentlig ikkje heilt kva vi syns om Cuba enda. Synspunkta er veldig paa ytterpunkta, fraa heilt fantastisk til heilt forferdelig. Ingenting er midt paa tredet. Eg maa foerst seie at vi akkurat no befinne oss paa den einaste internettkafeen (trur eg) i Trinidad. Og den er treig. Internettet paa Navelsaker i glanstida mi i 1998 var ei fryd i forhold. So eg maa berre skuffe dokke alle, superfans: Ingen bilder idag! Men naar vi kjeme tilbake til sivilisasjonen (also vekk fraa Cuba), skal vi ha eit bildeshow som ikkje liknar grisen! Dokke kjeme til aa maatte sette av dagen for aa komme gjennom alt ;) So det er berre aa soeke om en flexidag om ei vekes tid. Tilbake til Cuba. ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad November 10th 2008

Ráno balíme a chystáme se vyrazit na Trinidad. Jindřichovi chybí kalhoty, spolu s našima ostatníma věcma se mu sušily na šňůře, ale teď mezi prádlem je teď nemá. Chlápek, co jsme s ním večer předtím pili tvrdí, ze je nemá a ať si všichni prohledáme bágly. Hádáme se s ním, az nakonec odejde k sobě a řekne, ze mu omylem zapadly za postel a omlouvá se. To určitě. Tak a rychle odsud. Před odjezdem z města si ještě prohlídneme muzeum rumu. Muzeum rumu o sobě z dálky dává slyšet alarmem, kterej řve na celou ulici. Obsluha ztratila pin a nemůzou to vypnout. V muzeu bylo k vidění pár flašek starejch kolem padesáti let a taky jedna lahev tuzemáku, kterou tam onehdá zanechal jakejsi českej turista. Proč ten nebozák vez tuzemák na Kubu je mi tedy záhadou. ... read more
Prodejci u silnice
Prodejci u silnice
Cukrova trtina

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad November 7th 2008

Jo must have been up early but I slept through until breakfast at 0800. We sorted out our bill with Elizabet and by 0900 we headed out to get information about a tourist train to Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills), only to find the train was out of service. Lonely Planet recommended the local train as an alternative but it too was broken - as was one of the bridges on the way to the valley - a result of the recent hurricanes. We found a travel agency that did half day CUC9 tours by van and signed up. We were collected 30 minutes later and headed northeast to Mirador de la Loma del Puerto, a lookout over the valley. The hurricane had destroyed alot of the vegetation but it was still ... read more
The Farmhouse
Rooster
Trinidad

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad November 6th 2008

Jo had a lousy night suffering from the heat and the bloke next door was snoring. I woke just before breakfast at 0800. Elizabet phoned ahead to Santa Clara for us to book with the person from Nicholas’ list for two nights and also showed us where we could buy a bag for our assorted market junk. We were nearing the end of our travels so carrying an extra bag was far less of a hassle. The bag cost CUC 11 and easily carried my humidor and cigars, our various trinkets and heavy clothes that the weather dictated were no longer required. It was already 1030 and we just had time for a 5 peso pizza (NZ0.20) each before we boarded the 1100 hop-on hop-off bus to Playa Ancon Beach 12km south of Trinidad on the ... read more
Jo dips her toes in the Caribbean
View from Ermita de Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria de la Popa
Our drunken friends

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad November 5th 2008

Jo was up early but even after my early night I slept through until breakfast at 0800. Elizabet and her mother continued with the great food with a breakfast of eggs, bread, fruits, gingerbread, coffee and orange juice. We left the house at 0900 and headed towards the market with a wallet full of CUCs - it was shopping day. There wasn’t a lot open at the ungodly early hour of 0900 but slowly stalls were set up and we did our first pass - getting an idea of what we wanted and some starting prices. The previous day we had found one of the few galleries in town that was owned by the artist (Gino and Isabella had recommended him) so we went back by his gallery but he was only just setting up. We ... read more
Jo in shopping paradise
Mandatory Che Berets
Old motorbike & sidecar

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad November 4th 2008

The bus somehow managed to get through the sea of touts and pulled into Trinidad at 0630. My own efforts to get through were not as successful despite a highly athletic Campo style goosestep/sidestep combo with backpack attached. All applicants for the job of casa supplier were unsuccessful as we had an address supplied by Nicholas in Havana for Marina and we were keen to get back on his “mates list” for accommodation. Jo was in charge of navigation on this occasion so we headed off 90 degrees in the wrong direction, walking confidently so as to shake off the few persistent touts. Fortunately for us one of them saw through the facade and pointed us in the right direction. Marina answered her door and explained that she was full but her friend down the road ... read more
Former Convent of San Francisco de Asis
View from Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Banditos
Jo at Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Banditos

Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Centro » Trinidad November 4th 2008

The road from Santa Clara to Trinidad is apparently the worst we would need to experince for the whole trip. This is good, because the road was seriously bad. I don´t think there are a lot of roadworks that go on. Perhaps it´s because there aren´t that many cars on the road? It is quite funny to see wide, major highways with no cars, or just one or two. It was quite a scenic drive and we stopped on a moutaintop lookout to have lunch. The Cuban landscape is quite stunning... very lush and green. We arrived in Trinidad late in the afternoon and were welcomed by the ´main house´host with a fabulous rum-based cocktail. It was so good we all asked for seconds. Have I mentioned that drinks here are super cheap? I bought 3 ... read more
Clean sand that goes on for miles. Warm Carribbean waters.  Sigh...  How lovely.




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