Blogs from Centro, Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 8

We got up early this morning and enjoyed some nice breakfast. It was great to wake up in a hotel in the middle of a forest, opening the window and seeing the beautiful flowers and plants. And we learned why it is called rainforest. On our way down from the mountains, the weather got better and the sun was actually coming out. We arrived in Trinidad before noon. Trinidad is UNESCO world heritage and in my opinion the most beautiful city in Cuba. We walked through the whole innercity and we went up the tower of the Ignesia y Convento de San Francisco, from where we could see the whole innercity. Later we visited the inside of the church and afterwards drove out of the city to an old sugar plantation. There we were able to ... read more

"Ma slina hneda od tabaku, je dnes posledni ..." ... v usich mi znela tahle pisnicka, kdyz po umornem temer jedenactihodinovem letu z Parize nas Boeing dosedal do setmele Havany. "Ted bude kolem nekolik dni jen more a ja ... se necham prenest pres obratnik ..." pisnicka pokracovala ... a me se plnil dalsi cestovatelsky sen ... videt, pripomenout si a prozit znovu obrazy ze sveho detstvi v komunisticke zemi, nastesti uz jen na Kube, tak daleko od meho domova. La Habana Obraz prvni: Havana poprve. Tolikrat omilana celni a pasova kontrola na havanskem letisti, nesouci nazev hrdeho kubanskeho 160cm vysokeho velikana Jose Martiho, probehla bez problemu a uz se na nas lepilo obleceni ... konecne palmy a tropicke vlhko na nejvetsim ostrove Malých Antil. Na letisti nas dle planu vyzvedl Raydal, jak jsme pozdeji zjistili ... read more

Just like someone clapped their hands together, the humidity suddenly broke as we arrived into the city of Camaguey. Cool and breezy, I figured a nice stroll around the town to get my bearings before the sun dropped behind the buildings would be a good idea. I walked about three blocks before I realized, maybe not. As I was staring blankly at my trusty map trying to figure out the general direction of one of the town squares, a local man approached me smiling and said Camaguey was like taking a dinner plate and smashing it on the ground. He pointed at my map. See how the pieces look? All scattered? His toothy, well weathered grin, knowingly proud. This is Camaguey. He wishes me luck before limping away. Suddenly my map looks like a broken dinner ... read more

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

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