Off To Cienfuegos - By Self Drive Hire Car

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Geo: 22.1495, -80.4436

Time to move on and explore further afield. The first step was how get to Park Central with our bags. The taxis aren't keen to navigate the old town backstreets for such a small job so we decided Julie and the bags would go via rickshaw and I would walk the 20 minutes to the Rex Car Hire office behind the Iberostar Hotel. Sounds exciting but was really quite routine for travel around Havana. It really wasn't possible to drag the bags over the cobbled streets.

We had a relatively new Chinese made MG. Not quite an MGB GT but nonetheless good for the job. We didn't want anything that might break down in the wilderness. We used NAVMii to find our way out of the city and onto the motorway. Although the roads are empty we couldn't go too fast due to the dangers of the roads... huge potholes, horses, livestock, people, rogue motorbikes, break downs and all manner of vehicles that stop and manoeuvre in all manner of ways. We soon found that although there were few signs or road markings there was just enough to navigate by. After driving a few hours we decided to get off the beaten track and drive through the Bay of Pigs. We went through Playa Larga and Playa Giron where the USA invaded. There were a few banners and signs as well as a Revolution museum on the way. It was also our first view of the crystal clear Caribbean waters and sandy beaches. We pressed on and found our way to Ivan and Lilley at about 3pm. Bit tired.

On the way we sort of got scammed for 2cuc for a guide to take us the last 200mtrs to the door. He had and official guide badge for Cienfuegos. We guessed he made it himself!

The casa was brill. He'd converted his house into a perfect B&B. Unlike the Raquel there was hot water. A really really friendly welcome. Coffee on arrival and a grand tour of the house. We'd have absolutely no problem with recommending this place to anyone. Everything was authentic, from the hospitality to the rooms and food... a great experience and very comfortable too.

We decided to have a wonder around the town. There were typically old Spanish buildings and squares. All really pretty, very friendly and definitely worth a visit. We only had one night but saw as much as we could. We Had some dinner in a nice restaurant and then called it a day.

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