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Published: March 3rd 2008
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Cigar
Sam enjoying his first Cuban cigar. Viva Cuba! Our general observations...
Cuba is a really interesting place. It is still very communist - everyone seems to have a similar standard of living, so there are no flash houses and no slums... but much of the housing is fairly crowded and dilapidated. In the newer suburbs all the apartment towers appear identical.
The cars are cool. Typically, people talk about how there are heaps of old American cars, but we found that most of the cars are Ladas... Go the Soviets!! The classic American cars mostly sounded like tractors, so I think the original engines (and a lot of the original charm) is long gone.
Havana has a really cool local vibe - unlike other cities, the whole city is lived in, including the old, touristy parts of the city. Also, it seems that hardly anything new has been built in central Havana since Fidel came on the scene, so there are heaps of really cool buildings to check out.
Now you may think we had our heads in the sand, but randomly, we didn't find out about Fidel's resignation until we arrived in Scotland, despite being in central Havana on the day it
happened. It's pretty crazy given the global significance and political history of his leadership... Which leads to our biggest surprise in Cuba, being the apparent lack of personal fredom. Every main road has numerous police check points, as it seems that Cubans need state permission to move around the country. Our first hand example of this was when we asked one of the Cuban guys we were staying with for a lift to the airport - he declined because drivers not in an official state taxi could be arrested for unofficial entry into the airport grounds...
Playas del este
We arrived at Havana airport in the morning and headed out to Havana's eastern beaches to get some sun and relaxation...On arrival we were greeted by a few large communist 'holiday' blocks and a green swimming pool equiped with a super loud sound system pumping Cuban pop music. While the beach was nice, we decided to head a bit further east to to check out Varadero (a well known beach resort town) and commence a more traditional honeymoon at a resort.
Varadero
We arrived in Varadero and headed straight to what our Rough Guide told us was
Resort
This is the beach resort we were staying at in Varadero a great place that didn't cost the earth, and it was totally awes :o) The best part: All meals and drinks were included!!
We ended up spending eight nights at Varadero enjoying the sun, sand, drinks and food. Naturally, we got our monies worth at the bar and got amongst some tasty cigars (with the help of a friendly Canadian cigar connoisseur). Sam also managed a couple of dives in the nearby Bay of Pigs. We absolutely loved it - we left Varadero completely refreshed, tanned, and ready to experience Havana.
La Habana (Havana)
Havana is a really cool city. Many of the buildings are under-maintained, which adds to its character, but it seems that tourism is bringing money and interest to the city which is resulting in a lot of restoration. Habana Veija (Old Havana) has recieved most of the restoration and is the main tourist area. We found that it was really cool, but that the nearby waterfront and central park were great places and felt a little less touristy.
While in Havana we spent an afternoon looking around the Museum of the Revolution. It was a really interesting experience, there was a wide
range of bits and pieces from Cuba's history, including a full description (with diagrams) of how Fidel defeated the American's 'mercinary pirates' at the Bay of Pigs...The museum also included a random collection of photos of North Korea's Kim Jong II with no explanation?
We stayed at a casa particular, which is a private house kind of like a B and B. It was awes! And a cool way to get amongst with the locals. We were staying in an really cool art deco place that had been really well maintained, and seemed to include the original furnishings.
Pinar del Rio
Pinar del Rio is known to have the most stunning scenery in Cuba so we went on a day tour to check it out (we contemplated hiring a car and visiting it ourselves - and then realised it would be a totally frightful experience negotiating the 'road rules'!) The mountain ranges were very scenic, and definitely worth seeing and we also visited some Indian caves. We also visited a cigar factory, which was fascinating... the workers sat in long rows of small wooden desks and hand-made each cigar, whilst being watched by many security personnel. There
was also a bulletin board for the workers to provide their own posters and statements about how great Fidel and the revolution is. Hmmm, the factory was a real eye opener into Cuban work conditions.
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Chris
non-member comment
I just about fell out of my chair laughing at that picture of sam with a cigar in his mouth... very distinguished. if classy cigar smoking is a prerequisite for a good communist dictator, i think you may be in with a chance.... i hear theres a recent vacancy. you went diving at the bay of pigs? was there any reminants of the failed coup attemp that bears the name? send me a bobblehead dashboard hula girl. its cold and rainy in mangatainoka, i sold my personal ozone hole generator and bought a cool little citroen (like lady perge, but cooler, it has a racing stripe). life is good here.