bay of pigs and playa giron

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It was a long day driving from Vinales in Western Cuba to Playa Giron.

We first had to negotiate some impressive potholes on the road from Vinales to the Autopista. The road was in a terrible state but some tourist buses were using it.

On the way to Vinales we had followed a farmer transporting a large pig in an old truck. It was easy to relax and follow the exact twists and turns of his vehicle to avoid damaging our hire car. This time I had to really concentrate!

Once we hit the autopista we travelled at a steady 100km/hour along a 3 lane highway towards Havana. There was just an occassional tourist bus (quite good condition) or local bus or lorries (in poor condition), belching out black diesel fumes.

It was important to watch out for farmers crossing the highway with horses, horse and carts or oxen and carts.

We arrived at the outskirts of Havana and got lost, mainly due to an absence of any direction signs, but finally made it on to the main highway to the East of Cuba.

There was even less traffic on this route. We stopped for a cheese sandwich at the Cuban equivalent of a motorway service station.There were very few customers at the small roadside cafe. We gave the "parquadero" man a few centavos for "looking after" our car and "helping us to park it safely!"

Eventually we turned off the main highway and drove through "Australia". This was a small Cuban village. Then it was southwards to the Bay of Pigs and Playa Giron. Along the road were many graves of soldiers who had fallen during the bay of pigs invasion.

Our "all inclusive" hotel at Playa Giron was an experience to remember. The hotel had a huge complex of chalet style accommodation. The internal decor was faded and the external structure was crumbling! Half of the chalets were boarded up and the hotel occupancy seemed very low! However we had some basic amenities.

The location was excellent with sea views, there was a nice swimming pool and grassy areas, palm trees and a beach. This helped to make up for a disappointing stay.

This was our first ever experience of "all inclusive" and this is not really our favoured choice. The food was variable, from poor to abysmal but the free drinks of beer and rum cocktails were ok.

We were able to have good walks around the site and along the coastline and saw some nice birds. The snorkelling nearby was superb.

Breakfast each day was appalling. there were no eggs and several buffet style dishes were inedible, including chopped up hot dog sausages. Evening meals were no better with truly awful food on offer.

We managed to survive by eating some bread and butter and a little fruit. We were able to drive for an hour to a restaurant nearby. We saw a humming bird that made our day and had a really good meal.

After 3 nights at one of the worst hotels we have ever stayed in we checked out of our concrete box. It was so bad we really had some good laughs at how bad it was.

As we departed I reported a water pipe burst to the management - I am still looking for leaks even when retired!

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Comments

[Michelle Cavanagh]

Awful travel tales!
They certainly make good dinner party conversation at a later date!! And, as you say, you need to keep your sense of humour! M xx