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Cuba is truly a unique place on the planet. So much history of it's inhabitants being screwed over by outsiders. The Revolution. Castro. The Mariel airlift. The American blockade. 50 years of stable, socialist government.
I just spent 3 weeks there, backpacking around by bus and staying in casa particulars (rooms in private houses). I kept away from air conditioning, bottled water and restaurants.
I did a lot of advance reading. I had lots of expectations. I was quite surprised with conditions on the ground. I had travelled in hot, 3rd world countries before, where English is definitely not prevalent. All in all, Cuba was harder to get around that I expected. Oh yeah. I'm also not in my 20's anymore. It was an amazing trip. I am extremely glad I went.
My overall impression: With 50 years of stable government and it's location, resources and weather, Cuba should be doing better that what I saw. Yes, there is a base, minimum standard of life that is higher than the countries around it (basic health, food rations, education, electricity), but the average standard of living was still quite a bit below what I had expected. The infrastructure (roads, public buildings, communications, tourist facilities (outside the all-inclusives) was quite a bit lower than expected. To quote from a popular tune "she ain't pretty, she just looks that way..."
Socialism
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I think that socialism was a very good answer for the first 30 years after the Revolution. But it's time to move on. Any country that feels it has to exert so much control on its inhabitants and won't let them publically complain or even travel at will is doing something inherently wrong. On a more personal scale, the problem is motivation. Socialism thwarts, hides, ignores, represses, punishes personal motivation.
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We travel to have new experiences and meet new people. You visit Cuba for a few weeks and you understand why so many people who visit fall in love with the place and it's people. You also understand why so many do what they can to help out. The people are so nice, they are working so hard. Socialism got them to where they are. It won't get them to the next level.
Ongoing socialism on a large scale does not work.
Habana
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Headed out into the city. Man, was I ever lily-white and conspicuous. A hustler's dream. You never really get used to getting hustled all the time, but you can get better at dealing with it. I was definitely fresh meat. A nice, polite, friendly, self-conscious Canadian who wanted to meet and interact with Cubans.
My basic run in Habana was the Malecon, Galiano up to San Raphael, over to Parque Central and down Obispo. That kept me pretty occupied each day I was in Habana. San Raphael was a riot. Lots of noise, music, food stalls and very gregarious Cubans. I tried to eat all my day food in Cuba off the street, and San Raphael was the place for that in Habana.
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The sun goes down, I'm not so conspicuous (yeah...right) and I am really enjoying myself. Watching all the colourful 1950's cars go by as all sorts of people and families stroll by with tons of kids, with people hawking all sorts of foodstuffs. I'm in heaven. I'm even making friends with some hustlers (who all have either an affliction, a birthday, a brother in Toronto, a chica, some cigars or money to exchange). It was a magical evening and one of my best memories from Cuba.
My jinteros get arrested
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Sunday morning I get up and head out to the Malecon to watch the sun come up. There is a small crowd of locals having a small rum party near me, and 2 of them detach themselves to come give me the once-over. After a few minutes of back and forth banter, we are just schmoozing. One of the guys has pretty good English and had been to the U.S. as a youngster in a judo tournament. The 2 police guys stroll over and ask for these guys ID cards. They call up the details on their little radios and with 5 minutes, the 2 are hand-cuffed and let away. This is not a movie. I'm in this scene and trying to argue with buddy to leave these guys alone, we are just talking.
There is a lot of arguing and yelling going on, but I'm invisible to these police guys. I am totally stunned. Next, the rest of the drinking party come over, trying to convince me with their 5 words of English that I have to go with them to the police station to try and get these guys out. The boys are all drunk. I'm arguing that if the police didn't listen to me in the middle of the situation, why would they listen later on? In short I am now wandering up Galiano with some drunk Cubans at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, headed for the police station a few kms away.
I end up drifting away from these guys. Their attention span is all over the place. They are arguing with everyone they meet on the street.
Welcome to Habana, boys and girls.
Bruce gets scammed
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Next, I find the train station and after quite a struggle, they convince me that there is not a train to Pinar del Rio. (Lonely Planet disagrees and now I'll probably never know). I wander the streets toward the Astro bus station, finding out about all these salsa parties starting up as we speak, free for me if I go in now.
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That's not the embarrassing part. It takes until the next day for me to realize that it wasn't Ray from the hotel who was scamming me. The guy just played on that most human of emotions: "of course, I remember you from yesterday". Damn!
Bruce ends up in the wrong town
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Overnite, my room floods a full centimeter in a big rainstorm (I wonder how the people in all those condemned-looking buildings around me fared). Have to taxi to bus station (lots of arguing in Astro vs Viazul stations). No price dickering in the rain either. Taxi costs as much as the bus. Welcome to Habana, Brucie.
My Cuba Trip Movie
Trip Video.
Habana, Vinales, Trinidad, Holguin, Vinales, Pinar del Rio, Habana
Vinales. Home Sweet Home
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Not booking ahead if possible, I end up in some interesting situations. Showing up on the bus in Vinales (I thought I was going to Pinar...remember), there were literally 50 people outside the bus trying to get about 12 of us inside to stay in their casa. They make good money off us tourists, but of course, the gov't doesn't just take a cut, they require a guaranteed 100 convertibles a month for the licence, whether you rent the room or not. Of course, any sort of per rental basis tax would be scammed around big time, so it makes sense.
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I hiked about the little village and out in the tobacco fields among the magotes and the next day, did the same on a horse (Marguerite) with OshNeal. We visited his buddy Romero on his tobacco farm, then his buddies at the cave for a swim. Every service in Cuba had a base price, then the little propina tips along the way, plus the side trips to try and extract a few more sheckels out of your pocket. It took me awhile to adjust to this, and once I did, I enjoyed myself more.
Vinales. Caves, the Mural and Hitch-hiking
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Walking, I got to see so many things. People just going about their daily business. Kids going to school (on trucks, backs of bikes, motorcycles, walking), people selling food in road-side stands, people on horses, working in the field.
At the casa, I was being fed by a series of people. I had the only bathroom in the place, so whoever was feeding me was using a bathroom in someone else's house. Again, a very gregarious, sharing society. Margot took some of the money I was paying her and spent the day at the beach. My leftover food was being put to good use (some person or some animal finished everything off or it was re-cycled into my foodstream).
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With so few cars in Cuba, hitch-hiking is not a sport, it's a job. Trucks are duty-bound (I think gov't runs some of them) to stop and load up the back with a seemingly endless line of Cubans. They even have people whose job is to make sure this process runs smoothly (Cuban-style smoothly). I did my hitch-hiking outside towns. These people needed their rides.
No idea what the current un-employment rate is in Cuba (maybe 30%+), but I saw a lot of seemingly idle people. That being said, I also saw a lot more people working their butts off to get themselves to work and their kids to school.
Trinidad. Horseback-riding and swimming
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The hustlers in the Plaza Major area were aggressive, but the rest of the place was fine. I can't say that I was impressed with any of the museums I was in while in Cuba. Museum staff pushing items on you while you look about was definitely a new experience for me.
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My original todo list for Cuba involved lots of walking and as many different types of transportation as possible. The infrastructure and language problems had me give up on the train/plane options pretty quick. That being said, Trinidad has a day train with a steam engine. I spent a full day on this beast and enjoyed myself, other than the fact that it was mostly tourists (no groups, thank goodness).
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I noticed that the locals say hi a few different ways. A lot of 'holas', but also the short version of 'buenos dias' cut down to just 'buenos'. After almost 2 weeks in Cuba, I felt comfy enough to start throwing in a few 'buenos'. Tourist chic.
As poor as a lot of the housing was, both in Habana and out in the country, it looked like damn near everyone had access to electricity, which in most cases would also mean a fridge and a TV (for the baseball...and of course...educational purposes)
Tipping in Cuba
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My horse guy was quite upset when I tried to tip the guys in the swimming cave a full peso. He made it quite clear that $.25 was more than enough. Damn tourists! Inflating everything they touch.
In a few cases, I over-tipped on purpose. If I had spent quite a bit of time with someone (the horse guys, the baseball game, beers in a bar), I tended to express myself with a big tip. Everyone happy on both sides. Giving my horse guy Luis a tip worth about 2 weeks pay in local currency (about $10 out of my pocket) was a nice surprise.
Locals drink rum, beer is really too expensive. In a local cafeteria, lunch might set you back about 5 local pesos. A beer in this situation would be about 20 pesos. In Canada, that's like putting out $50 for a beer. The only way locals get beer is if they generate convertibles. I bought beer for a local in pretty much every music situation I was in. Again, both sides happy.
Holguin. City of bikes and locked doors
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Cuban Schoolkids
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Vinales. Whew! I need a break
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It was wonderful. I met lots of people from all over the place (English, Polish, Swiss, Slovenian, Italian, Portugese, Spanish, German, French, Souht African, Argentinian, Australian, Danish, Irish, Japanese, Israeli), swapped some stories and really enjoyed myself. I was back in the same casa. I could so my own laundry, had my own fridge, a hot(ish) shower.
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The baseball game was a riot. Instead of a solo trip, the booked tourist trip got me a seat in a van with 6 other backpackers (none of whom knew any baseball), tickets ot the game, a lunch and a guide (Francisco) who spoke English. Nice way to enjoy a day. Cubans are very gregarious and they take their baseball seriously (see embedded movie earlier in this story).
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I used a travel agency to book a charter bus back to Habana. They spoke English and the bus made stops in town (right at the Deauville) instead of just the Viazul station in the outskirts of Habana. Much better service (no stop off to get you to use the pay bathrooms and tourist knick-knack stalls). Same price. Live and learn.
A sad farewell to Margot at my casa and back to the big city.
Habana Redux
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I'm going to eat in a real restaurant, use the pool, use the AC, buy some gifts. Wow! This is a lot of fun. Budget couldn't handle a few days of this, but for the last day, it is a well-earned treat.
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I eat in the El Medina, an Arab restaurant (2.5 hour lunch), find the local Jewish synagogue, hit a few museums, wander a lot of tiny, busy streets in which I am the only tourist, buy some local pastries out of a cardboard box, hang out on the Malecon.
Thoughts on Cuba
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Like I said, Cuba is a very unique place. Instead of a chicken in every pot (altho that is true as well), it seems to be electricity in every home and all the kids in school.
You can try this link if you want an insider view. I'll add more tags later on Generation Y
Bruce