My Cuba journey...
Steven Thompson joined an appropriately named Cuba Libre tour and enjoyed expertly-mixed drinks, local smiles and great music
46 MY JOURNEY cuba
A Classic timeless cars
holiday in Cuba can take many forms. You can plump for a
luxurious all-inclusive fi ve-star resort in Varadero, a resort town located on the sinuous 20km-long Hicacos peninsula.
These match up to any equivalents in places like Cancun or Jamaica. Alternatively, for a very different experience you can go off the beaten track and discover the ‘real’ Cuba and its people – which is exactly what I did.
Tourism becoming king Salaries are low in Cuba: a doctor
earns around £50 a month but over the last few years opportunities have opened up and tourism, which is taking off in a big way, is playing a key role in island employment. In fact a decent tour guide can make the same money in one day that a doctor makes in a month! For visitors, this is something to keep in mind
when negotiating prices. Like other developing nations
past and present, there are two The tiny Cuban Emerald Hummingbird
everything I expected and so much more: the run- down buildings, old American cars, Salsa music everywhere – and, yes, amazing Mojitos. Compared to other capitals Havana has a relatively
low crime rate, which gave me the confi dence to ditch the guide book and mooch around the streets at leisure. This was the best way to see the ‘real city’ and
discovering the most wonderful places of interest. As long as I had a little money In my backpocket for a taxi – if I got very lost or had too many Cuba libres – I could fi nd my way home. The phrase ‘fur coat and no knickers’ sums up most
“I loved
Havana Old Town: it was everything I expected and so much more”
offi cial currencies in Cuba: the Cuban Peso for locals and the CUC (Cuban Convertible- 1.6 CUC = £1) for tourists. I was pleased to discover that a Mojito or local beer could be had for as little as 1.50 CUC, with food coming in as cheap as 5.00 CUC for a main meal. But of course, more expensive alternatives are readily available for those with elastic budgets.
Old Town If there is one
‘must visit’
attraction in Cuba’s capital it has to be La Habana Vieja
(Havana Old Town). I truly loved about this great city. It was
of Havana old town for me, with its crumbling buildings that sit behind the polished façades. Around every street corner I happened upon cool bars and atmospheric restaurants serving fantastically cheap cocktails, with free salsa music thrown in. Most places seemed to have live bands playing until well into the late evening. The only let down was the food, which surprisinged me by being mostly very bland. But if you looked hard enough – and I did – semi-decent cheap eats could be discovered (I didn’t try it but I was told that the lobster was amazing and very cheap!)
Out and About I travelled west out of Havana, to
the town of Vinales, which rests in a beautiful fertile valley. It’s around a
four-hour tip, by private bus. Although a small town, it is the perfect base to prepare for activities that include hiking, biking, caving and horse riding in countryside characterised by tobacco and coffee plantations that provided fantastic views for miles around.
Vinales is the cultural centre for the region, and it gave me a real sense of authentic Cuba – think locals idling the day away in rocking chairs on the veranda drinking rum and
smoking cigars. This
was where I watched cigars being rolled by workers who have been in the industry for generations. When they’d fi nished, for a small fee I got to sample their handiwork.
Mojitos don’t break the bank in Cuba
www.sellinglonghaul.com
My Magical Moments
Being a passenger in the back of an old American convertible as we drove around La Habana Vieja. Sitting around the dinner table at a casa, discussing Castro with one of the family in broken English and Spanish – there were plenty of smiles and head nodding and extravagant gesticulations were an essential!
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