Cuba - Part Two

Cienfuegos

After an early start and a couple of hours on the bus we arrived in Cienfuegos. We were met by the casa owner as promised and taken to the house. The people there were lovely and didn't rip me off just because I had to room to myself - in fact it was the cheapest in the whole of Cuba!

First thing first, we were starving! But again we had the old problem of finding somewhere to eat! After walking round for about an hour we ended up with a cheese and ham sandwich (the only thing that you can always find!) which was better than nothing! We then found a peso ice cream man so we tried one and they were really good!!

We spent half of the day trying to sort out the logistics for the next day. We wanted to get to Camaguey but there wasn't a direct Viazul bus. There was a direct Astro bus but we weren't allowed on it. Therefore we had to take an illegal (and cheap!) taxi to either Santa Clara or Trinidad and then get the bus from there. But we weren't overly happy with the idea of doing that. After going backwards and forwards to the bus station half a dozen times (the Viazul man wasn't there, then he was at lunch and then when we finally found him he was rude and completely useless!!), we reached breaking point and asked our casa mum for help! Within about 10 mins we had a taxi sorted (her son's friend) to Santa Clara, bus times from Santa Clara and a casa in Camaguey to stay at! Result! We couldn't believe it was all so easy when for us it had been so hard!!!

We spent the rest of the day walking around the town and down the main road to Punta Gorda by the sea. It was quite a nice town, with a lovely plaza and all the usual nice buildings, but again when you go off down a side street the difference is incredible. We found this place called Club Cienfuegos which looked like a bit of a posh boathouse that even people like us wouldn't be able to afford to go in. But when we consulted the LP for places to eat it listed this place and it didn't seem that expensive. So we ended up going in and the menu was reasonable, so we spent a really lovely evening in there, watching the sun set over the sea, and even though the food wasn't that great the setting was definitely worth the money. Unfortunately, even though we had eaten in a nice restaurant on the way back my stomach decided to reject the food so had to walk rather swiftly before there were any nasty accidents...!!!

Camaguey

In the morning, as promised, a guy turned up to drive us to Santa Clara. However, his girlfriend had obviously heard that he was driving 3 girls and wasn't happy about it so she came along for the ride too!! He was a nice guy though and was a reasonably safe driver so we were there in a couple of hours. He even stopped off at the Che monument which was really nice of him.

Got on the bus and after about 5 hours or so we arrived in Camaguey. We were earlier than expected though so there was no one there to meet us, although as usual there were lots of people at the doors vying for our business. I explained to the security guard that we were waiting for someone and they had a sign with our name on so that when he saw them he could tell us - and he did!! An old guy with a rustbucket of a car turned up - I had to sit in the front and I tried to close the door carefully as he told me to but it just slammed shut which I felt awful about as it felt like it nearly fell off!!

He took us to a house, which wasn't the one we were supposed to be going to, but I think that one was far out of town so they arranged this other one for us. There was an old couple living there, and even though they were nice enough we got a funny feeling about the old woman, there was something a bit odd about her. She didn't like it when we refused her dinner either so that didn't help!!

We went for a walk around the town and sat people watching whilst having a drink. Then we went to sit in the plaza for a while and a guy came up to talk to us. He was originally from Camaguey but worked as a DJ in one of the all inclusive beach resorts. He was a nice enough guy though, spoke a bit of English and was really friendly. He left us alone after a while too, which was good as it showed to us that he wasn't really after anything which was a refreshing change!

The next day we walked all around the town, visiting all the various plazas and churches. It was a nice enough place with some pretty buildings but wasn't really anything special. We went up onto the roof of one of the posh hotels and good some really good views of the whole town. They do this really strange thing though - a truck drives down the roads and sprays some black smoke out and all the cafes and bars close their doors until it clears. We had no idea what was going on, the first time we saw it the day before we thought the ice cream place was on fire! Apparently though it was to kill/prevent mosquitoes. We weren't quite sure whether to believe this or not, but then we didn't get bitten so maybe it was true!!

As we were sitting in a cafe having a drink the guy we met the evening before showed up. He sat with us for ages chatting and asking us our opinions on Cuba and Fidel and everything. As we had only been here a few days we didn't really have to much of an idea what we thought, so we asked him and he was trying to tell us in a mixture of Spanish and English what he thought. It was quite interesting to get a view from someone who lived in the country so am glad we met him as he helped us understand a few things. However I think I might have offended him as I was saying about how unhealthy the diet was over here - lots of fried food and pizza and how fat so many people were because of this (and probably due to drinking shed loads of rum too!) - and he looked really shocked that I would say something like that! But he asked me for my opinion so what was I supposed to say?!!

We were trying to find somewhere to eat and he recommended a few places for us, where we could eat in pesos if we asked to see a peso menu and not a CUC menu. We weren't really sure about this as don't want to eat somewhere where we are not welcome. So in the end he decides that he will come with us and speak to the woman of a restaurant - he tells her we are students at the university of another town and we're really hungry and really poor!! She didn't look too happy about it but agreed! We then invited him to eat with us as if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have found this place. He was about to leave so I don't think he was expecting us to invite him but he ended up staying anyway. The food was good and pretty cheap, although the local beer wasn't very nice!!

A bit later we met up with him again and some of his friends in a bar that he recommended and we spent a few hours with them having a few mojitos and a chat. They all bought their own drinks so it was nice to just chat and spend some time with the locals without there being any ulterior motives...! Then we decided to go onto a discotheque! We got there and the cover charge was 2 CUCs which included a drink. We only had 6 CUCs on us so enough to get in, have our free drink and then probably leave. However, we were all hanging around the entrance and didn't really know what was going on then this guy and one of his friends (that we hadn't spoken to all night!) said that we had to pay for them too as they couldn't afford to go in! This took us a bit by surprise and we were really pissed off as we had told them that we didn't really have that much money and Cuba was quite expensive for us but clearly they didn't believe us! We walked out and then they came running after us saying they can pay for themselves! I guess a lot of tourists would've just paid for them as it wasn't really that much money but it was more the principle. We went home after that as weren't really in the mood to do anything else.

It was just a real shame really that we met these guys who we thought were nice enough and in the minority of Cuban people in that they didn't want anything from us, but it turns out we were wrong and they were the same as everyone else! You don't like to tar everyone with the same brush and so give people a chance and then they just turn out exactly like how you'd expect. So perhaps we are right to just distrust everyone...! But I guess you live and learn! We didn't regret buying this guy dinner as it was cheap and we couldn't have gone there without him, so perhaps we all got something out of it! But if he works in a tourist resort then maybe he is used to tourists paying for everything and being flash with the cash... Oh well! Clearly we are never going to understand this country and the people!!!

And just to top it off, when I looked in my guidebook the bar he recommended where only locals drank and two of the restaurants that he recommended to us were all in there! So it wasn't as if he was even doing us any favours by taking us somewhere off the beaten track as they were all used to tourists!!! Excellent!

Holguin

After breakfast and a leisurely stroll we went back to the bus station to get the bus to Holguin. The guy with the rustbucket car was supposed to be taking us back but apparently his car was broken (hopefully it wasn't due to my heavy handling of the door...!) so someone else took us! At the bus station I had my first taste of peso pizza - not bad, a bit doughy but it filled a gap!

Got off the bus again to be shouted at and hassled by lots of people but we found the person who we were staying with (again not the person we called but that seems to be the norm now!) and he took us to our casa. It was closer to town than the one we were supposed to be staying in so that was a bonus!

Went for a wander into town to check it out and even managed to get some half decent food without being ripped off! Then found a little place selling peso ice cream so went and got dessert! We just had 2 or 3 scoops each I think but then this woman came and sat down near us and ordered a dish of 6 scoops - it looked huge! She laughed at us staring and managed to polish it off quite quickly too!!

The next day we spent walking round the town. It was quite hot though so couldn't do too much! We were amazed by the amount of queuing that Cubans seem to do - it's one of their main past times!! Queuing for food mainly too, especially ice cream! We thought we'd adopt local customs and queue too! You have to ask who is el ultimo (the last person in line) and then don't let them out of your sight! And after not very long we managed to get ourselves a table in the ice cream place! The woman asked if we wanted ice cream, we said yes! There were only two flavours so we went for the mixed option! She then said did we want cake and we said yes to that too! It came to 15 cubanos so less than 1 CUC! Five minutes later we were sitting there with a huge slice of cake each and three bowls each of ice cream with two scoops in each and two wafer things in each!!! We couldn't believe that a) we got so much and b) it was so cheap! We had been sitting there looking at all the locals wondering why they always ordered so much and then it turns out to be the norm!! Well it took a while but we managed to eat most of it!

After that we felt a bit sick and so decided to walk off the ice cream by climbing some 460 odd steps at the north end of town to get a good view of the surrounding area. It was a bit of a struggle getting up there but the views were excellent.

In the evening we went back to our favourite restaurant and then decided to check out the local cinema. It only cost 1 cubano to get in and they play the same movie over and over again - it was a VHS movie so at the end they just stop it, rewind it and then play it again!! It was a particularly bad and oldish movie but it was quite an experience! I think half the people there had been sitting in there all day as some of them were sleeping and then others came in halfway through!! We had been warned that some people like to go in there and play with themselves so when a guy came and sat behind us we were a bit wary but luckily he behaved himself!!

Bayamo

Getting a truck in Cuba was one of the things you were supposed to do and Holguin was one of the better places to try it. We spoke to the mum at the casa and it turned out that her brother takes the truck that we would need to get to the farm where he works, so he was going to take us in the morning and get us on the truck! We met him at 6am and he didn't look too pleased at having to escort us! He had a few words to some people and eventually they nodded and took our bags. Then people started to get on and he came over and gave us some tickets, although wouldn't take any money for them. We couldn't quite work out what was going on but he told us to get on and the guy taking the money told us to get on without paying either, and they both ignored some big fella who kept shouting no at us!! It took a couple of hours to get to Bayamo and although it was quite packed it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be! And then when we got off the guy wanted 1 CUC off each of us, which was 8 times the amount everyone else paid but it was still a lot cheaper than the bus!

We walked to the casa that the family in Holguin had recommended and phoned ahead for us. The woman though was slightly weird, like she had forgotten we were coming! She then tried to charge us extortionate amounts for the rooms so we were about to leave when she backed down to a sensible price. In hindsight though we should've left as she was horrible and her husband was really weird too!

As usual we were starving but everywhere was shut as they only opened certain hours for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So we ended up in a restaurant that was open and all they could offer us was a can of TuKola (the local coke!) and a fried fish sandwich! Not exactly what we had in mind but it was better than nothing!

We wanted water next which was no easy thing either, we had to queue outside the supermarket with some locals and then after a few minutes we were allowed in! It was quite exciting though as we found chocolate for the first time so had to buy a bar obviously!

From a food point of view this town actually turned out to be quite good! We declined the nasty lady's offers of dinner and instead found some half decent restaurants where they charged us in pesos just like the locals! Although one place overcharged us slightly and then shortchanged us, but when it's in cubanos it's not a big deal! We also tried the ice cream again - we queued up and when we went to pay I thought the girl asked us how many bowls of ice cream we wanted! So I said two each, but it ended up being scoops not bowls!! So I was very disappointed but it still tasted good!

Saturday night was supposed to be a big night here - everyone gets chess tables out in the street and sit there playing apparently. We couldn't really find much happening, except people just hanging out in the streets and plazas as usual. But we did find a few chess tables set out with some people playing, but it wasn't the big thing the LP had written about! We did find one street where there were tables out in the street and music and people were milling around drinking and dancing. It was really cool to see, it really showed the community spirit in the town and everyone of any age coming together. We went to a different plaza and there was music and people dancing there too which was fun to watch! There was an old woman, probably in her 70s, salsa-ing away by herself. She was really good aswell and wouldn't let anyone dance with her, even though people kept trying!!

We eventually managed to organise some hiking in a national park from Bayamo, but it meant we had to hang around there for another day. So apart from eating ice cream we also went to the cinema for a bit of back to back film action - Snakes on a Plane and the Lake House. Not exactly top quality viewing but it passed the time!! Then we had to prepare for a 3 day hike up to Pico Turquino, the highest point in Cuba, and then a day hike the La Commandancia, Fidel's hideout during the 1958 Revolution. It was a bit ridiculous as we couldn't go in the national park by ourselves, we had to have a guide, and there was only one trail you could do so it wasn't as if you were going to get lost! And even though we had to pay quite a bit for the trip we couldn't even do exactly what we wanted, we had to fit in with other people!! But Cuba likes to have it's rules and who were we to argue?!