We are not fond of bus tours and finding a car to rent is not always easy so we hired a car and driver to take us west to Pinar Del Rio, the Jurassic area. Our first stop was at the Robaina tobacco plantation, one of 27 producers all of whom must sell at least 90% of their crop to the government, the rest they can keep but not sell. Then it was on to the caves and gigantic mogotes (boulders) of the beautiful Vinales Valley. Apparently Steven Spielberg wanted to film some Jurassic scenes here and we could see why but it never happened.
We had the best (and cheapest) fish dinner of our entire time in Cuba in Vinales and capped it off with a night of salsa music at the local dance hall. In Cuba when they say that music starts at 9:30 that means the band start arriving then to set up, but it was worth the wait as we saw some great dancers.
The next day we had to drive back near Havana to get to the Peninsula de Zapata and there were 2 unexpected events: the first was that we picked up the driver's girlfriend (not his wife) who was to accompany us for the next 2 days and then we pulled off the road down a bumpy track for the first of 3 clandestine refuelling stops. On each occasion a man would appear out of a barn or trees with a jerrycan of gasoline to fill up the tank. The girlfriend (never did get her name) advised us that this was highly illegal and it sure felt like it!
The national highway is actually a pretty good road most of the time but you can't go far without a reminder of the 'success' of the Revolution and the benefits of working together for Socialism. These billboards are 'autographed' more or less equally by Fidel or Che Guevara:
There is not much to see on this flat, uninteresting stretch but it does lead to Playa Giron on The Bay of Pigs, scene of the defeat of the CIA led American invasion in April 1961 which forever immortalised Castro and of which you cannot spend one day in Cuba without seeing a reminder. In typical Cuban fashion the museum was closed, no explanation given. On to the industrial city of Cienfuegos where we spent the night and struggled to find a decent meal, give it a miss.
At the other end of the spectrum is the charming city of Trinidad de Cuba.
This World Heritage site benefits hugely from being a pedestrian only zone where all the cobblestone streets are protected. Unlike all the other cities where it can be hard to enjoy the surroundings and the colonial architecture without breathing in fumes or dodging the traffic Trinidad can be explored at leisure, the streets are lined with pastel painted houses and the central square is delightful and clean.
A climb up the church tower is essential for a view over the town, the sea and the mountains to the north. That night we joined a large crowd primarily made up of tourists for a salsa session on the central steps.
In the morning we queued for tickets on the tourist train to Manaca - Iznaga. It is advertised as a steam train but sadly it was diesel, and it trundled and squeaked along for an hour before depositing us in a small town which was a former sugar cane estate. The main objective of this exercise appears to be to leave you trapped in the clutches of the souvenir sellers who, to be fair, usually leave you alone when you say 'No, thank you.' We thought these cigar smoking, bongo playing chaps were rather splendid but we didn't buy one.
We had the best (and cheapest) fish dinner of our entire time in Cuba in Vinales and capped it off with a night of salsa music at the local dance hall. In Cuba when they say that music starts at 9:30 that means the band start arriving then to set up, but it was worth the wait as we saw some great dancers.
The next day we had to drive back near Havana to get to the Peninsula de Zapata and there were 2 unexpected events: the first was that we picked up the driver's girlfriend (not his wife) who was to accompany us for the next 2 days and then we pulled off the road down a bumpy track for the first of 3 clandestine refuelling stops. On each occasion a man would appear out of a barn or trees with a jerrycan of gasoline to fill up the tank. The girlfriend (never did get her name) advised us that this was highly illegal and it sure felt like it!
The national highway is actually a pretty good road most of the time but you can't go far without a reminder of the 'success' of the Revolution and the benefits of working together for Socialism. These billboards are 'autographed' more or less equally by Fidel or Che Guevara:
There is not much to see on this flat, uninteresting stretch but it does lead to Playa Giron on The Bay of Pigs, scene of the defeat of the CIA led American invasion in April 1961 which forever immortalised Castro and of which you cannot spend one day in Cuba without seeing a reminder. In typical Cuban fashion the museum was closed, no explanation given. On to the industrial city of Cienfuegos where we spent the night and struggled to find a decent meal, give it a miss.
At the other end of the spectrum is the charming city of Trinidad de Cuba.
This World Heritage site benefits hugely from being a pedestrian only zone where all the cobblestone streets are protected. Unlike all the other cities where it can be hard to enjoy the surroundings and the colonial architecture without breathing in fumes or dodging the traffic Trinidad can be explored at leisure, the streets are lined with pastel painted houses and the central square is delightful and clean.
A climb up the church tower is essential for a view over the town, the sea and the mountains to the north. That night we joined a large crowd primarily made up of tourists for a salsa session on the central steps.
In the morning we queued for tickets on the tourist train to Manaca - Iznaga. It is advertised as a steam train but sadly it was diesel, and it trundled and squeaked along for an hour before depositing us in a small town which was a former sugar cane estate. The main objective of this exercise appears to be to leave you trapped in the clutches of the souvenir sellers who, to be fair, usually leave you alone when you say 'No, thank you.' We thought these cigar smoking, bongo playing chaps were rather splendid but we didn't buy one.
The last town on this leg was Canta Clara which we reached after a pretty drive through the central mountains. El 'Che' is one of the most iconic figures of the last century, not only in Cuba but globally, his image can be found everywhere on all types of merchandise. He was a man of principle, a doctor and a rebel leader of Battalion 8, whose defeat of Batista's troops by derailing a train in Santa Clara cemented his place in Cuban history. There is a large monument dedicated to his memory just outside the city. A close ally of Castro he died fighting in Bolivia at the height of his popularity and one can only imagine what he would think of the country today, because from what we saw you could hardly say that communism has been a success. While in Havana we met a young family (in a bar of course), the father was a well known actor/musician and the 14 year old daughter spoke quite good English. When we asked her what she wanted to do (career wise) her response was immediate: " I just want to get out of here."
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