If you have ever thought about visiting Cuba then I would definitely recommend visiting this place.
Before me and my friend booked Cuba, we had heard all sorts of stories such as the place being not great, safety concerns etc.
But it is indeed a beautiful country and the rules are simple – there are no security issues as long as you don’t push anyone the wrong way! People are really friendly and accommodating. Everyone is a happy soul and they know how to have a fun even if you are living in a restricted country like that with really low standards of living. Every Cuban can dance and sing; they love their rum and cigars and brilliant vintage cars!
Throughout our trip, we chatted with so many locals and got to know so much about the country….which I want to share here before I forget all that about the country!
We spent 3 nights and 2 days in Havana and 5 days in Varadero. Havana, the capital of Cuba, is full of beautiful colonial buildings in the Old Havana town which dates back to 1400 and there is so much history behind the city which was really enriching.
PS: I must admit though that normal people read about a place, culture etc before planning/booking a holiday whereas lazy people like me just go ahead, book the holiday based on fancies for the place and only try to know a place little after arriving in the country!!! Not the best strategy, but hey it works!
Anyway let’s begin with the facts: the first and foremost thing to mention about Cubans is their heritage/bloodline. Initially the island was inhabited by red Indians but when the Spanish arrived, they killed all of the red Indians. No bloodline of red Indians exists since then even though Cubans call them their native ancestors. The ancestry now goes back to the Spanish and Africans (Africans were brought on the island by Spanish to work as slaves) or mix of Spanish African backgrounds. Hence, it is so easy to spot a black skinned Cuban with blue/green eyes or where family has mixed background, Cubans having really beautiful sun-kissed complexion with the most astonishing colourful eyes. Spanish- African heritage shows in their music, culture and the food too!
Ps; I have never seen so many handsome men in a country until Cuba visit happened, not that I am saying women are not beautiful, they are indeed really beautiful but at the same time noticing major proportion of men being good looking is definitely a rarity! Ha!
Second most important thing to mention is the currency used in Cuba. There are 2 currencies used – Convertible pesos (CUC) which is pegged to US Dollar (1:1) and capped to 23-25 Cuban pesos (MN) every CUC. CUC is the most used currency everywhere in Cuba. You cannot get Cuban currency anywhere in the world outside Cuba (at least as of now. I’m sure this will change with the recent changes in American - Cuba relationships and now opening up of American embassy in Cuba on 20h July 2015). International currencies to CUC or Cuban pesos can be exchanged either at the airport or recognised local banks in the town or the hotel exchange desk. For more information on currency, check this link: http://www.visitcuba.com/
The reason behind introducing the dual currency .i.e. CUC and MN was when the Cubans fled or moved to the US or other countries and started remitting money back to Cuba, the money was sent in US Dollars and it kept lying in the bank accounts of locals as they could not use the dollar bills with Cuban Government being anti-American not letting locals to convert USD in local currency. Hence, the Government had to introduce new Cuban currency to let the locals make use of their dollar cash lying in bank accounts. Interesting eh?!!
Every corner or street of Havana talks old history and there are lot of places famous after famous people like …where Ernest Hemmingway, the American author, used to smoke his cigars or had cocktails or wrote his books (https://en.wikipedia.org/
But the sad part is most of these buildings are collapsing and need maintenance urgently. The Cuban Government only manages the properties which are under their regime. All the hotels and commercial properties are regulated by the Government. Locals can’t have air-conditioners in their houses (because firstly most of them can’t afford with the low wages and secondly it is allowed only if you let out your property for commercial or tourist purpose).
Big families live in a small box room sharing the buildings like Chall system in Mumbai and with temperatures soaring to 35 degrees Celsius and more; most of them might not even have a fan in the room.
Internet is accessible only in the big hotels/airport through data provider’s scratch cards for which you have to pay separately…one card costs 5 CUC and gives the time of an hour and half of internet usage. Locals can’t access internet unless around the big hotels and have bought these data cards. Number of TV channels’ access is also very limited to locals but big hotels can have few extra channels for tourists.
Another thing that fascinated me was how salaries are capped at such low levels for professionals in Cuba. A Cuban doctor, engineer or a professor would rather prefer working as a toilet cleaner or work in the entertainment industry then practicing his/her own profession as the salaries are really low at roughly $25 CUC per month. Cubans who work in the entertainment/tourist sector earn more than these professionals (words told by the locals themselves!!) because of the tip culture. A Cuban working as toilet cleaner or tour guide can actually earn more than 25 CUC in a day on the tips plus the salary, so no surprise there for Cubans’ working preferences. It is because of these insanely low pay levels, Cubans are forced to live in such tiny houses with extended families as they can’t afford to buy their own place. Although during Fidel Castro’s Government time in 1950s, Cubans were given the freehold of the places they are living in so as such they own or rather their parents own the houses.
But still irrespective of such bizarrely low salaries, the education quality in Cuba is of good standards and 100% subsidised by the government. According to 2014 report by the World Bank, Cuba has the best education system in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Yet another interesting factual articles about it: https://academicexchange.
Oh and another fact to tell, no Cuban knows where their President (Raul Castro) lives. There is a posh Embassies’ area in Havana where the locals suspect the President keep shuffling between the various houses. I know it’s a communist country but still locals not knowing about their President’s whereabouts sounds really bizarre.
Now a funny fact to tell: whilst doing a walking tour in the old Havana, our tour guide told us another local old belief about this big tree in one of the squares called Plaza De Armas. So the belief is if a single girl takes 3 rounds running around the tree and throw a coin at the foot of the tree at the end of 3rd round and make a wish for what sort of husband she wants, the wish comes true!.....hehehe….so can you guess what we 2 single stupid girls would have done…..hahaha…you guessed it right, we followed the old tradition, after-all we were in Cuba so gotta follow the locals!!
Now, the fact about rum and tobacco plantations in Cuba – we all know that apart from Tourism being the biggest revenue generating sector for Cuban Government, Rum and Cigars are the other 2 important things.
Of course Government has a very tight control on rum production and tobacco plantations. Farmers grow tobacco crops and the government gives them meagre prices per quintal production. Farmers are forced to give 90% tobacco production to Government and keep 20% for their own purposes. Well you might be thinking how does this 90-20 equation works? So you guessed it right, farmers grow little extra 10% which sits outside the 100% production for their self-use. Government knows that too but I suppose with what Government do to the farmers in terms of pricing, they let them knowingly get away with that extra 10% production. Another fact, farmers do not know what other things are mixed in the factories while producing cigars as that’s kept under tight secret. Visitors in cigar factories are not allowed to take pictures of what’s happening in the factory and I am sure not the entire process is shown to tourists in any case.
People drink rum like water in Cuba. You might not find drinking water in all the shops in the capital city but they are always stocked up with rum, cigars, and whiskies!
We spent a day doing walking trip and vintage car trip in Havana and during the second day, did a long full day trip to Vinales Valley, the place in the north-central part of Pinar del Rio Province and is known for tobacco farming. Where Havana is full of ancient buildings, museums and history about it, Vinales valley gives a view of beautiful landscapes with lush green trees and plantations (https://en.wikipedia.org/
The caves in the region called Cueva del Indio were discovered by a farmer in 1900. These caves are quite big inside and have a small underground river which used to have high water levels but now the majority of it has dried up. You can do a 15 minutes boat trip inside the caves which is quite nice. The last stopping point was in the small town called Pinar Del Rio to buy authentic cigars. People from Havana use the name of Pinar Del Rio as slang when they want to refer someone as being dumb!! E.g. if someone behaves/acts stupid, they will say are you from Pinar Del RioJ . Anyway few of the pictures here….
After we finished our hectic 2 day trips around Vinales and Havana, 3rd day we headed to the resort area called Varadero. We stayed at Iberostar Group of Hotels and Resorts both in Havana and Varadero. I totally recommend both the places as both the Hotel in Havana city centre and the resort in Varadero are really nice properties. Cuba doesn’t have many 4 and 5 star hotels/resorts so when I booked the stay; I was sceptical that even though we have paid for 4.5 star rated accommodations, we will not get anything more than 3 star category hotels. But to my surprise, both places were absolutely fantastic and provide very good quality stay and entertainment and location wise too, were very handy locations. Staff in both the properties was brilliant.
The driving journey time from Havana to Varadero took us roughly 2 hour 30 minutes and we stopped on the way at this point called Bacunayagua which marks the boundary between the Mayabeque Province and Matanzas Province. A restaurant with an observation deck is built on the Havana side at this point to give beautiful views of the highest bridge in Cuba called The Bridge of Bacunayagua (this bridge was inaugurated in September 1959, crosses the canyon, and at 110 meters above the valley floor. The Cubans consider it one of the seven wonders of Cuban civil engineering.)
The arrival in the resort in Varadero was very welcoming and the staff really took great care of us for the next 5 days we stayed over there. We spent our time doing sailing, dancing on the Cuban music, eating, drinking, again dancing and the cycle continued. The resort has 24 hours buffet and various restaurant-bar sections for food and drinks and the staff ensure there is enough entertainment for atleast 18 hours out of 24 hours for your stay in the place for all age group. This range from organising pool area games, archery, bingo games, riffle shooting, various dance activities, painting, video and play games for kids, golf etc. The resort has indoor discotheque that opens every night at 11pm – 2am and indoor massive theatre place where they organise different themed performances every night between 8pm till 11pm.
Basically there is never shortage of fun activities going around the resort for keeping guests busy!
We also did scuba diving around Varadero area but not something I would advise you to do as first of all the diving gear was outdated and the sea/coral life is really colour less and bland under the sea; at least in that area!
But I absolutely loved the place and people! May be one day would definitely re-visit the country to see how much American influence will bring changes in the country and the people!
So for now signing off on this blog. Hopefully next travel blog will be from Argentina and Brazil at the year-end if I don’t find any other places too enticing to write about!
