Travel with Manfred

Travelogues from around the world

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Copyright © 2001 by Manfred P.. All rights reserved.

July 28 - Aug 26, 2001

Cuba, A Schizophrenic Country

Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It

by

Manfred P.

Keywords: Cuba, Havana, La Habana, Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad, Baracoa, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia shows up not only in respect to capitalism but in many associated issues. There is schizophrenia in prices of goods. There is one price for Cubans and another price for foreigners. When you go to the museum the Cuban pays 3 pesos (21 pesos are US$1) and the tourist pays $5. So the foreigner pays 36 times more as the local. Similar holds true for transport. A train or a Cuban-bus ticket that costs x pesos to a Cuban, costs the same but in dollars to a foreigner. We pay 21 times more. If you take the special tourist bus it is of course even more expensive. Other goods or services where it seems that this schizophrenic pricing scheme is not controllable are sold at the same price for both Cuban and foreigners. As such a local bus ride within a city costs 0.20 pesos (1 cent) for everyone. And everywhere pizzas and ice cream available at street stalls are sold at the same price.

Two different economies have been built-up: One economy to serve the tourists and the rich and the other for the average and poor Cuban. There are the government stores where you pay in pesos, and there are the government stores where you pay in dollars. There are the government restaurants where you pay in pesos, and then there are the ones where you pay in dollar. So, you can buy rice and beans or similar basic food items with food stamps or with pesos at the pesos stores. There these good might be out, temporarily unavailable and at low quality. So, you can buy the rice and the beans also at the dollar stores. It costs 20 times as much, but they are available there and they are of high quality. The rice you buy in the pesos stores is Cuban and comes in gigantic bags and is sold to you in an ad-hoc newspaper-turned-paper bag. The rice in the dollar store comes from Spain and is packaged in a colorful western style cardboard box. It also has a western price tag and as such is 20 times more expensive. So, for some of these goods you have the choice. For other goods you have no choice, they are simply not available for pesos. Need some soap, shampoo, pantyhose, or similar? You will only get them for dollars and for that reason they are out of reach for most poor Cubans.

The government hates everything that is related to the US, the government even hates money because it represents capitalism. Put both together and you get the conclusion that it strongly hates the US dollar currency. But on the other hand the government does everything to obtain them and to suck them out of the wallets of the tourists. Che was an idealist and the president of the Ministry of Finance and therefore the head of all banks. Che wanted to outlaw money altogether. If the government provides everything for the citizen like free food rations and housing, why would there be any need for money? Well, it never went that far, money was never outlawed but the possession and trade in US$ was illegal for more then 30 years. In the last years the government has realized that it can't win the battle again the US$ and therefore it has turned the tables. It made the dollar legal and uses it now to its advantage by charging many things in dollars and assuring that all regular tourist services are exclusively available at expensive dollar prices.

And what is the difference between pesos and dollar restaurants? Good question. Besides the price there is little difference. In the dollar restaurant you will get a plate and cutlery, but the food and the indifference of the waiters seems to be the same. Lobster is officially only allowed to be sold in dollar restaurants. Maybe this is the reason why all Cubans think that for foreigners there is no better meal than lobster and everyone tries to sell you lobster illegally.

Schizophrenia is also obvious in the interactions between Cubans and foreigners. One the one hand Cubans are very friendly and everyone wants to talk to you, on the other hand Cubans are afraid of being seen talking to foreigners. The government doesn't like Cubans to talk to foreigners. The capitalists and imperialists might start some stupid ideas in the faithful communist party followers. Sometimes it happens that when a Cuban talks to you and he sees a police officer or military personnel show up he will stop talking to you and quickly walk away as they don't want to be seen with foreigners. Someone told us that a woman was put into jail for acting as a tour guide without license. If something bad happens, a theft or similar, suddenly nobody wants to talk to you or tell you anything. But for most part anyone wants to strike up a conversation with you, especially if no cops are around. Everyone wants to know where you are from, if you like Cuba, what you do, where you stay, and more. Sometimes it is getting too much, it is just not possible to talk to everyone.

Cubans also wander between the extremes of friendliness and indifference, not to say rudeness. Usually when you meet them privately on the street they are very friendly. They chit-chat with you, they are all smiles, very cheerful and answer any questions you might have, e.g. explaining you how to get somewhere in fullest detail. They seem to be in a good mood. Happy, relaxed. But once you meet them at their workplace they are terrible. Say, you walk into a store. You are the only customer and they ignore you for minutes. After ignoring doesn't work anymore and they respond to your requests the answer is likely to be "No, no, it is not available; no, we don't have it; no, we can't do that" and if you ask why it is not possible, they shrug their shoulders or tell you something about regulations, and other nonsense. The waiters are the same. They ignore you, you wait and wait; eventually they come, say no word, take the order, where they might throw a few times "no, that's not available today" and you continue to wait some more until eventually the food arrives which is placed at your table again without saying anything and a facial expression of "let me alone". The answers are usually very short. I remember the following conversation in an ice cream shop: (Silence. Waiting.) Do you have ice cream today? No. Do you have cookies today? No. Do you have anything today? No. (Somewhat disbelieving) You have nothing available today? No. Then I turned around and left the store.

Schizophrenia continues in the "racial" separation. The government does not like that the locals mingle with the tourists. Cubans are not allowed to enter tourist hotels. Tourists are not allowed to enter hotels for Cubans; at least they are not allowed to spend a night in them. This is strictly enforced and every tourist hotel has a government agent in the lobby to watch over this. This also makes it impossible to take Cuban females to your hotel room and puts a curb on prostitution. There are tourist zones, normally peninsulas or islands with the beach that the tourists adore, places that are easy to control that are off- limits to Cubans. To equalize this injustice, there are campgrounds, Cuban hotels and restaurants that are off-limits to tourists and reserved only for Cubans. But even without a government ordered separation, there is even a natural separation. Best place to see that is on the beach. Beaches are neatly separated between the Cuban zone and the tourist zone. The overloaded outdated Cuban buses, where you pay in pesos, only drive to the Cuban beach zone. The new, air-conditioned tourist buses, where you pay in dollars, only drive to the tourist zone on the beaches. The tourist beach zone is usually near a tourist hotel, has a pier, an upscale bar, umbrellas for shade, boats and jet skies to rent, and of course you pay everything in dollars. The Cuban zones are a mile away, have vendors that walk up and down the beach and sell bananas and self-made ice cream, no shade, no boats to rent and maybe a few pizza and soda stands where you pay in pesos. No mingling here either. The Cuban beaches are crowded and they stick to themselves, the tourist beaches are a lot less crowded and they also form their little enclave.

Dictionary

• tyranny - political system before Castro
• martyr - person who has first killed for Castro and then died for Castro
• bandit - person who is politically contra Castro
• evil empire - the USA
• the country with the world's best educational system - Cuba
• hero - someone willing to die for Castro
• highest moral deed - to die for your fatherland, to die for Castro
• our brothers (contemporary text) - countries like North Korea, China, and Algeria
• our brothers (older text) - Hungary, East Germany, Rumania, USSR
• revolutionary - a government supporter, in support of the government
• volunteers - workers sent by the government (e.g. to harvest fields)

Nothing Works

• 1 bus - on-route
• 2 buses - idling in bus station
• 8 buses - in repair
  • 3 - engine problems
  • 1 - flat tire
  • 4 - miscellaneous damages

It also seems the case that there are quite a few people without work. They have a job; it is just that they don't have any work. It is not unusual to find these people sitting in front of their houses day-in, day-out.

Donations

Besides buses popular donations are trash cans and containers, e.g. still with their "property of the Spanish government" signs. Also books and medicine are donated. However, instead of giving these donations to the Cuban people, the government sells these donations back to the tourists for hard dollars. So, it is not unusual to buy a book that came from your own country as a donation.

Fidel's Speeches

On the first half page he thanked the audience in ten different ways and in very verbose style. Then he apologized for the inconveniences caused by the power outage and said he was sad that large portions of the population could not follow the congress the day before because large portions of the country where without power and hence their TVs didn't work.

This introduction was followed by half a page of words related to the actual congress, related to youth, the kids, the future. Then, as in all speeches he rehashed the history of the country, the great deeds of the revolution. When it comes to political self-praise history tends to start in 1958. And most of what is being iteratively stated and praised all happened between 1959 and 1966. Among these glorified events and achievements are the winning of the revolution, the defeat of the tyranny, the defeat of the Americans at the Bay of Pigs, the "War on Illiteracy" where in a single year literate people were made teachers over night and sent into the country side to teach all Cubans to read and write. To me it was amazing how one can talk on and on about events that all happened before I was even born, 35 or more years ago! In the last decades there was less good news so there is less to talk about. The recognition of the achievements of the revolution lasted for a full page and besides the repeated discussion of the Elian story everything dated 4 decades back. Elian of course is the young boy that lost his parents while escaping Cuba in a raft, was picked up as orphan off the Miami coast by the US Coast Guard, and after a lot of media coverage returned to Cuba.

On the third or forth page Fidel started talking again about the future again, specifically about a future purchase. He had decided to buy 1,000,000 TV sets in a single deal. Now, that is purchasing power! Talk about discount. With this being the only TV on the market and with the government setting the price, it is easy to make a nice profit even when the government "donates" ten thousands of TVs to public sites such as bus stations and schools. And proudly he stated that in order to make maintenance easy and simple he had bought all the TVs from the Chinese. I could already envision the two available Chinese models presented in the stores. Cuba has only 11.5 million inhabitants in an estimated 2 million households. This single purchase executed between now and December 2002 puts a TV in every second Cuban household. The speech continued with the promise that so far every schoolboy/girl had a teacher, starting now every schoolboy/girl will have a TV and in the near future every schoolboy/girl will have a computer.

Every boy and girl with a TV? That is exactly what they need. Sorry, but my sarcasm is coming through. At least now they will be able to all watch Fidel's speeches on TV, that is of course if there is no power outage.

Transport - General

Less style than the US relics from the 50s have the Russian Ladas. But they guzzle less and being 20 years younger they also tend to be more reliable. Of course there are also plenty of Russian-made Jeeps and trucks. I found the Russian trucks kind of sexy. They are nothing like the Ford and GMC trucks from 1958, but still attractive in their own way.

Since there are not enough buses for mass transport in the city of Havana, ingenious Cuban inventors came up with "camels". Camels are 18-wheeler trucks where the trailer is custom-made to carry people. Since the trailer has two humps, one where the rear wheels are and one where it hooks up to the truck in the front, they have been nicknamed camels; the animal with two humps. These camels carry up to 300 people, sometimes tightly packed like sardines and are a mayor transport in Havana. Despite the fact that many Cubans warned us about the pickpockets in them we have not been discouraged and used the camels all over the city.

Transport - Hitch Hiking

The pedestrians gather under the bridges to stick out their thumbs in hope of getting a lift. There is little traffic to start and even fewer people stop. The law dictates that military personnel and police must be given rides. So, they come last and are the first and many times the only ones who get rides. In Cuba, everything is government controlled. When I say everything, I mean everything. Even hitch hiking is government controlled. There are special government employees standing with the hitchhikers under the bridges to flag down buses and trucks. Certain government trucks must stop. These government employees flag down these government trucks or buses and you have to pay them. You have to wait an hour or two until somebody stops. As soon as a vehicle stops there is the big rush. Everyone sprints towards the truck or bus and tries to get on. Once on you pay the government employee and say a prayer of thanks. But at that time you still don't know where you are going. But since there is only one freeway in the whole country you certainly are going into the right direction. The back of the trucks can be crowded with 50 people or more. Standing in the sun, holding on to something or someone. The trucks go rather slow, so you better be patient. We only hitched once. That was enough of an experience. First we got on a truck after waiting an hour and a half and later we thumbed down a bus with pleading gestures. It was slow, but a lot better than stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Transport - Trucks

Transport - Buses

The bus system is very complex. And sometimes even the locals don't understand all the details. This is primarily because every different town has different rules. In some town foreigners can get on Cuban buses, in others they are not allowed and are forced to use the tourist buses. In some cities you can make reservations in others no. Sometimes you can make reservations by phone but not in person at the bus station. Even though it is always the same bus company, the rules always change. Sometimes you can buy a ticket in advance, sometimes you can only buy it the same day or the day before. So you end up, going to the bus station at least twice just to inform yourself about availability, make reservations, possibly to confirm your reservation, then to pay, and eventually to catch the bus. To make it even more interesting the rules also change with the person at the ticket counter. You might go there a day before your planned bus trip to make a reservation for a certain bus and get the answer that you can only buy the ticket the next day, and then the next day when a different person works at the bus station you are told that as a foreigner you are not allowed to get on this bus. When you complain you are just informed that the information you were given before is incorrect.

Another interesting part of bus journeys is that bus seats are allotted into segments. Each allocation reserved for a specific bus stop. So when the bus stops only a few people may get on. That means that you wait at the bus stop for 1 hour, the bus comes, it is half empty, but only 3 people can get one, and you will have to wait for the next one. But this makes actually sense. It is to be fair and social. Because otherwise at the first bus stop the bus would fill up completely and for the rest of the journey nobody could get on the bus.

This following example illustrates the issues that you are confronted with daily when using the Cuban bus system. In Havana are two bus terminals for the luxury tourist bus. While arriving at one we wanted to buy the tickets for going to Varadero the next day. The discussion that ensued at the ticket counter was approximate as follows: Are tickets available for Varadero for tomorrow? Yes. - Ah, that's great. So there are also seats available? Yes. - Excellent. Then we want to buy two round-trip tickets to Varadero. OK. -- The bus goes from here to the second terminal, stops there and goes on to Varadero, no? Yes, the bus stops at the other terminal to pick up people and then goes to Varadero. -- If that is the case, since we live right next to the other terminal, we want to get on the bus at the other terminal. No, that is not possible - - Why not? If you want to get on the bus at the other bus station, you have to buy the ticket there at the other bus station. -- We can't buy them here? No -- How many seats are allocated to this bus station? 30. -- And how many are assigned or allocated to the other bus station? 10. -- Are there any seats available to get on at the other bus station? We don't know. -- So, here I can't buy the ticket, I can only buy the ticket at the other bus station, but you don't know if the other bus station still has seats available. Exactly. -- So, we might go to the other bus station just to find out that the 10 seats are taken. True? Yes, that can happen. -- Can you call and make a reservation with them? No. -- Why not? Regulation. -- Regulation? Can we call and make the reservation? Yes. -- Ah! Is there a public phone somewhere? Yes, next to the bus station. -- We walk out the station and try to call. The public phone turns out to be for international calls only and not for local calls. So, calling was difficult. We decided to gamble and to walk all the way to the other bus station and hope that when we get there that tickets were still available. After 45 minutes of walking in the 100F (37 degree C) heat we finally arrive at the other bus terminal. Here we wait in line in front of the counter and when it is our turn the discussion continues with these words: Are tickets available for Varadero for tomorrow? Yes. - Ah, what relieve. We just came from your other bus terminal and they couldn't sell us the ticket to depart from here. So there are seats available here? Yes. - Excellent. Then we want to buy two round-trip tickets to Varadero. No, that's not possible. Huh? Why not? We can only sell the ticket to Varadero. The return ticket can only be sold at our second bus terminal. -- You mean the return ticket is only sold at the bus station where we just came from and from where we walked nearly an hour? Yes. But you can also buy the ticket when you get to Varadero. -- But we want to get back on the same day; get there in the morning and ride back in the afternoon. We don't want to spend the night there. How do we know that the bus back from Varadero is not full? You don't know. -- So, it could happen that we get to Varadero and the bus turns out to be booked full and we can't return? Yes. -- Do you know if the return bus is full or has available seats? No. -- Can you find out? No. -- Mmm, give us the one-way tickets and we will pray that there will be seats available on the way back. Ok, that makes US$32. -- The next day when we got to Varadero I sprinted out of the bus the second we stopped and the doors opened to be the first in line at the ticket counter. I arrived there as the second in line and we did get our tickets for making it back the same day. All turned out well, but things are not made to be easy in Cuba. Keep in mind that this was the luxury tourist bus, the best and most expensive service in the country. If you deal with regular buses, it is a lot worse.

Transport - Trains

The one time we took a train we ended up with a surprise as well. We went from Sancti Spiritus to Camaguey, a 110 mile (180 km) distance. The train was incredibly slow. Even though there were hardly any stops, it took as full 6 hours. Doing the math it is easy to see that we went at 20 mph (30 km/h). And if you think you can enjoy the scenery during the ride you are wrong. The windows were so dirty that you couldn't see through them. As compensation it got romantic at night. The train didn't have lights, well, to be exact every wagon had exactly one low-wattage light bulb. This light bulb was only used occasionally. As the sun was setting it got darker and darker and soon we were sitting in the pitch dark.

Lines

The lines in front of the stores are because only a limited number of people is allowed into the stores so that everything always stays under control and nobody is tempted to shoplift.

The lines for the buses are the most distributed ones. The line is not clearly visible. You get there and you start asking people if they are waiting for the given bus. Once you found part of the line you start asking who is the last one, and you also ask who is second to last. Why? The line could be long and some people give up waiting sometimes. So it is always good to know the last two in line. Once you have your position in line you can move around. Most people look for a place with shade, under a nearby tree, a nearby house entry or similar. Since everyone is doing that during the hot hours of the day it might appear that there is no line, but when the bus shows up and nears the station suddenly people come from all directions and the line reconstitutes.

People have time and they do appreciate comfort when and where available. Once we were in line to catch a bus at the beach to head back to town. The bus was full and about another 50 people were waiting in line and we at the very end. When the bus driver then asked who wants to go standing, hardly anybody volunteered and we actually got on the bus.

Slogans

But there are also standardized slogans that are equal across the whole country. The most popular ones are: "Ever onward until victory" (Hasta la Victoria siempre), something Che had said four decades ago. "In every neighborhood revolution" (En cada barrio revolucion) which can be found it seems in every street at least once. "Always on guard" (Siempre con la guardia alta), "Socialism or death" (Socialismo o muerte), "Fatherland or death" (Patria o muerte), "To be like Che" (Ser come Che), "Yes one can" (Si se puede), "We are loyal" (Somos fieles), "Always one step more" (Siempre un paso mas), and "To die for the Fatherland is to live" (Morir por la patria es vivir). These slogans you hear and see over and over again. If that happens during 40 years you tend to get brain washed. One of the key messages seems to be that dying for the revolution is the best, highest and noblest deed you could ever do in your life. Everything is allowed if it is in the name of the fatherland.

Food Packaging

Control

The 3 Biggest Achievements of the Revolution

How good is "free" healthcare if there are no drugs available? An 18-year-old mother of a 2-year old told us that her baby is sick. We asked why she is not taking her child to the hospital. She said that she took it there twice in the past but that they can't do anything about it as they don't have any medication. Antibiotics, for example, are not available in Cuba. Pharmacies are stores with empty shelves. When we wanted to buy something against my bad soar throat, we ask if they have anything against soar throat. The answer was "no". Any pain killer or aspirin? No. Anything against runny nose? No. What do you have? Something that helps to clean the lungs. So much for pharmacies. While certain drugs are really unavailable, others are available at tourist hospitals, where you can buy them against hard earned dollars. So the Cuban health care is free, but if you want to buy a single simple medicine, if it is available at all, it will cost you the equivalent of a 1- month salary ($10) or more. Most Cubans cannot afford medicine that costs $10. To me that implies that Cuban health care in reality isn't free as only the rich can afford the drugs.

Next I ask; how good is "free" education if nobody can afford it? True, everyone receives free pre-school and high school. Also true that the revolution achieved that all Cubans can read and write. These are excellent achievements. But very few can go to the university. The university is free but the government sells the books to the students at expensive US$ prices. With the average monthly Cuban salary at $10, who can afford to buy 2 to 3 university books for his son or daughter, when each one costs $15 and more? Once again, only the rich can send their kids to the university.

How about security - the third achievement of the revolution? There is very little crime in Cuba. It is an extremely safe place. They say there are some pickpockets on the buses and supposedly some purse snatching takes places sometimes. The punishment is very hard and with 7 person of the workforce working for the government control apparatus most crimes get solved. So the low crime rate is not too surprising. If an act of crime happens, the Cubans are very tight lipped. They won't tell you anything at all.

As a joke I would say that there is no crime, because the government doesn't like competition. The government's price fixing and overcharging of both locals and tourists seems to be the biggest "crime" you will encounter. It uses its monopoly to extract the last dollar from the pockets of locals and foreigners alike. It is illegal for locals to make money on the side or without a government license. For example, when somebody acts as a tour guide to you to show you, say, some features of a national park to make a couple of dollars, it is illegal and the guide risks being thrown into jail. Making a handful of US dollars is not easy for the locals and in many cases it is actually a crime. According to some young Cuban we spoke to who was already in prison once, the prisons are filled to the rim.

Our Journey Through Cuba, Day by Day

Friday, July 27, 2001

Saturday, July 28, 2001

At night we checked out the Carnival of Havana. In comparison to Rio de Janeiro it is a low-key event. Nonetheless, thousands of people gather at the beach boulevard, but most gather to drink beer and rum. Little else was available. At midnight a parade of floats worked its way through the crowd. The floats were decorated with silver foils and colorful paper, carrying young dancers, which moved their bodies to the beat to please the on looking masses. The dancers were the best part of the carnival for me.

Sunday, July 29, 2001

Monday, July 30, 2001

In the afternoon we had a look at the Vedado neighborhood west of central Havana. It is noticeable more modern, but in the same state as the rest of the city. One of the largest ice cream stores is here, Coppelia. It was closed by the time we passed by at night. It was Cuba's answer to Baskin Robbins. In the hey-day the 5-year communist plan was to have 33 flavors, but nowadays it has usually just one flavor a day, but the flavor varies every couple of days. From Coppelia a half-hour stroll along the shore brings you to the newest square of Havana. The square is dedicated to Elian the Cuban boy that stranded shipwrecked in Miami a few years back. The square is located on purpose just outside the American Interest section so that the Cuban mass protests could be conveniently held here. In the center of the square is a statue of Jose Marti, the Cuban independence hero with a child in his arm.

Tuesday, July 31, 2001

Wednesday, August 1, 2001

In the late afternoon we caught a local truck to get us to the Indian Caves, some 4 miles north of Viñales. A rainstorm had just passed and everything was sparkling green with white reflecting water drops shining like diamonds in the fields. With 50 Cubans we were on the back of the truck driving through this marvelous and mystical landscape. Some portions are flat and farmed, others are steep rock formations jutting out of the flat areas covered with trees and shrubs. We got off right at the entrance and joined a guided tour through the caverns. We walked 100 yards into the cave system and there continued the trip on a small river with the help of a small boat with a handful of other tourists and a guide. The stalactites and stalagmites were the same as seen in many other caves but it was interesting to see it from a boat. The river eventually left the mountain and we with it. As we got out of the boat, another rain shower mounted and we hid as good as possible under a tree. The mosquitoes ate us alive but it rained too heavily as to move on. Eventually after an hour it stopped and at dusk we walked back to the village passing by water buffalos and other farm animals.

Thursday, August 2, 2001

But choices are limited. There is no public transport and no cheap hotel. We spent the night with locals in a shack in the rainforest. This is of course illegal, but for $20 for the night and fried eggs it was the cheapest alternative and also the most authentic. This was a good way to see how the Cubans really live. It was a wooden shack, rather large, consisting of two rooms that were created through a separation with wooden boards. Everything was made of wooden boards, the walls, the roof, the doors and the windows. There was electricity. We had light and to our astonishment our room even had a refrigerator. The bed and the mattress were old, saggy and with a certain odor indicating their age. The wall was adorned with pages torn from some old magazines. Some of the pictures were actually ads for French-style jewelry eggs. Weird. The floor was cemented and nice and flat. There was no shower but the toilet that formed part of the room and also was separated through several wooden boards was large. Next to the toilet was a big bucket of rainwater. I looked inside and as I saw dirt floating around. I decided I better stop looking. It is better not to know. So with a big tin can you scooped water and poured it onto yourself. Voila, you had a shower. To flush the toilet you did the same you poured water with the tin to flush. There is no water infrastructure here. People drink the rainwater. The owner assured us that it is very good water and very tasty. I decided that I would drink as little as possible and rather go to bed a bit thirsty. While we had a simple dinner another downpour started and the chicken hid under a bush and the chicks under the feathers of their mother. On the other side of the shack were a coffee tree and several banana palms. Self-sufficiency: That includes eggs, chicken meat, coffee and bananas. Not bad for a start.

Friday, August 3, 2001

We walked and hitch hiked back from Soroa to the freeway near Canelaria. Here under a bridge we waited with a large group of Cubans in the shade. Going westwards seemed easier as our colleagues on the other side of the freeway had more luck than us. We waited an hour and only the military personnel got lifts. Eventually we got lucky and got onto the back of a truck. I thought that that was it and that we would now get all the way to Havana. But we were not so lucky. An hour later we had to get off as the truck left the freeway and we found ourselves again under another bridge. We waited another hour and gave up. People told us that this is a bad bridge and that it might be better to walk to the next bridge a few miles east. Being hot and with the intense sun I hesitated but eventually I gave in. We started walking on the freeway. We barely made half a mile when I noticed a bus that had stopped under the bridge. We sprinted back with all our luggage but the bus pulled out again and started leaving. As the bus came close I started making begging gestures with my hands. And it worked, to my surprise the bus actually stopped. We got on and just hoped that it would now go in the right direction. It did. Another hour later we got off at a place just outside Havana where we could catch a public local bus. The public bus then got us to the actual bus terminal and from there we continued our trip with another 7-hour bus journey from Havana to Cienfuegos on a Cuban Astro bus.

Saturday, August 4, 2001

Sunday, August 5, 2001

In the evening we strolled to the peninsula that forms the southern portion of Cienfuegos. Here the rich had built their mansions with ocean views on both sides. Rumor has it that Fidel also has a villa here. At the end of the peninsula Punta Gorda is a little park and kids jumped from the railing into the ocean, others played volleyball and some played DJs. For a change the music was not distorted as it usually is.

Monday, August 6, 2001

Through some seedy streets at night we walked to the La Popa Church. From here on top of a hill is the best view of all of the city. During daytime you can see the whole bay including the beaches that are 5 miles (8 km) away.

Tuesday, August 7, 2001

It is pleasant to while several hours away in the shade of a tree, reading a book, be lazy, do nothing, and only move when need be.

Wednesday, August 8, 2001

The local Cuban beaches are traditionally less clean. Cubans come here, spend the whole day on the beach, picnic and leave the remainders behind. That includes leftover portions of rice, empty beer cans and cigarette butts. Since there are no toilets, you can also imagine where certain human urges are satisfied. A certain view once killed the appetite of my girlfriend and we had to switch to a different portion of the beach.

In the late afternoon we were back in town and while standing at a soda stall we got surprised by a torrential downpour. It wasn't raining, it was flooding. Within minutes the street had turned into a small river with 3 inches (7 cm) of water rushing at high speed down the street. It was amazing how quickly water can gather. We waited it out and then walked home crossing the rivers in our sandals. As soon as we were at home it started up again. I sat down on the porch in a rocking chair like a good Cuban and watched the life on the street. Some people tried to get their animals home. The kids were playing under the rain gutter opening where the rain poured out in a 10-inch wide stream. They took a shower and then just played around with the water. The clouds turned even darker and the wind blew something off the neighbor's roof. Thereafter lightning set in.

It was a unique event. Never ever had I seen anything like it. We were now both sitting in the rocking chairs watching and enjoying this spectacular performance of nature. We were surrounded by thunderstorms and bright lightning bolts sought their way to earth. Lightning bolts lashed out at a rate of one per second. This went on and one. When this show was ongoing for 5 minutes I was already impressed. That's 300 lightnings. But I was wrong; it went on and on. Even after an hour the flashes continued, not at a reduced rate of one lightning every 5 seconds but it kept on going for several hours. In total I had seen an unbelievable 1,000+ lightnings in a single evening. This is certainly a personal record for me. It was amazing.

Thursday, August 9, 2001

Friday, August 10, 2001

Saturday, August 11, 2001

We were not the first ones to arrive at the beach. Buses were already lined up. Santa Lucia is another Top-10 beach of Cuba. It is just like the beach Playa Ancon. It is endless, we walked about an hour and had seen only a small portion of the overall beach. The sand is fine and white and the water is clean, turquoise, light green and light blue. What else could you ask for? That there are no mosquitoes on the beach? There aren't. Even better. The Cuban section is in the north and there is limited shade. After having been in the Cuban section for an hour, we strolled south to see what is there and eventually got into the tourist section near some tourist hotels. There was a wooden pier with a restaurant at its end. You could jump right into the turquoise waters from the restaurant entrance. Boats were for rent and we took advantage of the trees and palms to hide from the intense sun. We passed another wonderful day on the beach and at 4 p.m. everyone went back in the same bus and same seating order they came with.

At night Camaguey celebrated the 75th birthday of their great leader and Fidel was on the television to give his birthday speech. We also wanted to celebrate this great day of this great nation with some ice cream, but unfortunately the state-run ice cream store had run out of ice cream. Standing for the closed doors we had nothing to celebrate with.

Sunday, August 12, 2001

Monday, August 13, 2001

Santiago is tightly knit into the history of the revolution. The military and armed portion of the revolution started here. It was here at the Moncada Barracks that the first shot and the first people were killed through bullets. On 26th of July 1953 Fidel and Co. stormed the barracks and were kicked out. But history turned 6 years later when the same rebels took Havana and brought Fidel to power. The date of 26 of July is still a holiday today. In Havana are mass demonstrations every year, this year there were 1 million participants at the "26 of July" demonstration against the US imprisonment of 5 Cubans accused of espionage. The motto was more or less "bring the 5 Cubans heroes home from the evil empire".

In 1953 after the failed attack the ruling government had fixed the barracks up again where bullet holes had defaced the facade of the barracks. Years later Fidel ordered that the bullet holes are re-made again. So today you have the pleasure to see the barracks as they supposedly looked like right after the attack, bullet holes included.

I personally didn't find the city too distinct from other Cuban cities. There are the traditional squares. The Plaza Mayor is memorable with a beautiful colonial house from 1516 with a wooden balcony which supposedly housed Diego Velazques, the first colonizer of Cuba. Then there is the typical modern cement memorial of Marti and other Cuban independence fighters in Parque Historico Abel Santamaria. And like in any city there is the Revolution Square with a colossal statue, here a statue of General Maceo on his horse.

Maybe I didn't find Santiago interesting because by now I had seen a handful of Cuban cities and they all seemed similar to me. By now I was tired of the traffic, the pollution, the bad smell, the smoke on the streets and the dirt. I just wanted to get away from cities. I wanted to have fresh air and be in nature. My only wish at this moment was to escape and hide in a small village, spend more time on beaches and be a bit more in nature.

Tuesday, August 14, 2001

The bus ride on Viazul to Baracoa passed by famous Guantanamo, then crossed a mountain ridge covered with dense vegetation of a rain forest and then stopped at the town most distant from Havana, Baracoa. From here it is 660 miles (1060 km) to the capital. Baracoans claim that it was here that Christopher Columbus first touched and set foot on American soil, on October 27, 1492. It was here that the Spanish conquest of South America started. Being so far away from Havana it was long neglected. It was a tiny village and there was not even a road connection to Havana. It was cut off from economic advance. Only after the revolution in 1959 was the first road built that connected Baracoa with the rest of the world. That made life easier for the people of Baracoa but the growth still stayed limited. Lucky me, because smaller is better.

We had even more luck with the timing. Just as we got to Baracoa started 4 days of festival. They celebrated the 490-year anniversary of the foundation of the city. Being the first European settlement of all of the Americas it is not surprising to find a statue of Christopher Columbus here. To even things out, they also placed a bust of the Indian Chief Hatuey at the Town Square. Chief Hatuey was killed by the Spanish and as such the plaque under his bust reads "Cuba's First Revolutionary".

The anniversary festival took place primarily at night and the whole beach boulevard was full of people. At the end of the beach boulevard is a square and here a gala performance replayed part of the revolution in a theatrical play.

Wednesday, August 15, 2001

Thursday, August 16, 2001

15 minutes further on foot, always walking east along the coast trail, is a small beach called White Beach, Playa Blanca. It is easy to miss, as it is really tiny. It is a mere 5 yards wide and the sand is white as the name already indicates. The 5-yard beach is encompassed by tall cliffs to the left and right. In the front is the big blue sea, inviting, clean and warm as always. Behind it are a handful of large trees that give a lot of shade during all hours of the day. In the morning we were the only ones here and had this gem all to ourselves.

Two locals joined us at midday and we had some in-depth discussion about the political system. We listened to their side of the story and then shared ours. Somebody's mind that has formed over 20 years cannot be changed by a 1-hour chat. It was an intriguing discussion anyway. These two locals invited us to visit some interesting near-by natural formations. They would act as our guides and show us around. Since there wasn't much else to do we accepted. Another couple joined us and off we went. We stopped at the house of one of the guides. He put on some shoes and grabbed a gunnysack. Meanwhile we waited a few minutes with his parents. Pigs, a small goat and several dogs all lived peacefully together under the same roof in the shed directly attached to the house. There was no running water here. The rainfall takes care of all needs. Electricity was available however.

The two guides were interesting characters. Both were equally charming, easy to get along with, and with a plain pleasant personality. The younger one wore shoes with holes so big that you could have put your hand through. The second was a few years older and wore golf shoes that somebody must have given him as a present 20 years ago. The T- shirt was torn multiple times and partially sewn. Around his waist he wore a wide belt with a metal buckle that was rusty and the rusty buckle had stained his T-shirt equally red-brown in the vicinity of the belt. He wore the belt to carry a plastic holster for his machete. The sunglasses were from the same decade as his golf shoes. They were large and taken right out of a Starsky and Hutch episode. To top it off he wore an olive green military cap.

Looks are of course deceiving. They did all the things we weren't able to do. Both of them worked as coconut collectors, that was their job. The older one climbed a couple of coconut palms to cut off a dozen coconuts as refreshment. We drank the water and ate the white oily fruit flesh. For fun he climbed a vine and on the way to the interesting formations they explained the vegetation, what the plants are used for, from medicine to making ropes or masks for carnival. Our primary destinations were a balcony in the cliffs and a water filled cave. Just 100 yards from the coast are vertical cliffs 20 yards high. Thousands or millions of years ago the ocean has first formed and then left behind a corridor, a balcony, in these cliffs. Midway up at a height of 10 yards is walkway in the cliffs. For most part it is 6 or 7 feet tall, so one can walk comfortably, in some spots you have to crawl on all four to squeeze through some narrow spots. This corridor is several miles long. Throughout the walk one has perfect views of the ocean and the coconut palms that have filled the area between the sea and the cliffs.

We reached the balcony by climbing 10 yards up in the cliffs using the old hand-made rope that the younger guide brought in his gunnysack. More than 500 years ago Indians who left nothing more than some petroglyphs behind used the balcony. Making it down the cliffs was easy and not far from the point of descent was the promised cave. A bottle of petroleum appeared from the gunnysack. With a piece of cloth in the bottle opening the bottle was turned into a torch. With the help of two torches we climbed down into the pitch-dark cave on wooden ladders. On the bottom of the cave we found cold, transparent freshwater, perfect for a bath in the half-darkness lit only by two small torches. With the clothing gone we stepped into the wet cold. On a day with 104 degrees F (40 C) such cold water is a welcome relief. The water is some 6 feet deep and the water filled cave consists of two chambers. With the reflection of the torch on the wall and the partial darkness it is a bit scary.

Russian divers came here once with heavy equipment to explore the cave. It is a lot larger than it appears but only for well experienced and equipped people. For us it was sufficient pleasure to wash of the sweat and enjoy the refreshing cool water. Our two guides were such good company that this was one of my most memorable afternoons in Cuba.

Friday, August 17, 2001

The festival continued for another night with music and delicious food. It was an opportunity to eat roast pig sandwiches or rice, potatoes and fish instead of the typical pizzas we had nearly once every day. The Cubans washed it down with bottles of beer or big glasses of rum.

Saturday, August 18, 2001

The beaches in Yumuri aren't noteworthy either. They are also the average gray-sand beaches with several large trees providing shade. Looking for better beaches I swam half a mile in the ocean to have a look at two other beaches that were cut off from ours through steep rocks. On the way back a rainstorm surprised me. It poured and the rain hit my face. It was an interesting experience. The sky was dark gray, the waves were a tiny bit taller than before, but they were still small, luckily no more than two feet. I had to watch out for rocks hidden under to water surface. The wind was blowing in my face and the current was against me, but it too was luckily very slow. I made sure by checking very frequently with the coastline that I was advancing in the right direction and that the current didn't push me further away. For a few moments I thought I am stupid, and that I don't need to do that to myself, putting myself into such a situation that is; but at the same time I enjoyed the game and also the rain in my face. Before I made it back to the beach where I started the rain had stopped again. It was a good workout.

Up the river Yumuri is an island surrounded to both sides by the river and then the steep valley. The valley represented a sharp V-shape and the riverbed was easily 100 yards below the valley rim. Everything was lush and densely vegetated. We had a hustler talk us into taking a guided tour of the island. We were promised a coffee plantation, a plantation of cacao, other plants used for medical purposes, an Indian ruin and more. The tourist boat that brings you the 100 yards from the riverbank to the island charges $1. The unofficial guide of course cannot afford that and swam. I did the same. On the island we were shown exactly medical plant, sage, good against colds and soar throat. We were shown exactly one coffee tree, exactly one cocoa tree outside the cocoa season and a portion of riverbank that looked just like all the other rocks around it where supposedly Indians once housed. One can't really say that the hustler lied; it is just that he vastly exaggerated. It was just funny, because we expected something like it. It might even be that they planted the coffee and cocoa tree there a long time ago to make up this selling technique. It didn't matter much, what counted more was that the valley was beautiful. We went for a swim in the river and paid the guide what we had promised him.

The 20-mile bus ride back to Baracoa took 2 full hours. Uphill when the bus was in first gear and barely moved forward, I started to have doubts that we would make it to the hilltop. But we did.

Sunday, August 19, 2001

Monday, August 20, 2001

The whole afternoon the electricity was gone. That also meant that for the third day in a row there was no ice cream available in the ice cream store. You already notice that ice cream was a cornerstone in my Cuban culinary survival strategy.

Tuesday, August 21, 2001

Wednesday, August 22, 2001

Thursday, August 23, 2001

Varadero is not for tourists only. The government awarded and still awards Varadero vacations to good communists for outstanding revolutionary behavior. But of course most Cubans come here on their own, as day-trippers on trucks and buses or maybe even spending a week of vacation here. The beaches in the west of the peninsula are predominantly for Cuban beach goers. The further east you walk the closer you get to the 5-star all-inclusive resorts of foreign tourists, and the less Cubans and more foreigners you see on the beaches. The whole peninsula is an uninterrupted beach of 8 miles length.

A famous writer said that all Cuban beaches are made of grated silver, but that the sand on the beaches of Varadero is made of grated silver mixed with diamond dust. The sand is white and fine as dust. The water is turquoise like on postcards and shallow so you can walk forever before your feet stop feeling the ground beneath them. It is a very nice beach, another one of the Top-10 beaches of Cuba. Under thatched umbrellas one can even find shade. What one cannot find here is tranquility and loneliness. It is a popular place and wherever you go there are people. Crowded or not, it is worth a day.

Friday, August 24, 2001

Playa del Este is a local Cuban vacation resort. Cubans rent little apartments there and enjoy the beach life. We have seen a bit of Santa Maria del Mar, Boca Ciega, and Guanabo. All are very similar; all are low-key beach resorts. The beaches are known for their sand dunes that pile up to several yards. In the sand dunes some dozens of yards from the waterline are palm trees giving shade to sensitive-skin people like myself. The sand is white, the water pleasant, and while you are not alone there aren't any big masses either. It is justified to find Playa del Este also under the Top-10 beaches of Cuba.

Saturday, August 25, 2001

Last words? Cuba might not be for everyone. Especially the cities were not sufficiently rewarding for me to spend a lot of time in them. I'd recommend spending more time on the beaches and in the smaller villages where and when possible. And don't forget: Hasta la victoria siempre - Ever onward until victory.