… in Cuba! Exactly - it’s been almost 3 years months since the last time I wrote something down here so it’s high time to finish what I started, don’t you agree? I am writing to you from the aftermath of a 10-month trip but in view of lovely memories it’s all the more pleasant to write about stuff that happened. And A LOT happened down there in Cuba, so let’s get started…

Right here I mentioned my ability to run into the most random situations and this has been overly confirmed during the month I spent in Cuba. I’m talking ancient times, 18 April 2009 A.D….

How to get to Cuba - It’s so simple. I should’ve known. Cuba, Cubana Airlines and e-tickets, it just doesn’t add up. But yet I somehow did assume all would be fine. My flight was bound to leave around 9.30am and somehow I still hadn’t seen anyone from Cubana Air by 8.30. Luckily I bumped into another few people who were bound to be on the same flight, so at least I got some assurance I wasn’t completely wrong. We managed to get in touch with some guy from the airline by phone, who subsequently came to the airport by bike. Easy to recognise him as he

was the only one riding around the main terminal on a bicycle! A short conversation resulted in the following explanation: “As there’s only four of you, we decided not to operate this flight, sorry!” … ehhh, so what do we do now? “Three of you can be rebooked on a flight to Cuba through Panama City”. Right, you feel it coming… “…with the exception of Mr Miltenburg, as he was informed of this situation previously”. WTF!? I asked him when and how as despite many hangovers, I never noticed anything; “I’ll call the office, hang on…” (he calls and reverts back to me) “They sent you an e-mail half an hour ago”. One thing in life I’m strictly convinced of is the fact fighting is for losers, so a simple look from my end seemed to change things: “I’ll have you booked along with the other three on the flight through Panama”. Viva Cubana - here we go!

Alright, so apart from a little intercambio de equipaje (don’t feel like explaining, sorry) we landed in Habana around 1am. Hurray! Next up: getting through customs. This should be simple and straightforward and for tourists it obviously is, however one Cuban guy on our flight didn’t seem to get through. The reason: despite his double nationality he couldn’t take any luxury goods into the country, unless he paid some serious $$$ tax. Being the angel I am (LOL), I decided to be of a little help by saying his bag with luxury goods was mine. The response from customs was simple: “It’s not” . My statement “Wanna prove it’s not?” seemed to be enough to let us through… after which the bag magically disappeared in the arrivals hall, despite my newly-made Cuban friend staying with me. So yes, I smuggled. And although I’m not proud of it, it’s still funny :)

My reward consisted of a free night of sleep; I was taken to the guy’s (Osmar is his name) parents and got to stay in a small Cuban apartment, after a nightly walk through Habana, which is quite the experience in itself! A combination of decaying colonial grandeur, Cubans hanging out and drunk tourists… it’s all in the mix! Down at the apartment I was amazed by the way things looked - it’s nowhere near poverty but it’s the fact the newest piece of equipment in the room dated back to 1975… check the pics to get an idea!

The next day consisted of a short walk through Habana and a take-off to Varadero. Yes - that’s the place full of tourists, outrageously priced hotels and so forth… a place I would definately skip if it wasn’t for a friend staying there! Getting there is half the fun (again!) since there don’t seem to be any buses on Sunday (!?) and the only means of transport - though illegal - is by a 1950s Chevrolet taxi. Yaay!! Huffing, puffing, coughing and bumping (I mean the taxi, not me!) we got to Varadero. While searching for my friend I initially wasn’t let into the resort. The reason: looks and way of dressing in general - welcome to Varadero, though I can’t state they were entirely wrong ;)

Varadero officially has no underground scene (illegal taxis, houses for rent, restaurants, etc) so it took a whole 10 minutes to arrange all of that, which for Cuban measures is a record (in terms of slowness, not speediness). Hurray and respect for my casita - I was right on the beach, in the non-touristy area! The best game to play on the beach was “Find the white guy” (really hard!) and at the same time my friend arranged a resort-wristband for me so I could make use of some 5-star facilities down the road as well. Sweet!

After a little bit of beach (just can’t get enough…) it was time to hit Habana again, in bright daylight this time! What can I say - blabla colonial stuff, old buildings, culture, cigars, old cars (yay!) etcetcetc… you probably heard most of it before so enjoy the series of pictures below!

Next up (Wednesday, that is): How to travel east and meeting a bunch of MacGyvers! Stay tuned!

-René

[Show as slideshow]

Habana - every random street corner...

Habana skyline

Solicalism is everywhere!