Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
May - June 2000
Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Camaguey, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Varadero, Pinar del Rio & Vinales
Brett Voegele2005-11-14 12:17:28
Displayed times (last time: )
Rating: 5.00 out of 5.00. 1 members have rated this article
of the area due to the many limestone formations reminds one of provinces in China. Explored a few caves in the area, got drenched in a downpour while hitching a ride on the back of someone's motorcycle, and did a lot of hiking. Nice region, with a relaxed atmosphere, men plowing their fields with oxen, and good cigars. Definitely one of the most beautiful regions of Cuba.
Havana
From Vinales it was time to head back to Havana for 4 days to complete my trip. Havana ranks as one of the most beautiful cities I've been fortunate to see, and I can only imagine how much more impressive it must have been in the 50's before everything fell into a state of disrepair. Did a lot of walking to see some of the major sites - museum of the revolution, with it's important tanks (one Fidel used during the Bay of Pigs), boat (which brought Fidel and 82 others from Mexico to Cuba to start the revolution), and numerous pictures; Revolution Plaza where Fidel addresses the people of Cuba, and which contains a building with a huge outline of Che; the forts protecting the bay; a bar full of character, which was one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite hangouts; and the numerous parks and monuments. Also toured a cigar factory - watching the various steps in the process, from selecting the right leaves, to rolling and pressing the cigars, to the quality control, sorting by color, and adding the labeling to the cigars and boxes. Definitely a tedious process, as each worker is expected to roll approximately 200 cigars/day - depending on the type of cigar being rolled.
Final Observations
Spandex seems to be the national costume on the women....spandex tops, bottoms, or full-body suits. That isn't bad on the younger women, but less than appealing on some of the older women, where even the stretchability of spandex seems to be put to the test! Men were generally very fit, with little fat, from some of the difficult, manual work. There were many slogans on walls or coins - "country or death", "socialism or death", "anti-imperialists", "yankee we are not afraid of you", etc. Last, one of the strangest requests I've heard from beggars, and I heard it several times in Cuba......soap.
See photographs from:
Cuba Gallery
Welcome to the Third World that your ancestrus and other relatives created from their huge selfishness and racism that still perdures in the superficial and even sillier comments of your "travel notes"
Last thing, I live in Canada with all the benefits of the First World and, I've seen way more women giving away their honour and almost everything not for some money to feed their families but for some bucks to buy "good stuff"
Guess what? Who's bitcher? I think you've already got it!!
You'd better stay in your "native paradise" or get some good deal to visit Heaven a make a decent remark after.
Good luck looser!!!
Regards from your CUBAN Nemesis
YOUR CUBAN NEMESIS, 2008-01-23 05:06:58