Part 5- The Cuban Trilogy- Cigars, Cofee and Rum.

Yes I have skipped part 4- but will fill you all in later regarding the Inca adventure. For now, I am in Cuba, at Hotel Seville, listening to live Cuban music in the background and trying not to choke on the pungent smell of strong cuban cigars. First impression of Cuba - a man at the airport (an airport official of some sort) standing infront of a NO SMOKING SIGN, smoking a cigarette. There you have it. Funnily enough, the three most popular items in Cuba are Cigars, coffee and rum (none of which I consume - but Dev - you would love it!).

Everyday is a Sunday in cuba. Somewhat like India. We are on vacation, but the problem is, so are the cubans. So the word "efficiency" or "customer service" is absent from the cuban dictionary. People stand in queues waiting for a bus that may come in 5 minutes or even 2 hours. "People watching" is the number one pass time. You will find locals sitting around literally doing nothing for hours. Cubans are not allowed to buy or sell property. Wages average about USD$10 per month. Generations live in one small apartment which the government has total control over. There is no such thing as ownership- not of tangibles and certainly not of responsibility. If your hotel runs out of water, deal with it. If it's on the menu, just don't expect it to be in the kitchen. Shyama ordered toast and butter at a popular place called Hotel Inglaterra today - the answer from the waiter was "no". No toast and butter today....hmmm. This was about the 4th time we have heard "no".

My first 2 days in Cuba- nightmare! We just wanted to get out! At the airport, the money exchange lady tried to rip me off by giving me less and when i insisted on a receipt, she said she lost it (in the span of 5 seconds...hmmm). The people were not helpful at the hotel and it was impossible to commuicate our disappointment in the services. The streets felt unsafe especially for women. Nonetheless, once we did a city tour (which I highly recommend) with a local who explained the workings of the Cuban culture - we began to appreciate Cuba for what it is. As the tour leader stated "don't try and understand Cuba, just accept it".

Ok- come tips:

Habana Libre is a fantastic 4 or 5 star hotel, after which everything failed in comparison. It's best not to go into a hotel off the street - better to go to a tourist bureau or agency to geta good deal on hotels. Otherwise we spent one night in a casa (local's home) which costs $25 USD per night. This is a great way to stay on a budget.

Cuban food for vegetarian's non-existent. But we have eaten at some great restaurants including El Barracon in Habana Libre and a meditteranean restaurant in Park Central Hotel.

Cuba has 2 currencies (go figure)- the CUC convertible cuban pesos and the local currency called Nacionales/pesos. Do NOT exchange your money into Nacionales. We thought we needed both currencies so we changed on USD$20 into Nacionales of 360. But we are finding it impossible to use this currency as it is worthless. We are trying to get rid of it in tips and giving it to beggars. Yesterday Shyama and I were about to throw all our Nacionales off a balcony of a nice Irish pub called O'Reilleys - but we had forgotten our Nacionales at home. The currency is worth nothing but the locals earn wages in Nacionales. I hope I have made my point. Also - DO NOT BRING the US Dollar or the Aussie Dollar. The commission on USD is upto 20%. It's best to bring Euros, which guess what? -Neither me or Shyama brought...lol.

My favourite thing about Cuba would be the music. It's everywhere! And all cuban's can dance! We saw an amazing band and fashion show on Saturday night at Habana libre 25th floor. And the dancing was incredible - Shyama and I were intimidated to get on the dance floor. The cuban people are beautiful people - both men and women. But it's always the ugly ones that whistle at you on the street. Hotel Nacionales had a spectacular Cabaret show which we saw. It was very colourful - but cabaret is not our style. Everyone says to check out Casa De La Musica, which we went to yesterday but it was closed. Instead we ended up at some bar where they had a cuban girl band and everyone dancing salsa. Music was pretty poor but we joined in the dancing.

After the painful Inca Trek- Shyama and I wanted to unwind - but we have been pretty stressed out so far in Cuba. We are going to a resort at Varadero for 2 nights to lay on the beach. Our initial plan was to go to the country side/ mountains in Vinales since everyone has recommended it. But after the spectucular Andes in Peru and the excruciating climbing - we have chosen the beach over mountains.

Here's another tip - Shyama and I didn't realise that breakfast was included as part of our stay at Habana Libre. On the second day we discovered an endless breakfast buffet unlike any other we have seen. You could choose your juices/shakes. there were atleast 50-80 items. It's on level 2 at Habana Libre. They don't check your room number so just walk in like you stay there and get yourself a free breakfast of a lifetime! make sure you try the guava shake....delicious!

For those who are writing in - thank you...please keep doing it. I will try and write back but it is too difficult since all the intructions are in spanish and I don't know what the icons mean.

Ciao!

Jag.