Cuba 2003
22.3.2003 Havana
Arrived at the airport and got the bicycles in good shape from the
handlers. Surprisingly the officials do not want to search the boxes
with the bikes and just wave us through customs to arrivals. Taxi for
18$ takes us and the two big boxes to the pre-booked casa particular
(B&B) in Vedado.
We set out for a walk right away. First we head south for a historical
cemetery, then back north-east to the Havana Vieja. The Square of the
Revolution is very impressive - huge place with the Marti monument and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decorated by big Che sculpture. Young
pioneers play at the monument that stands tall above the largely empty
square.
The Havana Vieja is the old part of Havana. Buildings falling appart,
street food and the looks of a poor subburbs - but this is just meters
from the still noble Paseo del Prado and the historical Havana center.
Walking these places again and again doesn't feel like stereotype and
it feels quite safe also at nights.
24.3.2003 Havana - Playa Baracoa - Havana
Dist: 52,7 Km, Time: 3:23, Average: 15,5 Km/h, Max: 32Km/h
This is a test trip. As we plan top leave Havana to the west, this trip
runs along the first 25 km. The way west runs along the weird Russian
embassy, bunch of high-end hotels, sepermarket and later Marina
Hemingway. Later the road leaves the subburbs, the road gets rather
empty and biking gets better. The Playa Baracoa is nothing as nice as
Playas del Este. It has a strip of a rocky and dirty beach with few
nice bars. But as training destination it is ok.
25.3.2003 Havana - Playa Baracoa - Las Terassas - Vila Soroa,
Dist: 106 Km,Time: 6:49, Average: 15,5 Km/h, Max: 54 Km/h
We start from Vedado, follow the trip to Baracoa and go on without
stopping. In just an hour or two the road is free of cars. There are
small military bases every now and then, sea through the trees on the
right and good road. Later we get on a highway - again almost deserted.
The feeling of biking on a nice three-lane highway with beautifull
cultivated bushes separating the oppposite directions is something new
to us. We leave the highway and follow small road into the first hills.
In few kilometers the road is gravel and potholes. In a small village
in the hills there is even a school for the few kids there are - nice
touch. Late in the afternoon we reach the border of the national park,
pay the entry fee and do not get diverted to a "nice conditioned casa"
and insist on going to a campsite.
The campsite is empty. Just two guys running the place who tell us they
have no space left for us to stay overnight. All talks get us nowhere
and as we are really pissed we go on few kilometers to the holiday
village of Las Terasas. Bridge splitting a lake in two, nice colorful
houses and lush hotels in the hills look just nice. But the hotel
prices are rather hefty and offered accomodation without a view so we
decide to go on 20 kilometers more to Vila Soroa.
But this short stage proves to be the worst climb in the the day. We go
slower and slower and then we still have to push the loaded bicycles
for few more kilometers before we see the road starting to descend down
the vallye. Few more kilometers and we are at the beautiful Vila Soroa.
26.3.2003 Vila Soroa
As we have arrived rather late we were badly surprised by the
receptionist - no space for us here either. That is the second place
today and we are wery tired. We buy a bottle of water and in despair
sit on a stone in front of the entrance staring at the huge bus that
apparently brought in all those turists. It turns six o'clock and the
receptionist comes out and gives us the last remaining bungallow.
Reserved for check-in till six, nobody turned up. With a luck we are
going to spend two nights here, at my favorite place in Cuba. The casa
is a small house with air-conditioning, big bathroom and natural
ventilation (no need for air-con). Our bikes fit inside the big bedroom
and through the back window we see the jungle few meters away whilst
the front leads to the pool.
Next day we decide to stay here. We swim from the morning, take a walk
in the morning and in the afternoon and rest well. Yesterday's load of
turists left in after breakfast and new load comes with the bus in the
aternoon. They run around, take few pictures, have few drinks and go
sleep. We feel so much more like locals, out of the routine, and promis
ourselves never go with such bus trips ever :-)
27.3.2003 Vila Soroa - Entronque de los Palacios - San Diego de los
Banos
Dist: 62 Km,Time: 3:30, Average: 17,7 Km/h, Max: 47,5 Km/h
Downhill for few kilometers from Vila Soroa before we another highway.
This time ther is some traffic and the head wind is strong. Frm the
highay we turn to the village of Entronque de los Palacios, where at a
bus stop we buy simple sandwiches and local lemonade. With no traffic
we go on and soon we are at the San Diego de los Banos. Not much choice
of accomodacion so we settle for a room and a dinner and experience our
first reall regular black-out, for which everyone is ready, except for
us. A local resident speaking russian stops by as he has overheart that
there are russian tourists in town and spends full hour chatting about
old times in Moscow:-)
We spend a dark night in a room with one big cockroach, a rather
exceptional encounter. Amazingly even though the cuban houses often do
not have glass in the windows, there are rarely any mosquitoes or bugs
in the rooms. Really good news for travellers.
28.3.2003 San Diego de los Banos - Guira - La Palma - Rancho San
Vincente
Dist: 78 Km,Time: 6:12, Average: 12,5 Km/h, Max: 50 Km/h
Early morning we leave the rather boring San Diego and cross the
river over a rotten old bridge (though the new one is just minutes
away) and head for the national park of La Guira. The landscape is
realy pictoresque with huts, fields, plantationa and piglets. The
entrance is really impressive and the climbs get us sweating really
soon. Asfalt gets worse all the time and some places we just try
staying off the potholes. Not a single car passes through here as we go
and the birds and scenery are just perfect.
Descend from Guíra is steep and reveals for the first time the
nice and very special hills of the Vinales region. The old house in the
tree are not where they used to be we learned, so we just go on to La
Palma. There is a market, pizza and drinks for sale and then we just
continue to Rancho San Vincente - part of the same chain as the Vila
Soroa, where we hope to get accomodation.
The place is quite nice, but the swiming pool is really small. So we
choose to go and bike down to Vinales. We do some shopping there, buy
food and actually wonder what is so special about this town, except for
being full of turists and therefore overpriced.
29.3.2003 Rancho San Vincente - Vinales - Cayo Jutias
Dist: 70 Km,Time: 4:22, Average: 16 Km/h, Max: 57,5 Km/h
Through Vinales we bike all the morning and enjoy the hills around
us. Later in the afternoon we have to get through the hills to the
beaches. The day is really hot, tarmac almost liquid in the ascend and
no shadow to hide. There doesn't seem to be an end to the steep ascends
and descends and we are really happy to see the sea at last.
But there is still some 20 km to go to the beaches of Cayo Jutias.
Entry fee is required, which gives you right for a free drink at the
beach. The island feels really hot with sand and bushes and sea around.
Sand is white and really fine grained. But there is no shade on the
whole beach. We stay off hte sun by stting in the warm water for few
hours with our heads sticking out in hats. Then the turists start to
dissapear and we pitch the tent. Before it gets dark, a local guy
recommends, and he is right as the amount of mosquitoes that arrive
with the dark is enormous. The sand under the tent is still hot and it
is really hot inside all the night.
30.3.2003 Playa Jutias - Puerto Esperanza
Dist: 48,5 Km,Time: 2:51, Average: 17 Km/h, Max: 40,5 Km/h
With not much to eat we set out early in the morning, follow the 20
km back to mainland and then take gravel road to Puerto Esperanza.
There is nothing along the way except for two small villages.
Puerto Esperanza is definitelly not a tourist spot, so the prices are
low. We get a very nice dinner at our casa and as the weather worsens
experience very windy night with rain and obligatory short black-out.
31.3.2003 Puerto Esperanza - Vinales - Pinal del Rio - (bus) Havana
Dist: 60 Km,Time: 3:51, Average: 15,7 Km/h, Max: 44 Km/h
As the weather has improved a substantialy we leave for Vinales
(again) and then to Pinal del Rio. Some funny local is trying to follow
us for almost 30 kilometers before he finally disappears. We do not
even stop in Vinales, go on climb a hill and descend towards Pinal del
Rio. Aware of the local "jitineros" we do not stop even when being
challenged to and get lost in search of a casa. Surprisingly the first
local we speak to speaks czech fluently and helps us out.
But we do not like the place at all. We decide that it doesn't live to
the expectations and we feel too much tourists here. The decision to go
back to Havana by a bus is made and we board a tourist bus and get back
to Havana in few hours. The ride on the highway is rather bumpy as at
some points the bus driver tries hard to avoid bigger holes. Needless
to say there were only tourists on the bus:-)
Arriving unexpectedly to Havana in the evening we manage to find a
casa. It has ceiling of at least 5 meters high, thick walls and could
be mistaken
for an embassy easilly. The home owner fits perfectly for an
italian football player and a misunderstanding over a breakfast might
as well been an Fool's Day joke.
1.4.2003 Havana - Cojimar - Guanaba - Jibacoa
Dist: 67 Km,Time: 5:37, Average: 11,9 Km/h, Max: 29,6 Km/h
We start slowly. First the misunderstanding over the breakfast,
then we move few blocks to a local market where we buy some sandwiches
(pan con jamon) and drinks for breakfast. Then we spend long time
looking for a bus stop to get over the bay to the east part of Havana.
Finally there we pass the sport stadium and stop in nearby Cojimar for
a "lunch".
Followind partly the highway with a lot of traffic and then smaler
parallel roads we get soon to Guanaba. This place wuld be full packed
by tourists this time of year, but the high wind and big waves left the
place completelly deserted and the roads full of sand. We decide to go
on.
There is a very strong head wind. Our speed is around 11 kilometers per
hour and even this means rather hard pedalling. After 2 hours of such
wind our shoulders and legs start to hurt. But there is nothing around
except for small oil fields. We even think about stopping a car to bet
a ride for some 20 kilometers. Later in the afternoon we get to a
roadside bar and ask way to Jibacoa. "Just cross the bridge and take
the path left" say both the book and locals. So we do and find
ourselves at the reception of the Case Jibacoa. Empty as well and we
get a two floor house with a sea view - but there is nothing to see and
the weather is promising a night storm.
2.4.2003 Jibacoa - Valle de Yumuri - Rancho XXX - Matanzas
Dist: 53 Km,Time: 4:17, Average: 12,4 Km/h, Max: 43,5 Km/h
The breakfast was late and nothing to talk about. Quickly we pack
and with a promise of nice weather set off. First we follow few
kilometers of sea side road with hotels and then just plain road in
increasingly hilly and deserted terrain. The road is so boring that we
take the book's recomendation and seek the turn to the Valle de
Yumuri. The turn is a dirty road in a middle of longer uphil.
Once we estabish this must be it, we turn there and soon start enjoying
the peace of the country road in the hills. Cows, chicken and some
piglets are part of the small huts we find every now and then. Later
the road starts descending and turns into normal tarmac and soon we are
at the Rancho.
The Rancho doesn't impress us - small pool, nobody there and bored
employees - so we better continue along the road towards Matanzas. As
we have made a nice loop we enter the city from the other side and
spend some time driving in the direction we would have come from.
Finally recognizing the catch we turn back and drive through all the
city back to its east part searching for a casa. But here is nothing to
be found, until in despair we get to city's very east end where many of
the very nice looking villas offer rooms. Happy to find it we pick up
the best looking one, which says to belong to a doctor. The room we get
is perfect and the house is very nice and quiet. We spend another hour
or two walking around and then go sleep.
3.4.2003 Matanzas - Limonar - Jovellanos - La Isabel - Jaguey Grande
Dist: 95,5 Km,Time: 5:28, Average: 17,4 Km/h, Max: 38,5 Km/h
Now we will try crossing the island in its narrow point from north
to the south. Almost. Leaving Matanzas in the morning we find ourselves
in the middle of sugar cane harvest with nasty trucks roaming otherwise
empty roads and giving us some scary moments. This lasts till
Jovellanos, where we buy some pan con jamon, get a icy soft drink and
then go on to La Isabel. Plantations of cane are soon replaced with
oranges and the road to and from La Isabel is a straight line between
the orange trees. Few more kilometers along a highway (with locals
showing off that they can go faster on their ancient bicycles than we
on our crappy mountain bikes) and we arrive at Australia.
To our surprise, the hotel is full. And local casas seem to be full
too. Some young lady promises us a casa "near", which ends up being few
kilometers north in Jaguey Grande. But the room here in very nice and
as we feel the house owners got to pay the lady a provision we wait
till she leaves and ask the "ama de casa" for a nice dinner, which she
happily prepares. Before that we take a walk, get ultra cheap local ice
cream and get the feeling that this is a really boring place indeed.
The nice dinner makes things better and we sleep in a nice room with a
colorfull lizard on the wall (I guess it at least keeps the room bugs
free:-)
4.4.2003 Jaguey Grande - Australia - Playa Larga - Playa Giron
Dist: 69 Km,Time: 3:58, Average: 17,4 Km/h, Max: 25,3 Km/h
Crocodiles and war history. Thats on the menu today. First we go
back to Australia, take some confusing turns there and then go through
the nature reserve where the crocodiles breed and live. Needless to say
we do not see any till the arrive at the tourist station. Crocodile
tours, zoo and restaurant are all here but closed at this early hours
on morning (read before 10 AM). So we go on. Soon we find our first big
red crab. Right there in the grass in the middle of nowere. I'm amazed.
Another thing are the monuments to the victims of the Bay of Pigs
invasion that are getting more and more common as we get close to the
sea. Both the monuments and the crabs are getting common as we arrive
at Playa Larga, the place the main invasion begun.
The spot is excellent for swimming and snorchelling. But really hot and
sunny and with some local tourists. After and hour at the beach we go
on to Playa Giron. On the half-way there is the Fish cave - Cueva de
los pesces. The guy at the entrance turns out to speak perfect Czech
too and I'm double amazed. We get lots of advices from him and go swim
in the calm water of the cave with the colorfull fish.
Later in teh afternoon we continue to Playa Giron. The crabs are now
everywhere as it is late afternoon and they are making their way from
the inland back to the sea, crossing the hot tarmac road and getting
killed in thousands by cars and bicycles alike. The bushes are all
moving with crabs, the road is covered by their squashed bodies and the
redish dust of their crusts. They run in panic in all directions as we
try to pass without killing too many of them and without getting a flat
tire from their hard shells.
Finally we are at Playa Giron, where the second part of the invasion
landed and where all the adventure ended. Almost all the casas are full
but we manage to get accomodation for one night at a house of local
diver instructor and speciality cook. The fish we have for dinner is
like nothing I have seen or ate before. I definitelly want to ty this
one once again:-)
5.4.2003 Playa Giron - Caleta Buena - Playa Giron
Dist: Km,Time: , Average: Km/h, Max: Km/h
Today we just move our stuff to a casa next door and then set out
early morning to be first at the Caleta Buena - a natual mini bay with
fish wathing, swimming, drinks and food all day inclusive tourist
place. Fighting our way throught the crabs moving from the sea inland
this time we get there in hour. The place would be nice witout all the
tourists around. The water is clear and hot, sun is burning like hell
and all drinks are free - so the locals get drunk fast and get really
noisy. On the way back we see that all the precautions we took against
the strong sun were in vain - I have strong sunburn on my belly and
Tatiana has burned her heels as the only part she didn't cover:-( We
have a sleepless night ahead filled with bad pain.
6-7.4.2003 Recovery days at Playa Giron
The next day we know we are not biking anywhere. I cannot bend myself
with the sunburn and she has swollen heels. We pack and try asking for
a hotel room just a kilometer away. We get a small house with three
times a day food and drikns included for reasonable 47 USD. A visit to
a local doctor doesn't help the sunbur much and costs some dollars too.
We spend all the day inside hiding from the sun and get our only in the
very evening to get a dinner and drinks. The next day we do almost the
same :-( Two days lost to a sunburn ...
8.4.2003 Playa Giron - Castillo de Jagua - Cienfuegos
Dist: 65 Km,Time: -, Average: - Km/h, Max: - Km/h
The sunburn is still painfull but we have to move. To avoid the sun
we leave early in the morning and dissapear into the bushes of the
coastal sandy road soon. Crabs are here again and with them the slalom
and constant swearing. It is hot and dusty but we have no problems
getting through the coastal path to the Cuban only nuclear power plant
(not operational) and the Castillo de Jagua. A noble name for a village
falling apart. There we get on a tourist boad with our bicycles and
cruise the bay to Cienfuegos.
Cienfuegos is the most unexpected good surprise. As the Pinal del Rio
was the wors dissapointment, Cienfuegos is nice, cultivated, big and
friendly city. Some buildings are still very nice, like those aroung
the square and the wonderfull roof-top bar serving the real mojito,
which one can enjoy while admiring the view. This is the first and so
far the best mojito of my life :-)
We get a casaon a first floor so we drag our bicycles narrow upstairs
but the room has a big stone balcony over a street, so we can leave the
door open during the night.
9.4.2003 Cienfuegos - Trinidad
Dist: 84 Km,Time: 5:00, Average: 16,1 Km/h, Max: 41,5 Km/h
After the breakfast we ask
homeowners for a directions out of the city and set out rather early.
The traffic is light, streets quite empty and kids walking to the
school. Soon we have the city behind us and start climbing the rolling
hills to its east. Good it is not hot yet as the climbs are steep. But
the views to the blue bay and green hills in morning mist and sun is
just perfect.
Soon we reach the road that leads to Trinidad, lined by people waiting
for lift to work. The mountains of Sierra Escambray seems challenging
but we will not take it on today - the road avoids the mountains by
heading for the sea shore and soon we are at a small cafe modway at
Guajimico. Then we pass a pioneer camp and soon the sea is on our right
and the mountains on our left. As the crab mating season is almost over
we are spared of the crunchy crab crushing business. Kilometers before
Trinidad the road gets more challenging as the mountains meet the sea.
We stop and buy few mango fruits form local farmer and with fading
strength climb up to the Trinidad at last. Aware of the Jineteros we
avoid the bnch of them at the city gates and stop olny at a policemen
to ask for directions. With an address we find an excellent casa with
beautifull room, private bathroom and an backyard patio.
10.4.2003 Trinidad - Topes de Collantes - Trinidad
Dist: 42 Km,Time: 5:00, Average: 7,2 Km/h, Max: 48,5 Km/h
Not willing to stay int he city we head for the challenging
mountains. Few kilometers backtracking our yesterdays arrival route and
then turn into the mountains. The road starts climbing gradually and
soon we are lost in serpentines with view of sea and hills. First stop
is a viewpoint, then the road descends a bit just to start climbing
again. Through a village we finally get to the Topes de Collantes with
the hotel. Nothing special here, not even a view so we try the natural
park.
Driven by the guidebook we insint on taking our bicycles into the park.
Bad idean. The path is hard and we just dump the bikes into the forest
after a kilometer and continue on feet to get to the cave with a lake.
There we see a rare hummingbird and Tatiana takes a swim. Nice and
nobody here. We fetch the bicycles form bushes, get back to Topes and
bike back to Trinidad. The avarage speed of 7,2 km/h tells it all - the
climbs were tough and descends very hard on brakes.
11.4.2003 Trinidad
This is our last day in Trinidad. We spend the day touring around,
drinking local cocktails and in the evening we join a a salza night at
Casa de la Musica with crappy drinks, more tourists than locals but
nice atmosphere anyway.
12.4.2003 Havana
In the morning we got on a bus in Trinidad and headed to Havana. The
bus get soon on a highway which is very empty. It even stops in teh
fast lane waiting for a colleague bus driving in the other direction to
have a chat! Unbelieveable!
From the bus terminal it is a rather short ride to our old casa where
we disassemble the bicycles, pack our stuff and in the morning take the
taxi to the airport. Too bad we didn't leave my old bicycle at the
island as the clerks at the checkin try to get 180 USD for excessiv
laguage but then settle for "just" 90 USD :-( I would feel much better
would I have left my bike to someone for free ...
Jimak in May 2003
