Backpacking through Cuba
Now it’s already more than three weeks since we got back from vacation. And it took a while to sort my thoughts on this trip to
Cuba. To put the verdict up front: picturesque but not really recommended.
I don’t want to say it was a bad vacation …but somehow it just seems that general picture of Cuba is a bit too romantic. Don’t you also think of these friendly people living in this beautiful but worn down buildings, music, cigars, rum and a little “viva la revolution”. All this with some sunshine and some “Buena Vista Social Club” music in the background? Well, some of that is true …unfortunately some is not – and if you continue reading it might destroy what you believe Cuba is today.
So what was wrong? Well, the one thing that really annoyed us so much that we were actually happy to be back was the greed – this unbelievable rip-off mentality that I have never
ever experienced before like that. Hustlers everywhere! What I really hated is that they made us distrust anyone! This and the arbitrariness.
We met a girl that lived in Cuba for a while about 10 years ago. She so couldn’t stand the new face of Cuba that she was trying to change her flight and leave earlier. I think that
speaks a thousand words.
Cuba must have been the pearl of the Caribbean. But it’s seems many Cubanos are selling out the spirit of their country …until everything is gone. Let’s hope they
realize this before it is too late. In case you want to experience it yourself here are a few hints that might have helped us a great deal.
Money
Be aware that Cuba is more expensive than you might think. Going for dinner in Berlin or in Habana – not sure what is more
expensive. Having some peso cubano in your pocket can’t hurt. But essentially you can only use them for some food on the street (which you probably shouldn’t eat – both
of us got sick for day) or marketplaces. After all we were not able to spend our peso cubanos worth 10 EUR in 2 weeks. In the city no one wants the old money – they want the peso
convertible (=CUC) which was introduced as a replacement for the US dollar. Also note: after exchange surcharges 1 CUC is almost 1 EUR. According to our guidebooks withdrawing money at
banks should be no problem. But for us it was. Cash is king in Cuba. Otherwise you might end up paying up to 12% surcharge at the public exchange offices. (Use their machines! They are
still cheaper than going to the counter! …if they work)
Guidebooks
In general I have to say that the guidebooks we had were just terrible! I have never ever owned such a terrible “lonely planet” as the one for Cuba. Making boring things interesting or
providing just wrong information (phone numbers etc.). One time we ended up heading to what was a suggested jazz club. We found it in an ugly shopping plaza! Terrible! The money for the
taxi down the drain.
The guidebook from Stefan Klose was slightly better
– but I was missing a proper structure. At least the little Habana map thingy from National Geographic was useful when walking through the city. So in the end the best tips we got
were personal recommendations. (cheers Marc!)
Sleeping
Staying in casa particulares is the way to go when traveling through Cuba. Basically they are bed-and-breakfasts. You should expect a double room to be around 25-30 CUC plus another 4 CUC
for breakfast per person. Despite what guidebooks say don’t expect a feast. Especially the white bread is not much more than crispy air. Only one casa we staid at had exceptional
food.
Although we found the best casa we stayed at through the usually proposed casa-to-casa recommendation method, I even dare to say – this method just ain’t work. Too often
people recommended casas because they wanted to help out their friends – not because they wanted to help us. So you get shown this dark little cubbyholes you better know how to say
no to. Another problem why this doesn’t work well is availability. We found a couple of nice casas during our travel. And some of them were really fantastic. Marvelous gems
…that you have to book at least 2-3 weeks beforehand.
Getting around
We found getting around in Cuba not that easy. For the big cities there are buses. The Viazul (air-conditioned) and Astro bus lines. Other than
that you are left with taxi and local buses. So driving would have been the obvious choice. At least if you are outside the cities. (I would not want to drive in Habana) But street signs
are bad in Cuba. Off the big streets you basically have to pick up hitchhikers (a very common thing in Cuba) in order to find your way. We did not always feel that comfortable with that
to be completely honest. Plus renting a car is quite expensive. We paid about 70 CUC per day. So we got the car only for a few days.
Beaches
We might be spoiled from the trip to Fiji but the Cuban beaches were quite a disappointment. For some
reason there are very few cities that are close to the beach. And the (supposedly) good ones are resort style. Well, probably depends whether you like that sort or vacations or not.
Varadero at least seems to be the tourist trap. Being at least a little smaller – St. Lucia was a little to hard to get to. From the lonely planet Cienfuegos sounded like a good
alternative. Close to the nice city and beach and good diving. Well, too bad that even locals rarely go swimming directly in Cienfuegos. They dispose the wastewater into the ocean. So the
actual beach people refer to is “Rancho Luna“. A nice beach – but not spectacular. 15km
from Cienfuegos. You need to get a taxi or be lucky to catch the local bus. This is also where I went diving. (Not that I could recommend the dive operator – but the diving itself
was quite nice). A beach that also got recommended for diving was Playa Giron. While the lonely planet dissed it being dirty and full of dog poo it was probably the nicest beach we found
in Cuba. Seriously! It’s quite remote in the bay of the pigs. The area wasn’t really welcoming …but – obviously beach and diving seems to be OK. (Don’t
expect much of the museum about the invasion though). The reason we finally gave up looking for some beach-style relaxation during this vacation was Playa Ancon. People kept calling it
the 2nd best beach after Varadero. Well, maybe we catched a windy day so the water wasn’t that clear …but in general we weren’t impressed.
La Habana
While centro seemed a little more lively at night we enjoyed staying in La Habana Vieja, the old part of town. A taxi ride from the
airport should not cost you more than maybe 15 CUC but it seems the widely agreed rip-off price is more around 20-25 CUC. No matter what the meter says. We stay very close to the well
known Floridita, a bar Hemmingway used to hang out. The area was perfect Casa Mercedes was not. Well, we just booked it via internet.
Looked nice. But in the end these casa owners where the worst we’ve met. Not very helpful. You had to pay for everything! Nothing in life comes for free – but that was just
crazy. It was the only casa where we had to pay for a few local calls – big time! We booked a room with own bath – and we had to share. They booked us a private taxi to the
Viazul bus terminal in order to save us some money. Well, on the way back we took a proper taxi back to Vieja and realized that is was not that far away at all and we got ripped-off in
the beginning. A casa to recommend is Casa Humberto. Unfortunately they were booked out for weeks. But it looked quite cosy. The food
was supposed to be good as well. Not exactly cheap (around 30 CUC per person) but probably the best food we had in Cuba was at Paladar La Guarida. World standard in a fantastic setting.
You really have to book in advance! When you are tired of walking through Vieja, check out the courtyard of Hotel Florida. It nice to chill out there for a bit and surprisingly they also
serve cheap but good sandwiches and good Mojitos. Oh …another casa that looked great and had really nice hosts was Casa
Lourdes.
Ciefuegos
Is a nice little town that in the south (on the peninsula) feels a little like an US suburb. The old town was also
declared world heritage but frankly speaking it wasn’t that spectacular compared to Habana or Trinidad. But still worth a quick stop-over either for the delicious food and the nice
hosts at Casa Jorge A. Pineiro Vazquez. Very nice people. A good casa. If you can get a booking for the at Ave 20 esq 35 #3502 Altos Punta Gorda
you might want to even stay longer. Probably the coolest casa we’ve seen in during our trip. Huge and gorgeous rooms in big colonial style house with a big garden and balcony
overlooking the ocean.
Trinidad
Just like Cienfuegos Trindad is declared world heritage and when you walk through the streets of this little town you know why. It was
the city we enjoyed staying at the most. If only less tourist groups would be around. When we arrived we tried to get a room in the recommended Casa Escobar. Nice but not that great.
Sounded better in the book. Next we tried was really nice though. Casa Arandia is a huge colonial style house and has a nice patio. Of course they were booked out. But this time we got
recommended to Casa Mercedes Mauri which was one of the best places we stayed at. We really enjoyed the
mixture of privacy and integration. The room was good nice situated in a colonial style house with a nice patio. Own bath and the only place where we got proper bread for breakfast. And
the parrot was just funny – calling us when it was bored :) Exceptional dinner you can get at the paladares “Sol y Son” and “Estela”. Both really
recommended! This time the lonely planet was right.
Near Trinidad there is a nice waterfall. We took a horse riding tour to get there. Well, what can I say. I had a very competitive horse always trying to be first. Quite funny. In order to
get to the waterfall they charge you 6 CUC …and for the smart ones they check again that you paid when you arrive at the falls. (ripp off!)
Santa Clara
This town doesn’t seem very spectacular. We manage to get there when the only thing I was interested in (the Che museum) was actually closed. We stayed in the quite horrible Casa
Ana Perez Martinez. But if you can get a room in Casa Florida Center just that is worth a stay. That casa actually looked fantastic. One of the best we’ve seen. Unfortunately we
weren’t lucky to get a room. Again booking way in advance is required.
Closing note
It’s really hard to squeeze two weeks into even a lengthy blog post. Also I just realized this all probably sounds a little too negative. In fact we had a lot of fun and just the
opportunity to take pictures was worth it. I am not saying we know Cuba just after that. No way after 2 weeks. And I bet it’s a totally different experience if you know some locals.
I just hope this post might help people to avoid some of the annoyances and helps them to make it a better vacation.
If you are interested in more details just let me know.