Cancun (part 1) - Dec 18

Caught a 4.5 hour cab back to Havana today (was the only way to have enabled me to spend an extra day in Trinidad), shared the cab with an Argentinian and a Spanish guy. There was a really great moment where we were all singing along to Bob Marley's Buffallo Soldier as we cruised down the highway.

Made it to the airport at 12 on the dot .. the taxi driver made me pay him in the car rental area and in secret ..

Had a short flight to Cancun .. Feels good to be back in Mexico.. Cancun is not what I expected, was imagining high rise after high rise next to the beach (similar to the Gold Coast), it is more like mega hotels .. Massive big things the size of a city block .. spread out along the thin strip of land between the Carribean and an inland lagoon. 

Wanted to go to Chichen Itza tonight, so that I could be there nice and early tomorrow morning and avoid the hoardes. However the bus station was soo crazy busy and I soo exhausted I decided to book myself onto a morning tour and stay the night in the hotel across the road from the bus station here in Cancun. 

Trinidad (part 3) - Dec 17

Hey holiday romance!

Was meant to go back to Havana tonight but instead decided to spend another day with Aldona (the German girl from Hamburg I met at the bar last night), so que a day at a Carribean beach .. golden white sand, crystal blue waters, just lying around ..

After the beach we caught the taxi back to town to freshen up before dinner than evening. On my side of town the power blacked out for about 25 minutes (not uncommon in Cuba apparently).

We had dinner at a Palador (a private restaurant rather than a state run one), and then drinks (yes .. more rum), at Casa Dela Musica. For some reason they had a 1CUC cover charge tonight .. seems to be purely to discourage locals from attending .. hence it was a bit light on with people dancing.

Trinidad (part 2) - Dec 16

Some observations of cuba

- not many toilet seats
- only thing on offer in the way of street food seems to be pizza (and perhaps some sandwiches). 
- thought i would see spontaneous salsa dancing and much music in the streets .. haven´t seen this at all
- yes they do smoke cigars
- you see old men sitting in the street playing dominoes

Walked around town today, just wandering aimlessly really .. soaking up the colonial atmosphere. There is not much in the way of car ownership in Cuba (same level as England in the 1940´s), so many streets feel pedestrianised.

That evening I met a lovely German girl (who I had seen earlier on the bus from Havana), ended up chatting to her and sharing a bottle of Rum (you can buy a bottle of 3 year Havana Club for $10), then quite inebriated I joined her for some salsa dancing in a cave.

Trinidad (part 1) - Dec 15

Half the fun of Cuba seemed to be the Casa Particulars .. really interesting experience staying in peoples houses. Found out that they have to pay 250 a month, regardless if anyone stays in them or not.

Got the bus in today .. had to navigate an absolute melee of people in order to get out of the bus station, literally had to push past people to get out (with everyone trying to get me to stay at their casa).

Once I was checked into my friendly clean casa (with private ensuite), I decided to do a spot of salsa dancing .. had a private lesson for about an hour and a half just a stones throw from where i am staying in what appeared to be someone´s front room.

Patriot or death .. hey that´s uplifting :)

Food is generally pretty poor here, however I have been eating lots of fish and fresh tropical fruit (guava, papaya).

Cienfuegos - Dec 14

I told the Casa hosts I needed to get up at 8am .. so sure as rain .. at 8 there was a knock on the door, the door opened and the light turned on .. some sort of revenge for me waking them up perhaps? (for the record they didnt seem upset at all when I rolled in late .. they just smiled and suggested I was having a `fiesta, cervesa, bailar.. `)

Got the bus to Cienfuegos, met a Aussie guy from Canberra who is a musician and worked at RMIT in Melbourne, had a good chat to him during the 4 and a bit hour trip.

Ended up splitting a Casa Particular with a Scottish bloke (also met on the bus).

Lots of 50s style architecture here .. houses, shops, gas stations .. really interesting.

Havana (part 3) - Dec 13

This hotel is burning a hole in my pocket, have found a Casa Particular to stay in. Nothing fancy, pretty basic really, but the elderly couple running it are very friendly plus I feel like they need the custom.

Wandered around this afternoon down to the Malecon (the Havana ocean drive), was after quite a bit of rain so maybe that was why it seemed a bit quiet. On one side of the road is a big sea wall which had waves crashing over it, on the other were faded, crumbling beautiful old buildings (some of which they were doing up).

Plenty of hustlers here, was eating lunch when a woman sat down at my table and started talking to me and showing me pictures .. I tried to appear disinterested but she didn´t get the hint until after she had given me the sob story ..

That night I met a gorgeous German girl at a Middle Eastern restaurant. We went out for some drinks and then I sheepishly had to wake my elderly hosts in order to get back into the casa at 5am .. I felt like a naughty teenager!

Havana (part 2) - Dec 12

Saw a young kid dancing salsa moves as I waited for the ATM.

Last night I stayed in the Hotel Plaza, cost about $85US a night which is expensive on my budget. The hotel is quite nice though, it is about 100 years old, with one of the old fashioned lifts with the metal grill around it. 

They have three peso bills here .. have never seen that before.

Ok I think I need to say a little bit about the currency situation over here. Cuba is predominantly a cash economy and there are two currencies a local currency and a tourist currency, apparently the tourists can only use the tourist one .. locals wouldn't be able to afford it anyway as everything on the CUC (convertibles), costs a lot. 

Me with a couple of comrades

Went to the underwhelming Museo De La Revolucion, then wandered around the old town .. that night I went to China town for a non latin meal .. the cook was from Shanghai and yes he made good dumplings.

Feel pretty safe here, wandered around a bit last night .. however I think I may have took a wrong turn and ended up in a street with a lot of ladies of ill repute, maybe I should temper my wanderings a wee bit.

Travel burn out .. it is real and I think I have it .. part of me is actually looking forward to going home.