An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Trinidad and the last days (Part 9)

On the next day, we head to Trinidad, which is one of the best preserved cities in the Caribbean, from the time when the sugar trade was the main industry in the region and is under the auspices of UNESCO. While we are searching for a place to park the van, a guy with a sign "official parking" comes to us and tells us to park next to the near pavement, for some pesos, of course.

Official parking

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Cienfuegos & The Bay of Pigs (Part 8)

Hasta la vista, Habana! Bienvenidos Cienfuegos!

On the next day we say goodbye to Havana and take on the Autopista towards Cienfuegos. The Cubans and the road markings aren't close friends, so the later ones are missing from the road. We get off the highway and continue onto some third class road. In one of the villages that we go through, only the main street is asphalt-paved, the side streets are gravel and mud. In this area, the main means of transport are the horse carriages and the bikes. However, I've got the feeling that the only thing the Cubans do is to travel, because under every palm tree, there are people waiting for somebody to take them on the road. On the next palm tree, we witness the following funny event: a car stops at something like a bus station and all the 15-20 people waiting there rush to the vehicle with the idea to get in. After a while the people back off and surprisingly nobody has gone inside the car and the vehicle is whole. In the village that we pass through and even in the larger towns, almost every house has the following mandatory tools of the loafer/kibitzer – rocking chair positioned toward the street and a working TV inside the house, which can be heard through the opened windows.

Another pimped up Moskvich

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Last day in Havana (Part 7)

After the breakfast, we head to the Plaza de Armes market, for which we whine about for some days. Not that there is something awesome there, but we have to buy presents. Despite the mission, the first thing that I buy is something for me – a beret with two sides, the first is with a star, and the second one is with Che. I buy a magnet for my microwave oven (everybody buys magnets for their fridges, and I buy them for my microwave oven). The rest buy some sundries for gifts and we move to another part of the plaza, where are being sold paintings.

While Jorje and I have a look at the paintings of famous and not so famous Cuban artists, we each buy a coconut for un peso. Mine is a bit sharp and his has unpleasant sweet taste. Naturally we are the only one who likes them, and that's because we paid for them. After we empty the coconuts, I try to taste the white meat inside. After a considerable hitting against the pavement, the nut opens slightly and by my last effort I cracked it into two pieces. I feel like a winner, I AM a winner. I bite a little of the inside lining and throw it away. At the end, the real winner is the seller.

We continue to the next themed part of the market, the one with books. We start looking for something of Hemingway in English or anything famous in English, but our task is rather hard. However, I find a photo album for a gift and manage to cut the price in half, which increases immensely the pleasure of the purchase.

The book market at Plaza de Armes

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Pinar del Rio (Part 6)

We load up in the van in the morning and set out westward of Habana on the Autopista. Outside is extremely hot and all hitch-hikers (and there are a lot of them) are concentrated in the shady spots. From time to time we pass by Chinese Automotive Corp.'s 4x4s, strongly resembling the Russian UAZ, which on their part have borrowed a lot from the first Toyota Landcruisers. Long live the copyrights!

Our first stop is the Orquideario de Soroa – one of the largest orchid gardens in the world or at least according the Cubans. There, we are being told that the last hurricane have blown away a significant part of the flora. Luckily, the plants, for which was thought that will need years to recover, have shown remarkable signs of revival just months after the calamity. We visit some wooden sheds, where are shown the blooming orchids. ATTENTION: some kind of botanical lecture will follow. As the roots of the orchids need lots of air, the plants are not planted in pots with soil, but are rather in a peat substrate or they just have attached to a piece of wood, hanging in the air.

Green waterfall

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Following Hemingway's steps (Part 5)

For breakfast we go to the Ambos Mundos Hotel, where for some time have lived Ernest Hemingway. We go to rooftop via an old iron Otis lift and in front of us is revealed the magnificent view of the city and mainly of the near buildings – on a rooftop a man slowly, without overworking, simultaneously smokes and hangs out the laundry; a large baking pan with bread buns sits on a balcony, whether it is to finish the baking or to dry out the buns, I can't say.

Tiles

Three generations of tiles cohabit on a nearby roof.

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Rainy Havana (Part 4)

As the previous night we experienced rather well the night life of Havana, on the next day it’s very cloudy in our heads. While having a breakfast, the mischievous clouds from our heads move one by one to the sky and hide the sun from our eyes. Seconds later, they greet us with the show “Torrential Caribbean rain”, which according to Osmel’s forecast will last 45 minutes max. Soon, it gets clear that the downpour will be more like a full day event, that’s why our daily tour takes on the following format – closed spaces, as in museums.

Driving around Havana, we pass near Malekon or at least try to, since the promenade is blocked by two soaked militiaman. The sea, similar to a small boy that is not very skillful at the flirting yet, not just sprinkles Malekon, but floods it outright with its naughty waves.

We go to El Capitolio, where was situated the government of Cuba before the revolution of 1959, and now houses the Cuban Science Academy. The place is huge and grandiose compared to the building of the current parliament, which is uncomely marble mastodon. In the center of the floor under the main dome, was built in a 25 carat diamond, which is claimed to be owned by the Russian tzar Nicolay II. After one successful theft and the mysterious return after two months, in the floor was built in a copy. Unfortunately, we did not understand where the original one is, nor they gave us its contacts. The diamond copy is being closely watched by the 15 m Statue of the Republic, which supposedly is the third largest indoor (under a dome) statue in the world after the Great Buddha of Nara and Lincoln’s memorial in Washington.

El Capitolio’s dome

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Around Havana (Part 3)

In the morning, we meet Jose Raul, with whose help via email we rented van, our guide Osmel and some places to sleep. The funny thing about him is that when he recommends us something, he always uses the construction why, because – for example, It’s nice to rent that van why, because it has more space. We agree upon our plan for the next days and go to the Plaza de la Revolucion, where is situated a monument of Jose Marti. We meet the guy for the first time and understand that he was a national hero, poet and journalist, who died in his first battle. What a revolutionary! (If I am to become one, I will most probably get killed in my first fight, as well.)

Marti

The Jose Marti's memorial most probably offers splendid view of the city from the top (but we couldn't enjoy it why, because the lift wasn't working).

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Havana (Part 2)

After a two hour in the bus from Varadero, we pass through a tunnel and come across a new interpretation of Jurassic park. Instead of dinosaurs and lush vegetation, in front of us opens up the sea-front Malecon Boulevard with its many semi-collapsed buildings and some renovated ones in colonial Spanish style, large American cars from the 50's and all kinds of Russian ones.

At the bus station, we meet Osmel, a 30 year old, tall Cuban, who will be our guide and driver. We take our luggage and get into two taxis, Ladas.

Celebrity in a Lada

One of my friends, Jorge, rolls down his window and waves to the long awaiting Cubans, semi-hidden behind the tinted windows of the car, his hat and sunglasses. Almost like a real celebrity!

An exercise in Cuban carelessness - Varadero (Part 1)

Welcome. Have fun, whatever happens

In 2007, I and four friends of mine decide to organize a dreamed trip to Cuba. In December 2008 our dream adventure come true.

We pass the document check and although nobody is returned, our whole group has returned back, back to bygone times. But we are not alone, every step we take will be closely watched by Che and Fidel, following us from t-shirts, key-chains, billboards and street graffiti. That's why we boldly get lost into this unknown place, exposing us to a moderate dose of communism, retro cars, colonial buildings and endless tranquility.

We get accommodated at the hotel and afterwards go out for a bite. Everything looks rather old, there are abandoned buildings everywhere, and it should be the most glamorous Cuban resort. Time has stopped many decades before we arrive, but this is the main reason to come here, in the first place. Finally, we find a working ... thing and order five Cuba Libres, what else. The proportion of the cocktail ingredients is seriously messed up and we get kicked in the heads by way of welcome. Unfortunately, we don't have a clue that the situation with the cocktails (with little exceptions) won't change for better during the rest of our trip. The food that we get is of the same quality as the drinks. 

Sleepy Varadero

A view from above of the still sleepy Varadero and its early risers.

Welcome to my world

At last! Blog, first post, photographers and writes take your positions (actually, it's only me), attention-dress (I haven't been in the army, so I don't know if that's the correct order of these orders), camera-action – opening music (nope, you're nor deaf, there isn't one), the title:

"Somewhere amazing … I guess"

BRACKET A bit info about the title. Originally, it was going to be "Something amazing ...", which comes from this scene from the animated movie The Incredibles. However, as I draw most inspiration and take the largest number of pictures, while I'm travelling or just taking a walk, I decided to change it. BRACKET

Opening scene: forest, river, people, campfire, food … the year "2003" appears and then it fades out slowly … I, with a camera in my hands, taking pictures of plants and bugs … light illuminates my face, when I bring the camera close to me – it is emitted by the LCD screen, which shows the pictures I've just taken, I turn myself towards the imaginary movie camera and look as if I've seen the Holy Grail …

Some other scenes before the next important scene: random scenes flash quickly, in which I continue to be amazed by the Holy Grail/LCD screen of various digital cameras … at the same time countless photos are piling up and remain undeveloped in cardboard boxes (I know that digital pictures are not kept in cardboard boxes, but I resort to this hyperbole to strengthen the effect of the amount of unprocessed photos), waiting for a blog on a white horse to appear and to publish them (well, the guy on the horse will have to develop them first)…