Uncle Fidel...
 

OK, so you didn't notice my absence these past 7 days. That's all right. We Brits can weather such things (all to do with starchiness of the top lip area, and all that!).

Well , if you must know (and you MUST know), I've been to Uncle Fidel land. I know it's hardly number 1 on the American holiday agenda, which may account for the plethora (yes, I know, a bit of a long word for someone whose just endured 20 hours of travel without any sleep) of Canadians in the place, but I have to say that the resort we went to, Breezes Jibacoa, was just the ticket. Lived up to its Tripadvisor review status exactly, and absolutely on the agenda for a return visit.

Photos and commentary for those who can/might want to visit the island once I've had a few hours sleep (second thoughts, make that 'days')!

Viva La Revolution!

Looking forward to it...!

I went to Cuba in 1998 and I'd love to go back to Havana - it had a kind of decaying grandeur. When we went most of the tourists were Italian, perhaps it's a seasonal thing?

US tourists are not allowed to go to Cuba. US citizens are supposed to get a license from our Treasury Department if they want to go. But tourists can't obtain one of these licenses. So they either go and hope they don't get caught, or they lie to obtain a license. Most just go elsewhere.

The penalties, according to the Treasury Dept. website, are:

Cuba seems like a cool country to visit. I hope Castro dies soon so I can check it out.

Hasta La Victo... umm La Muerte!

Actually you can go now......free.....at government expense. Just add the words bomb, allah and jihad to all your emails and phone calls. Be in Cuba before you know it. :lol:

Basically, the penalties for a US citizen visiting Cuba without government approval pretty much match the penalties for a Cuban citizen visting the US without approval. Of course, they pretty much don't even want to go back. I can't think of many Americans who would want to trade living in the US for living in Cuba.

It's still strange that it's easier to go to Vietnam, who we were at war with about 30 years ago, than Cuba, who we have not been officially at war with since 1898.

The 1959 revolution was against Batista, a dictator. The U.S. initially supported Castro until he embraced Communism. Europe doesn't seem to have the same problem with Castro that we do. If Castro dies and Cuba becomes a Socialist or Communist democracy, it will be interesting to see what excuses the US can come up with to keep the status quo, especially since we are still allied with Saudi Arabia and numerous non-constitutional monarchies in the Middle East.

From here.

As far as vacationing there. One thing to consider is that if you walk a few miles from the hotel, the people you encounter are probably better off than the people you would find walking away from a vacation club in Haiti.

I really look forward to a democratic government in Cuba, as well as Saudi Arabia, Burma, and any number of other places. That being said, I still wonder at the special status we have given Cuba considering the sins we forgave Noriega for until we decided to do something about him.

There will not be a democratic government in Cuba, whether Castro croaks tomorrow or in 10 years, because the leftist movement is picking up steam in South America now and they need for Cuba to stay the way it is in order to act as the role model for their governmental overhauls.

Venezuela is firmly on board this waggon with Bolivia signing on the minute they elected their first indigenous President last month. Why anybody would want as a role model a country which has failed in every possible social and economic endeavor is beyond my understanding, but that is how too many of those destitute countries down there are thinking right now. Fidel will play along because when the Russian empire imploded he lost his only supporter, but now he can count on oil-rich Venezuela to underwrite his schemes. Bolivia, which is also supposed to have vast oil and mineral resources, will now nationalize them (i.e., seize) from Western companies who will not go along with their demands. As you may guess, once OIL gets into the equation.......in come the US troops with Halliburton not far behind. Cuba only conceeded a few resorts to the decadent Western tourists because there was literally no other possible source of income for the country. Now, Uncle Fidel's last miserable sugarcane fields, run by requiring men to do their "socialist duty" on a seasonal rotation, will become the final casualty of the fabulous economic revolution and the guns will come out again. Communists who have no food begin "exporting revolution." And Venezuela is eager to pay for it.

You might want to do your winter vacations on some other Caribbean island next time.

Because most of these countries have a handfull of very rich and the rest have nothing, the idea of everyone having basic needs looks like heaven. How many people in these South American countries have ever been to Cuba? They only know they don't like what they have and are being promised a better life.
They've been down so goddamn long, it looks like up to them?

Post Fidel, the lure of American companies looking for offshore, cheap labor only 90 miles from the IRS might be tempting. ;)

It’s interesting to read all the above entries since my opening post. I admit first and foremost that my knowledge of Cuba is extremely limited. I deliberately have avoided reading tourist guides as I wanted to make my own judgements about the place. This will therefore be an account of what I saw and experienced. I’ll add comments where I feel appropriate but try to be as objective as possible. I’ll also break down this ‘travelogue’ into 4 sections: ‘First Impressions’, ‘In and Around the Resort’, ‘Havana’, and finally ‘Tropicana’.

First Impressions
-------

I regret that I have no photos to support this section, having managed to pack my camera in the luggage compartment of the coach on both the outward and the return trip! I’ll make up for this next time (I am sure I will return to Cuba - as much from a desire to learn more about the country as to enjoy another visit to the resort where we stayed).

On approaching and landing in Havana, the airport and terrain seems no different from any other holiday destination that we are used to, such as in Spain and Portugal. The terrain is barren. I expected to see old vehicles, but surprisingly at the airport there were predominantly new ones (coaches and cars). This is exceptional, and a reflection of the government funding for tourism, as once out on the country’s roads taking the 90 minute journey to the resort, this changed completely.

Once on the road, immediately noticeable is the absence of any proper transport infrastructure - public or commercial. No retail outlets either. Cubans wait for the odd ‘bus’ which is always filled to capacity, or else they hitch for a ride, or walk – it wasn't unusual to see a large dumper truck go by with anything up to a dozen people in the back of it as passngers!

Vehicles bear different-coloured registration/number plates. Our coach bore one with a blue background. All vehicles with blue background plates are (or act as) public vehicles. They are government subsidised, and seem obliged to take passengers on board. Cubans tried to hail down our coach, but the drivers are clearly instructed not to carry non-tourists (one wonders why…).

There are four background colours in all to registration plates. Those with yellow plates are privately owned and can be counted on to be old wrecks in virtually every case (here are your old Buicks and Chryslers, now probably fitted with a more frugal engine). Then there are orange-plated ones, being government-owned vehicles and available to ‘professionals’, such as doctors. Lastly there are brown plates which indicate a rental vehicle, as used by tourists. Needless to say these are very modern vehicles (we saw brand new VW Golfs and also Audi A4s).


The roads are something else. Six-lane highways have very little traffic on them, and are in disastrous condition with deep pot-holes at frequent intervals. There seems to be no rule about where vehicles travel apart from the best place to avoid the holes – we regularly traveled on the middle lane of the road bearing traffic coming on the opposite direction! All to achieve a ‘smooth’ ride.

The land either side of the road, once away from Havana district, is consistently and predominantly barren, with no sign of development or investment. We saw no new architecture outside Havana (discounting the holiday resorts - the results of JVs between Cuba and the holiday companies concerned). Cubans either occupy the houses and villas that were left after the expulsion of non-nationals, or else occupy ‘shanty-town’ dwellings – roughly constructed shacks with concrete or timber walls and corrugated rooves (either metal or what seemed to be asbestos). The expulsion properties have decayed in virtually every case, consistently having poor electrics, bare floors, make-shift furniture, and often without glazed windows (these being open to the elements or boarded up).

There was evidence of some minor oil exploration along the northern coast east of Havana, but as this stretch boasts the best coastline and obvious location for tourist resorts there is a conflict of interest here – the idea of creating beaches elsewhere to allow them to exploit oil resources here doesn’t seem to have entered the government’s mind – not yet, anyway.

No sign either of extensive agriculture. There was the occasional prepared (ploughed and harrowed very small field or crops grown in sufficient number to support a family - but not a population. A horse cow and bullock could also be seen occasionally, tethered by the roadside or next to a dwelling.

I did not see much evidence of wealth anywhere that we visited – everyone apparently ‘earns’ the same basic wage (or so we were advised), and that doesn’t amount to much. There are two currencies. LOcal pesos which the nationals earn adn Cuban Convertible pesos (CuCs) which foreigners must acquire and use to buy goods and services. Prices of goods in retail outlets are marked in CuCs - one CuC peso is equivalent to 12 local pesos. Locals have very little chance to buy goods meant for tourists as a result. It is pretty clear that the government takes the lion's share of monies received by shops, although I did not uncover the detail of how the system works in this respect.

All-in-all, the initial picture presented was of a country where the opportunity or encouragement to improve seemed absent. Yet people didn’t look poor, as in under-nourished and open to illness and disease, they just seemed controlled and unable to make life better for themselves - they had to lead the life the government dictated they should lead. For someone from the outside this naturally seems totally unacceptable, but there is as much a fear of change as there is a desire for it amongst the Cuban people. I’ll expand on this in a later section.

Anybody wanting to "get to know Cuba" would do better to visit Miami for a week instead. That is where every Cuban with an ounce of brains and principles beyond Socialism is now. The Cuban people WERE very exceptional, smart/educated/creative, but they are not in Cuba any longer. The best of the best fled, both right after the "Great Revolution" showed what things were REALLY going to be like once the Communists under Fidel took charge and in thousands of smuggling or hijacking operations for 20 years thereafter. What remains now is the homesick, the old, and the poor, overlaid with a generation of Hitler-Youth-like young Cubans who never knew anything except the drab, goods-scarce Communist rule. And they will continue to get older and poorer, no matter how many hotels are built, because the money from these plastic resorts goes through the government to be "trickled down" as they see the need. All radio and tv broadcasts from more than a few miles out are blocked/jammed. Cubans outside the island have to have phone calls to their relatives or loved ones scheduled and monitored. But they are encouraged to send gifts of money and they do, just as in Mexico, and these dollars keep many families above the subsistance level since there are no jobs except where the government says they are needed to work. The Mexican Embassy has been closed several times and diplomatic relations severed because the Cuban military has begun to shoot or arrest people trying to get out of the country by appealing to the Mexicans. The "War of the Billboards" continues, along with blaring anthems, across the street from the American Embassy, because the word "Freedom" was used in one of our postings.

Again, C-France, I wonder why you want to spend your heavily-taxed British income to visit this museum of failed systems? Latin America has so many other really nice places waiting for you.

Hi Tonchi - to try to answer your question briefly for now. I originally chose Cuba on the basis I might choose any other holiday destination about which I knew very little. It was within our budget, had good feedback, and met our weather and accommodation criteria. The political aspect took a back seat at this stage.

I knew very little about the Cuban situation before I went. Living closer to events, you would undoubtedly know more that might otherwise influence you - rather in the same way that we here might now more about the Northern Ireland political situation compared to many in the US.

As to your assesment of the Cuba, I suspect it has a good deal of truth in it, but that doesn't make me want to write off a whole nation of peoples. There are plenty of destinations around the world where the political and economical situations might not match our own or our ideals, but that surely shouldn't (and doesn't) stop us visiting. I have a training job to perform in China at the end of March. There's a lot wrong with that country, but would I really be helping matters if I refused to go?

It's an interesting debate, and maybe others here would like to take it up. What's right? -turning your back on such a country that offers the opportunity of visit or going ahead so that you have the chance therefore to learn and possibly to educate also?

Heavens no, I'm not suggesting that you "turn your back on an entire country" or "write off a whole nation of peoples". If you want to "help CUBANS", I can find you plenty of addresses and contacts where you can feel good about making a contribution instead of handing over your money to a Communist regime who has oppressed said peoples for 40 years and will continue to put anything they get from you into the same purpose. You can tip a Cuban busboy at a restaurant in Miami and get more money into the Cuban economy than you will in any hermetically-sealed tourist compound there. Slang also thinks he is helping the Philippines economy while I firmly believe he is merely being separated from his money in a country where that is a way of life. But he's not going to listen to me either ;)

Of course, everybody thinks they made their choices for good reasons, and everybody is certainly entitled to do things their way. My problem is I have spent my entire adult life either in school with, working with, or socializing with Latinos from many countries and the only news programs I watch and the only radio I listen to is in Spanish. So I have constant exposure to the situations in many countries of Central and South America and get to discuss it constantly. No doubt you can say the same about the UK and the adjoining countries :)

I think folks should visit these places. The American embargo is counter-productive. We sort of believe in free enterprise the current administration not with-standing. It is very easy for Castro to tell his people they have a superior system without a lot of well-heeled Americans circulating around the country. The Americans they see now are mostly sympathetic leftists who'd trade nationalized health care for any other political good. We don't really know the situation there either and it would do us good to see it. Definitely approach your vacation the Tonchi way if you can get around your government handlers and spend your money in a helpful manner.

There's more I want to say and show in the follow-on sections related to the way the country runs, but as an interim comment now, for me, it's definitely a case of 'see for myself' rather than help from a distance, main reason being that direct contact with those who are feeling the effects of the regime holds more value for me. I'm not trying to devalue any other approach, just saying what I prefer.

This time around it was just another holiday without the intention to become interested in the country from another aspect. Future visits will be geared more to the latter. As these will be some distance off I hope that until then I may use distance learning from a variety of sources to gain a better overall understanding.

I agree. Our normalizing relations and trading with Vietnam has done more towards moving that country forward than all of the troops we placed there in the 60's.

Castro definitely has to go. He's no better than Pahlevi, Noriega, Pinochet, Marcos, or any of the other strongmen and thugs who have taken power over the years. However, his main selling point is the same one President Bush is using to justify his executive power - security. Cubans are probably afraid of becoming a US possession with no real national identity, like the Philippines pre-WWII or a non-state like the Virgin Islands. Every argument GWB has used here has been used by Castro for 46 years. The big difference is that people are constantly reminded that the US is only 90 miles away. The US did sponsor the Bay of Pigs invasion. Imagine how much power Bush would have if a known terrorist state were only 90 miles from the US border.

The opening of trade with Cuba would weaken Castro more than support him. The reasons for not doing so have as much to do with the threat to the sugar oligopoly in the US and political support from Cuban exiles as it does with any coherent foreign policy strategy.

The problem is you are thinking of "trade" as a national capitalistic effort. No such thing exists in Cuba. Fidel will be gone one of these days, there are plenty of rumors coming through the Mexican Embassy that he has Parkinsons, is drunk all the time, etc., but still he trudges on. He has no successor. But as I said above, there are interests more powerful than our consumer goods temptations which have an agenda for keeping the status quo in Cuba and they use the Castro script of America villification and tell their own people that the US will invade their sovereignty at any minute so they have to be prepared to fight the agressors..... etc. etc. Please do not delude yourself as to the power of your good will. It means absolutely nothing in a country where your "new friends" may be arrested the same night and emprisioned without trial or visitors for the next 20 years, IF they are not simply "disappeared". Unless you have had family or close friends who lived under Communism, you will not have any concept of the possibly fatal damage you can do by trying to "spread the joy of freedom" where somebody else holds all the guns.

I do, however, have a suggestion for anybody who insists on going to Cuba, for whatever reason you have. The University in Havana is still somewhat open. I worked for a professor who was allowed to visit there because he was the world's formost authority on animal husbandry in the Third World. He was given the red-carpet treatment, allowed to send them books, call teachers there, and receive mail which (apparently) had not been opened. I translated much of his correspondence for him, and I concluded that the situation at the University is dire, because of the shortages of good texts and equipment, but the people there are as well educated and informed as possible, some have been abroad, they have underground internet rings which research what the rest of the world is doing, and they deeply desire change. They are patriotic to CUBA, not Fidel. This is where I hope the new Cuba will rise.

I've had several close friends who were Cuban refugees, and they are very sharp people. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to return to Cuba for precisely that reason. Good luck to anybody who thinks they can accomplish anything for world understanding when the best of the best outside Cuba have been struggling with that for more than 30 years.

In and around the resort
------

The Cuban economy and culture will be a subject of endless debate, I'm sure. I'm not ducking out for good, a return to this subject is promised in the next section, but for now it's time to move on to the reason why we went to Cuba - the need for aa damn good holiday! And this resort lived well up tio expectations

If you didn't catch the link before then check out the guest reviews here, plus there are plenty more photos of the place. I'll just post a few obvious shots to prove that we really did enjoy ourselves.

I've been to a couple of other Caribbean resorts, and really chose Jibacoa because of the reviews on Tripadvisor. The price was so much lower than anything else around that we didn't ecpect to have the quality of holiday that followed. I know there are issues about the government taking the lion's share of the revenue, but taking an objective view on resort for resort basis, this one is extremely hard to beat.

The place is kept exceptionally clean and tidy. The rooms are slightly bare-looking, but well-equipped, spacious, and absolutely spotless. Jibacoa was opened in 2000 ,but it looks like it was opened yesterday. It's hard to beleive that it has endured the wear and tear that 5 years of operation should cause. It makes Sandal's Antigua (another place we have stayed, and costing twice as much) look old and very tired.

A couple of pictures of the beach before I move on to another post and more info - and remember this is at a time when the hotel was full!

I know that when you take one of these holidays you are in a semi-sealed environment, but the staff seemed genuinely friendly and happy - I'm not sure that you could maintain that indefinitely if you weren't genuinely that way inclined, and most of the employees we met and talked to had been with the resort since it opened (they live in the surrounding countryside anyway and know each other since childhood).

You could venture outside, by taxi, by bus, on foot and even... well take a look at the photo below - what could you expect from mje? I jut had to dig one out, didn't I, and a real plus to get the wife on one as well!

Once outside, the landscape was as poor-looking as anywhere else we had seen so far. Dilapidated houses and shacks with no lighting, decor or furniture of any merit. Whole familes amounting to 15 or so people would occupy a small single dwelling. But there was still this balance that was hard to disturb. Yes, the people wished for more opportunity, particularly to travel, but set against this was the concern that values they cherished would disappear with change - the return of a drug culture, crime (no drive-by shootings or drug related killings here), a return to an under-privileged class (some we met believed that a situation could arise with change that could leave them far worse off than they currently are).

Not very often I encounter a couple of large bulls pulling a 'harrow' (made out of old truck tyres) when I'm pedalling away, either. The bikes were something else, as well. I'm not sure what held them together, and mine needed no bell or other form of warning sound as a means to let pedestrians n]know I was approaching as every turn of the pedal was accompanied by a rather worrying grating sound...

Still, the cycling was at least exercise, as was the hike into the hills embracing the resort, available on a daily basis and good to get the heart rate moving. In fact there was plenty to do in the way of sports and activities.

Snorkelling for those who wanted it and a chance to see the myriad fish around the coral reef close by the resort; Salsa classes for the Fred Astaires amongst us, even the opportunity to learn Spanish. And a few beach sports, as well - have a look at the Tripadvisor photo for some beach hockey, but I will save you the trouble of searching for a picture of the daily volley-ball match. Plenty of opportunity here to listen to Canadian voices at full volume!

As is our preference, we liked to take our daily walks along the beach crossing bays, for regular daily exercise - yes that was a rear view of the wife in the second picture I posted. A better view below (I was really trying to get a shot of the waves, but she just had to get in the way!) . And then there were our little blue friends... You wouldn't see any for a few days and then the wind would turn, and there they would be...

Last, but not least, a couple of pictures that typify the resort.

Our room was facing the beach and a mere alcohlic haze away from the beach bar. This is what holidaying is all about. twenty paces from the room to a nice sun-lounger on a white-sanded beach, and then another twenty paces to pick up a Mojito, or Lime Daiquiri, or Cuba Libra, or.... well whatever you want really - and, who'd have thought, wheelie bins even here!. An hour's sunbathing and then down to the holiday read. I'd taken the book my son bought me at Christmas. Lance Armstrong's autobiography 'It's not about the bike'. I couldn't have asked for a better read - I'll put more info about it on the book thread.

Then there was our room and te attention to detail that the staff gave to cleaning it. I know it's cheesy, but where else would you get your towel turned into a swan (other days it would be a heart or a boat). It's those little touches that make the big deifferemce and make you like one resort over another. Jibacoa has a lot to offer, and there are times you have to put the political situation to one side - after all we come on holiday to escape our own drudgery, don't we...

Please tell me that's supposed to be a swan on the bed.http://www.cellar.org/images/newsmilies/3_eyes.gif

BTW, are the beaches clothing optional or are the commies as puritanical as us freedom lovers?

Heart, swan, boat, and you choose COBRA as your example of their goodwill-inducing towel-folding expertise?! ( :snicker: )

A word about those little blue guys...they are pretty. They are delicate. They are tiny. They are immobile on the sand. They are the beachfront's answer to your bedroom cobra. Except they're a lot meaner. DO NOT TOUCH! They will leave a red stinging welt like you've been lashed with a cherry red steel cable. [/voice of experience]

That thing looks like a cobra to me! Hmmm... Are you really sure the natives were THAT friendly? :lol:

Well, they said it was a swan... but now you've got me wondering.....

And as for the blue guys - we heard they were mean and kept a safe distance. They were quite plentiful when they came though, see below:

Yes, the Portuguese Man-O-War is a type of jellyfish... avoid it! :eek:
http://www.key-biscayne.com/beach_pa.../manowar.shtml

I think the towel is an elephants head if you look down on it. ;)

That might explain the enormous lump in the mattress.....

Fidel Castro is a good for nothing, brutal, loathsome murdering commie bastard. Which is why I totally agree with the consensus here that we ought to do to his country what we did to the Vietnamese: trade with them until they are bursting at the seams with Chicken McNuggets and iPods.

Free trade is the greatest barrier against war that has ever existed or ever will exist.

Don't mention iPods in the same breath as mentioning Cuba. My wife insisted on taking hers and because she has one that only charges via a USB port, she talked me into taking my laptop on holiday too - great fun lugging that around along with everything else!

Come the second day there when, after much bobbing up and down on the sun-lounger with phones firmly wedged inside her ears (and causing endless amusement for passers-by), the iPod faded into oblivion, I was called upon to fire up the laptop. It was only then that my wife discovered that she had left the USB lead at home. What fun and merriment that inspired - you can imagine how much we laughed about it. Oh, yes, I'm sure you can...!

BTW djacq75 - glad I didn't catch you on an irrational anarchist day!

Havana
----

Time to move on to our trip to Havana. OK, it was a tourist trip like in any other country, and a guide anywhere isn't going to take you to see the black spots and slums, so we were being shown the sort of sites that any tourist might expect to be shown when using a dedicated tour operator.

That said, we still witnessed some eye-opening parts of Cuban life. Not much that I captured on camera, but enough I think to give a flavour.

First and foremost our guide was as well-informed as any I've come across in any country. She knew her history and made the event both informative and interesting. She wasn't afraid to answer delving questions about the way of life in the country, but I accept that she may have edged towards being one of those conditioned to accepting the way of life more than wanting to effect radical change - one of several we met who had reservations about change and the negative effects it could just as well bring.

We took just a day trip classed as showing historic Havana, so it was Hemingway bars, original architecture and so on in the old town and echoes of the revolution and post 60’s Cuba when we moved across city towards what would once have been the rich area.

But to start with old Havana and a few pictures from the roof terrace of the Ambos Mundos hotel (a Hemingway favourite) that shows the rooftops of how much of Havana really is now – in decay.

It's been a long day - so more tomorrow....

Very cool images CF.

LOVE the blue of that water. Thanks for the rear shots of your wife too. :)

That's better - a good nine hours shut-eye. Batteries recharged - so on to more about Havana. Oh, I meant to mention - we chose this day to go because rain was forecast, and the weather performed as expected. Hence the clouds and damp everywhere. This time of year the weather can be changeable. We had 4 good days (75 t0 80 deg F) and 3 mixed ones, but the resort goes out of its way to offer alternative activities if and when the beach becomes a questionable choice - like a couple of fashion shows with very up-to-the minute designs in crocheted dresses, tops and skirts (Sheila/Phtharnag's grandmother would have been proud!) and, yes, my wife did manage to buy up half the stock (well, it certainly seemed that way!)

Back to Havana. At street level in old town, it's quite a mix. Clearly the government is working to clean up this part of town. Many buildings have had a face-lift with repairs to crumbling facades, fresh coats of paint and the introduction of brighter colours as well.

A few photos to follow with limited commentary. The first two below show examples of the mix I have mentioned above - notice the difference between the restored old house in the second picture (an example of early Cuban architecture from the 18th century) and the state of the side wall of the adjoining building:

Next a couple of pictures of a mural wall that contains portraits of leading figures from pre-revolution Cuba. Not sure how old this 'picture' is (not very, I suspect), but it is a mirror image of the old (looking to be in the process of being restored) building opposite:

... and here is that building opposite - the lady in the foreground wearing what happens to be a 1980's design Marks and Spencer cotton jumper with shawl design pattern to the top (so those clothes do get through to the people of Cuba) was our guide:

A couple more photos of the colourful side of old Havana - the 'park' (there are quite a few of these little green areas a dotted around the city) with a 'faceless' mural in the background, and pictures for sale (yes, I know, all very touristy!) in an area that resembles, oh so slightly, the Covent Garden area of London:

A picture of the main square, 'Plaza del Catedral', in that 'Covent Garden' area (sorry, the wife got in the way again!) and of the young girl who is celebrating her teenage 15 years in customary traditional dress:

Clearly a tourist area, but just off the square in a side street come alley, we stumbled upon this spiral staircase leading up to an apartment - look closely - the stair rail is actually made from old oil drums!:

So that was old Havana, in a nutshell. We went for lunch after this into the old embassy district to a restaurant that would have been grand in pre-revolution days, and although it still retained a lot of its earlier charm it clearly had suffered the slow decay that post-revolution Cuba created. No pictures I'm sorry to say.

Our next stop on our visit was an unexpected one, and caused by taking a tour on a Sunday no doubt. Normally we would have been treated to the Cigar Factory, but as this was closed we went to.... a cemetery!

Jusr shows how quickly you turn into the equivalent of a Japanese tourist , prepared to photofraph anything! I'll only show one picture here though as it involves a local myth come legend. The grave is that of a mother who died on giving berth to her still-born baby. Both were buried in the same grave, the baby being placed between the mother's legs as was customary (I guess we can take it that in days gone by with no medical assistance, this sort of disaster was probably more frequent than we would like to believe). The custom of burial in Cuba, requires the body to be buried for a two-year period in the primary grave after which the body is transferred to a less grand but more accepted family grave.

The story goes that when this grave was later opened for the transferral, the baby was no longer between its mother's legs, but had moved to lie across her breast (as is depicted in the statue behind the grave). Maybe the baby wasn't dead when it was buried and moved of its own accord, but the grave has taken on a significance for the people and is seen as a place to honour. Anyone/family who has problems with pregnancy or childberth will lay flowers on this grave and pray for help to overcome their problem. It is the only grave in the cemetery that is always adorned with fresh flowers as a result...

Next in this section, the Capitol building - Havana's replica of the White House - no further description needed:

One extra photo of the building:

Lastly, the trip involved a visit to Revolution Square. A bleak place. We mentioned to our guide how this resembled Tiananmen Square in China. An interesting revelation ensued - she had never heard of Tiananmen Square - an indication that while Cubans receive an excellent education, the extent of their knowledge about the outside world is heavily controlled.

Shots of the 'Che Guevara' hotel and the Revolution Tower which flanked the square:

As ever, I wish that I had taken more pictures to show more of Havana life, but I hope these convey some of it. If you want more then I have discovered a very good picture site on the web here and also here. Lots, lots more to see, for those who are interested.

One more section to follow - time probably for some discussion and comments first....

I love the Plaza del Catedral, the scale of the building is charming. Did you get inside?

I imagine much of their indoctrination has been the fear of change. No matter how bad things are, they could always be worse. As those who remember pre-Castro, die off, the horrors of Batista's regime will continue to grow in folklore.

Cyclefrance, I realize the frustration of trying to present vacation pictures only to be vilified as trading with the enemy. Don't take it personally.

I'm sure some people will be disappointed it doesn't look worse, or feel you've glossed over the really bad stuff. But, most really do appreciate your candor and giving us a glimpse into Cuba as it really is.

Would a lot of tacky crap from walmart really improve their lives? ;)

It''s quite strange being a visitor to Havana - the things that we evidence as tourist visitors as being bad stuff really come down to the grand architecture that is decaying and the general apperance of people and life being poor (no iPods, no fast food, no large stores, no neon lights or advertising, no cars jamming the roads - nothing we would associate with our own countries - it's all very low key). This is something that is reflected across the whole country - you just don't see anyone who looks substantially better off than anyone else. That's the effect of a communist doctrine, and it's alien to us.

But the people are essentially a happy people - or certainly appear so - and to us this seems at odds with their outward appearance. Certainly, there is evidence from the conversations we had with the few Cubans we met offering that opportunity, that they want to spread their wings and that the natural enthusiasm of the human being to explore and discover is sadly suppressed, but against this there is a sense of common security that you don't see in many parts of the world. When we went to Tropicana (next section) we came home around half past midnight. Driving through the streets of Havana we passed group after group of people happily enjoying the evening air - no sign of violence, drunkeness or crime - no police sirens, no ambulance sirens. It was unfamiliarly peaceful. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but merely an observation and my feeling is that this is one of the elements that the Cubans fear could be lost should the country change and open its arms to a capitalist way of life again.

Is my assessment right or wrong? I just don't know enough about the country and its people yet to say whether this first impression is valid or misplaced. I'm just presenting you with what I saw and witnessed within the confines of a relatively short visit that was taken initially and primarily for reasons other than to understand the way the country ticked. If nothing else I hope my observations cause others to puzzle and to want to know what this country really is like under a regime that is one we have an instant distaste for and therefore we may be biased ourselves when trying to reach objective conclusions.

Tropicana
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Last section of this mini travelogue, and the second trip we booked to Havana. Unexpectedly there was a German couple in the party of 14 to be picked up from the hotel. More surprising was the tour guide, Manuel, in his mid twenties, who spoke near perfect English – and fluent German as well!

His first time ever to Tropicana – we were to visit the oldest and the original venue (there are now 3 Tropicanas in Cuba). Asked why he had not been before, we should have known his obvious answer – Cubans could never afford to go to Tropicana. He was very apologetic and sought our approval to the fact that he had invited his girlfriend, Dagmar, to join him (the accountant and the Americana Hotel in Varadero). As she was absolutely stunning, every man on the coach gave their approval almost before Manuel had finished asking!

Tropicana lies on the west side of Havana, outside the city and originally in the countryside (although now the area is built up around it). An open air venue with all the glitz and glamour of a 1930’s nightclub. Like stepping back in time. You could almost imagine Edward G Robinson or James Cagney walking through the doors ahead of you.

Quite a show! Reminiscent of Moulin Rouge, but here it was mostly dancing and singing with just two specialist acts. The first a popular Cuban tenor and the second an acrobatic act.

I took photos, but I apologise in advance for the quality. My camera just isn’t up to long-distance flash photography, so all the pictures are blurred. But I think you will get the feel of what it was like even so.

First the opening number. As well as the main stage there were two small stages set either side amongst the branches of the trees. These produced the best shots. The opening number saw the dancing girls wearing chandeliers as head gear (and not much else) – that’s the first photo, while the second is of the acrobatic troupe who climbed and balanced with bare feet and toes clutching the side poles and cross bar:

Two more photos of the showgirls on the side stage performing other numbers - plenty of changes of costume throughout the evening:

... and one last one of the main stage - only really including it to convey to general appearance, as the quality of these shots was atrocious - this is the best of a very bad bunch:

As mentioned earlier, the journey home from Tropicana took us across Havana and was undertaken around half past midnight. The streets were alive with local people talking, walking and generally enjoying each other's company. Houses here were as sparce as anywhere - a good deal more solid in construction but by no means well looked after (meagre lighting, unglazed windows and veryu little in the way of furnishings). I guess te population just accepts this side of their lives and places most value on their friendships and the people they share their lives with both relatives and neighbours.

Two last observations to close this off.

First, we did come across an episode of violence, but it was between two of the hotel guests and not between any locals - in fact the locals (mainly in the form of the 6' 4" hotel chef) broke the fight up. Seems a Brit and a Canadina, both on the worse side of alcohol consumption went to go through a door at the same time. Neither would give way to the other... no need to say any more....

Second, I would have expected somewhere along the way to have encountered bitterness at the intrusion of comparatively wealthy visitors ingratiating themselves on their idsland and splashing their money around when all the locals hardly a penny to put together themselves. It never happened. No matter who we met and talked to they were friendly and seemed genuinely to appreciate the experience of having visitors to their country. Perhaps some of us have something to learn from the Cuban people in this respect...

I hope you have enjoyed the chance to learn a little about this seemingly strange (perhaps that should be 'unusual') country. For myself, I hope that I may have the opportunity to visit Cuba again and to extend my education of the place and its people - sooner rather than later.

My mother used to say, "We were dirt poor..... but so was everbody else."
No need to keep up with the Jones when everybody is equal.

Thanks Cyclefrance, you done good. :D

Shouldn't be surprising that someone in the Communist tourist industry speaks the language of a country that used to be half Commie ... actually, if they follow the playbook for any tourist location, they'll have staff who speak languages of each of their feeder countries. Much easier to book tours when you can promise someone to help you find the bathrooms and figure out the money.

Great pictures, and interesting experiences, CF. Thanks for sharing them with us!

Sorry, Griff, meant to answer this earlier. Regretfully could not go inside. May have been the wrong time of day. Check out the first of the two sites I've linked (repeat here) for a lot more pictures on Cuba as a whole. We did have access to a museum opposite which housed many items of furniture, 50% of which looked familiarly like English Victorian items.