Uncle Fidel...

[Cyclefrance]

Havana
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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.