Cuba Trip Travelogue Pt 1 Frank and Cynthia Robben May 2016 The purpose for us in traveling to Cuba was not as a tourist on vacation, to experience a good time at beaches, stay in nice hotels, eat at nice restaurants and have interesting entertainment, but rather to learn first-hand about this country with its unusual government that has so alienated the United States. What are the people like, how do they live and cope (as we all learn to cope and function in the society around us), and how is the country likely to change? In actual fact, in spite of the embargo of the US government, it is legal to travel to Cuba to learn about the people, and to educate yourself. Right now the legal obligation of a US citizen traveling to Cuba consists of checking off under which of the 12 (I think) legitimate reasons for travel you satisfy as a condition of being issued an airline ticket. No questions asked. I checked journalism. Our president was just there, to ease things, and a cruise ship with US passengers visited after we left. Quite a few tour companies have materialized recently who will take you on tours of Cuba, primarily with educational justification. They are expensive and you will not get to experience first-hand how to get by in this country. You travel in an insulated cocoon, to be blunt. Under Raul Castro government control of the people has loosened, a bit, and they have recently been allowed to rent out rooms in their houses to foreigners, thus running a small business for themselves. I searched on the internet for Casa Particulars. There was no shortage of ads, but I was not sure how legitimate they were, or what the properties would really be like. Airbnb (I guess now an internet darling) has Casa Particulars listed and I assumed may be trusted... I studied the map of Havana, where things are, and where the properties were located for quite some Our friend Hilkka, on the left, and my wife Cynthia, at the Honolulu airport ready to depart for this Odyssey Frank, on the right, with friend Ernesto, the day before we left Cuba.
time. After a couple of applications did not work out, we received a yes from one of the first ones Magaly's Casa. A local lady, not much English, but a nice appearing apartment in a fairly good location, and within walking distance (a ways though) to most of the interesting parts of Havana. It had one bedroom and an enclosed deck on the top story, with promiset of and outdoor view of the surroundings, and the unit looked good in the photographs on the airbnb site. Two bedrooms, kitchen and air conditioning, $60 a day for the three of us. Since I was uncertain how easy it might be to find other places while we were there, I took it and paid in advance for 2 weeks. Done! Getting there we started from Honolulu the least expensive and most straightforward route was through the Caribbean resort city of Cancun in Mexico. A Cancun stop attracted me as I had been there twice, on an educational tour in the 1970's, and in 1992 on our return from sailing around the world. I booked Aeromexico from Los Angeles to Cancun, where we would stay overnight, and then a privately owned low cost Mexican airline, Interjet, for the final leg. I wanted to get some rest before arriving in Havana as I had no certainty as to how things would go on arrival in Havana. Cancun has become a major tourist destination, it seems not only for US citizens for also for many Mexican nationals. It is obvious that Mexico has become more prosperous in recent years good for them. The airport was large, 3 or 4 separate terminals, and of international standard. On arrival I went to the Interjet service counter to see how to get the required Visa for Cuba. They were very helpful, no problem, and sold me visas on the spot for about $14 each. Also I asked about how to get to the hotel without paying outrageous taxi fares, and they advised me to take the Ado bus shuttle service located a short walk further than all the taxis. We walked the gamut of touts The Ado bus inexpensive way to get from the airport to downtown Cancun
trying to sell you on a taxi and found a small line of knowledgeable travelers for the shuttle bus which was about $7 each to the city center. Nice bus, and ride, to a somewhat scrappy bus terminal where we got a taxi - $4 total to our hotel only a mile or so back along the same road the bus took in. Ambiance Suites was one of a Mexican chain, more of a business hotel, and was a good place, nice large rooms and clean like any decent motel in the US. A nice change was the staff - more pleasant and friendly than I am used to. The many fancier and expensive tourist hotels are located further away along the very fine beaches. On a walking tour I explored the area nearby, cased restaurants, observed. Lots of traffic on the multi-lane road, pedestrians had to be careful, and many businesses. The income of the Cancun area is, I think, largely from the tourist trade - like Honolulu. A busy place packed with people and cars. From an internet search (what else to find out everything, these days) I picked a nice restaurant, Peters, and the three of us walked there that evening a fair distance. And saved taxi fare... It was a very nice place, classy, we had wonderful meals and the prices were reasonable. Unfortunately I made a mistake by walking on our return to the hotel and taking a bit different route. I got lost (did have a tourist map though), we continued on as I thought it was just a bit further, and on walking along a dark street in a fairly nice residential, Hilkka stumbled on the cracked sidewalk and fell. Not serious, but then to find a taxi was not simple. A fellow stopped to help us, and managed to flag down a taxi. He went with us back to our hotel (I had gotten quite lost it turned out), and both he and the taxi driver were very helpful and the taxi charge was small. Very nice and considerate Mexican people they were. All of this because I was a bit stubborn about walking home and not taking a taxi. The taxi rates for foreigners tend to be Peter's Restaurant in downtown Cancun where we ate an excellent dinner Sorry no more photos I can find from Cancun although I somehow thought we took some Further down are photos from Cuba
substantially more than for locals and I am not fond of bargaining. But we learned a bit more about Mexico, and the Mexican people. We left early the next morning for the Interjet flight to Havana. The taxi dropped us off at the wrong terminal (I was confused about which airline) and we had to walk quite a ways between terminals. But what better way to know a bit more about the airport? There was plenty of time and no problem. On flying over the western part of Cuba I looked carefully at this extraordinary country. Roads and a few small villages but almost no cars. As we approached Havana cars were more in evidence but not many. The Havana airport was much smaller than Cancun. Immigration went smoothly, and they did not stamp our passports but instead enclosed a stamped form authorizing entry. However, there was no one with a sign waiting to take us to Magaly's Place as she hd emailed to us thorugh the airbnb site. At the airport help desk Cynthia managed to call Magaly she answered, apologized and said a driver would be there shortly. Meanwhile I stood in a very long line to change money to the tourist local money called CUC to no avail as our driver came before I had advanced much. He was a young fellow an acquaintance of Magaly's and led us to an adjoining parking lot and his car. A very old Nash it was, somewhat fixed up. Then a crisis happened as he started the car a police officer came up and I understood that first he was illegally parking in this lot, and second illegally picking us up from the airport. He argued with the officer, they went off and talked, then a supervisor came and they argued more. We waited. Finally it was resolved, a legal taxi would come again a friend of Magaly's. All of this I sort of inferred from the scraps of Spanish I understood, and the expressions and body language of the participants. Interesting that our young driver Welcome to Cuba Magali's young friend tried to pick us up in his old Nash but was unsucessful as he parked in an illegal area for him, at the airport Magaly's apartment building looks quite good from the street, her unit is on the second story
did not give in easily he was not afraid of the officials. Finally the legitimate taxi he spoke some English came and we were dropped off at Magaly's. Magaly had arranged to pay him directly and we eventually paid Magaly the originally agreed upon fee - $25. An interesting introduction to Cuban society. Our apartment, and Magaly I was not sure what to expect. Magaly, whose English was limited, was a very active, knowledgeable, determined, and charming lady, probably in her 30's, blonde and nice looking. The apartment itself looked pretty much as presented in the airbnb photos. There were actually 3 bedrooms, but we only took two. She could rent the bedrooms separately they each had their own bath, and also small kitchens, except for the one next to the main kitchen. We would have the entire apartment to ourselves for the two weeks. Limited pots, dishes etc for the kitchens. Air conditioning for all bedrooms, which worked. A pleasant place it was. Up a steep staircase to her apartment on the second floor, and there seemed to be only one apartment on the first floor which was owned by someone else. She wanted, and offered, to help us, be our guide, advise us etc. We needed money exchanged which we had not done at the airport. Magaly would do us for it, at a bit better rate than the official banks. Cynthia and I gave her $1,000, Hilkka $500, and she would bring back CUC's the next day. In the meantime she gave us enough CUC's for dinner that evening, and any incidentals, a couple hundreds. Also a cell telephone that would work locally, so we could communicate with her for help and info but the Sim card might need charging up. A lot of things a bit uncertain it seemed. And difficulty in communicating in English. She also left us with a bit of food for breakfast the next morning. Magaly suggested a restaurant for our dinner that evening, and as it had become near Here is the view of the apartments across the street. No holes in the roof, though, and seemed fully occupied Our landlady Magaly, and Cynthia,
dinner time, and although she thought it not far to walk, when we hesitated she took us and flagged down a taxi to go there. The taxi situation must be explained a bit, as it was a problem for the two weeks we were there. There were also public buses, but as they went by we could see they were quite crowded and we had no idea where they either stopped, or where they were going. Magaly did not suggest using the buses a message there I thought. There were two types of taxis, old cars, privately owned, that cruised the streets, picked up and let out passengers as they went along, and were often fully crowded. Standard rate was $1 (I will use the US equivalent). In Spanish while the other passengers waited impatiently. A bit intimidating and for us a major problem. If you stopped an empty old taxi you had to bargain otherwise you were not sure what it might cost. Then there were newer taxis, yellow and marked Taxi on the roof these apparently were state owned and the drivers were state employees. They were much more expensive, maybe minimum $5, more likely $10 to 20. Of course you had to explain where you were going, and could bargain for how much it would cost. So Magaly got one of the old cars to stop it already had several passengers she had a rapid fired conversation in Spanish, we paid $3 and crowded in. Not knowing at all where we were going, but I thought it was just up this street. And this was correct, the driver turned left onto a side street and indicated we should get out and waved casually toward the corner. The restaurant was indeed on the corner, with a short line waiting outside, and a door guard who let the people in as a table was available. Scruffy street, scruffy buildings, but Biky's looked first class inside, from what we A nice photo of Hilkka, Magaly and Cynthia at a garden party hosted by the Embassy of Sri Lanka
could see through the windows. The door guard knew reasonable English (most people do not), and indicated it would not be too long a wait. It all worked fine - a very nice place inside, clean white tablecloths, flowers and a candle in a handsome holder on every table. We had a very polite waiter and there were separate menus in English. But the majority of the patrons appeared to be local Cubans. The menu was not too long but sounded good, and the food being served to the other customers looked excellent. The kitchen itself was glassed in and you could see the cooks working. Classy place.there was one item on the menu which caught my eye lobster! Priced at $15. Our waiter highly recommended it, and I took it. Cynthia had some fish, Hilkka I have forgotten. I also ordered a martini it was on the drink list and said I wanted to tell the bartender how to make it. Our waiter took me to the bar, and a very polite bartender, who actually knew how a martini should be made - in my oldfashioned way made it to my specs. Which mainly means only a sniff of Vermouth to be added. It was excellent and I even had a second one, to celebrate our arrival in Havana, to have a decent place to stay, and to find such an excellent restaurant. My lobster tail was quite large and broiled to perfection. It had been years since I had tried lobster, and it was wonderful. The wine was excellent and not expensive. And dessert Cynthia had flan, which she loves, and I had a recommended ice milk concoction which was also wonderful, and which Hilkka had heard of in her 1970's trip When we left we decided we would walk back. The door guard a pleasant black fellow warned the ladies about wearing valuable necklaces which they were doing and said they should hide them when walking back. It was our first time walking around Havana, and also an experience. Sidewalks are broken, holes in some cases, At Biki's, the restaurant for our fine dinner the first night in Havana These are the only photos I took - of three wonderful servings. First my broiled lobster, second the flan Cynthia had for dessert, and third my ice milk, which Hillka had heard of from her time in Cuba in the later 1950's
temporary supports propping up crumbling balconies. Most everything was in terrible repair and we had to watch our step. Not at all well lit, and we had to be very careful when crossing the streets cars do not pay much attention to pedestrians and will come within inches. A couple of traffic lights, but hardly visible to pedestrians. We were a bit concerned Cynthia and Hilkka were talking to some of the people on the street, associated with other restaurants, and one black fellow very kindly waved down a taxi, another black fellow, and negotiated a price of about $4 to take us the last 3 or 4 blocks. Our introduction to life in Havana. Thus getting around in Havana was a bit stressful walking worked fine, but the distances were considerable, taxis were difficult to negotiate but sometimes worked out well. Busses no. The advantage of walking is we got to inspect the city more fully - the buildings which were not maintained, the people and how they shopped and lived, and so on. For me, and also Hilkka and Cynthia, it was fascinating. A very ornate and not torn down apartment building across from the park on our way to Revolution Square When I think about it now, it is interesting that we really did not have any fear, and I think that was because the people in general were friendly, courteous and helpful. Kudos to the present Cuban culture and perhaps Castro and his government had something to do with it. The next day Saturday we slept well, and up late, about 8:30, Cynthia made breakfast from eggs, bread (toasted a bit in the oven), papaya, guavas. And coffee. Magaly came, and in a sort pf whirlwind gave us the cash it seemed a friend did the exchange, and Magaly had good accounting for us. A bit better than the official bank rate. And offered to take us to the Hemingway house and museum next week I decided to go for a walk by myself, and using a tourist map I took a route first along a The abandoned sport stadium, across from the building above. Understood it was built for hosting the Pan American games in the 70's? and then had no use to justify the cost of maintenance
local park (fenced and closed at that time), then an open park, followed by what looked like an abandoned sport stadium where it seemed homeless people were staying. Across the wide road 5 lanes or so was the main bus terminal, apparently for intercity buses and with quite a bit of activity. Then the main post office with very few people some administrative buildings and then Independence Square, a large area with an imposing tower at the top of a small hill, and at its foot a statue and a substantial museum. This was the Jose Marti memorial, a revolutionary hero from the 1800's. It turns out that the main governmental administrative offices are located in a large building behind the memorial, the national library is to one side, a very large parking lot in front of the memorial, and beyond that the two multi-story governmental administrative buildings I noted after the post office. These buildings had multi-story plaques, facing the aquare, with avant-garde facial liknesses of the most honored revolutionary heroes. I wll say more on this later. The Jose Marti Memorial at Revolution Square. In front of the tower is a well done museum documenting the life of Jose Marti, and an imporing statue. Construction of the Memorial has an interesting history it seems An imposing and well designed area with a decent view over the surrounding city. The governmental buildings were in good repair and looked as if they had been constructed following the Castro led revolution. The large parking lot is as far as I got. Very noticeably, at one side, there were 15 or more old US cars, mostly convertibles from the 40's and 50's, nicely, and some beautifully, painted, and appeared in good condition. This is one of the things that Havana is famous for in the US. Since they could not import or afford new cars, mechanically ingenious and self-reliant locals fixed up and kept running the old American cars. The proud owners of the these cars (these probably were the best in Havana) were standing by and taking tourists (tourist buses stopped regularly here) for Happy tourists going out for a joyride in one of the beautiful American convertibles
rides, and photographs, in these classic convertibles. Many people were having a good time and I noted a Ford convertible, 1947 or so the same as I had bought in Los Angeles when I was a freshman at Cal Tech in Pasadena. Certainly brought back memories. A brief aside here recently the government has dropped some of the strict restrictions on citizens operating their own side means of earning money. (I have learned more about how all this came to pass and may add my thoughts later.) The renting of rooms and apartments is now allowed, and the use of privately owned automobiles as a taxi is another. The cars roaming the streets, picking up passengers and crowding them in, are informal taxis, and these cars are also mainly old American cars, in poor repair (broken door and window handles for instance), but kept running by the ingenuity of their owners, and earning some income for them. The standard charge (which can be negotiated, of course) is $1, for some unspecified distance. The very best of these cars is what I was looking at in the parking area of Independence Square. There the cost of a short ride is $5 and more depending on how long the ride is, etc. An interesting fact about these cars is that they no longer have the original American gasoline engine. Almost all Cadilacs (there are many), Buick, Ford, Chevrolet have had the engines replaced with diesels (used Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes and on not sure how they are obtained). It certainly makes them more fuel efficient important in the cost of operation in Cuba. On returning home, there was a small black lady, very pleasant, talking with Cynthia and Hilkka. She helped Magaly with the apartment, cleaning and taking care of details. She could not speak well, very quietly like a whisper, and with my poor hearing I had to depend on Cynthia to understand what was going on. Chita, (this is Remember the Buick four-holers? And the Ford Fairlane? Here is the type of a Ford/Mercury I bought when a freshman student at Cal Tech in Pasadena
something like her name) had had some sort of throat cancer and now breathed, and talked, through a tracheotomy, and wore a gauze covering over her throat. She was competent, intelligent, hard working and a real help. She had brought a bit of fruit, had gone through some of the things in the apartment showing them to us, and would take us to the local supermarket. This was only a few blocks away, on a busy street and crossing the streets to get there was an exercise in both being careful, and very observant. She led us, and took care of us as well. This supermarket was across the street from a large government building, which she told us was a hospital, and where they had carried out the surgery on her throat. And cured her. The supermarket was something else. Very noisy, loud music playing, and hundreds of people, talking, eating snacks, looking at the wares in the shops, children playing on the carnival-like rides on the ground floor. There was a large central, open area, and an inclined walkway around it that went up about 3 floors. All kinds of shops located around this walkway a bank, hardware, many clothing and accessory shops, I would say 50 or so separate shops. The building was special built for this purpose, government owned I am sure, and probably rented the spaces. On the ground floor, towards the rear, Chita took us to reasonably sized food store canned and dry goods, many rows of things. After a short time in the store a lady, a manager of some sort, came up to me and complained about something which I could not understand. I just sort of went on looking around. But she kept coming back, and with Cynthia and Hilkka, we finally figured out what was wrong. I had a small backpack, and nothing like that was allowed. Only small ladies purses. And Hilkka had a quite large handbag as well. But they tolerated us. And we made more haste to get our stuff and check out. Chita a very pleasant and efficient lady who helped with running Magaly's Casa Chita accompanying Hikka on our way to the Supermarket - about 3 blocks to the left The central part of the Supermarket. Grocery store in the rear on this ground floor
Regular cashiers handled the checkout, like we are used to. But these people were not particularly friendly or helpful. Probably typical Cuban government employees, at low wages, and having to follow all kinds of rules and restrictions which does not lead to any pleasure in what you are doing. Right behind the cashiers was the exit door, blocked by a security guard who looked at your receipt, then looked in your bags and checked for every item. And the items were just put in the bags by the cashier not 5 feet from him!. Obviously, it was unusual to have tourists in this store, who did not know the system, and they were uncertain how to deal with us and were reluctant to make us conform to their rules. Ignorance is sometimes a blessing. A well lit shop on one of the upper floors After this I noted that there were many security guards scattered through this very busy market. They had hand-held radios and there was a supervisor or two but no one carried any sort of weapon, and there were no official police. All the Cuban people there seemed to be enjoying themselves. The problem was petty shoplifting. And along this line, here is a following incident. After leaving this market proper, Chita took us around the corner, to a small bakery, to buy fresh bread. It was part of the same building, but had a business counter open to the sidewalk, with a number of people waiting in line for their turn. While waiting I noted a somewhat taller, young man standing next to me. White skinned. Chita somehow got his attention, looked directly at him and wagged her right finger at him! It was a clear warning, that I know what is on your mind and you are being watched. So pickpockets were also a problem. And I observed, and was impressed, that Chita, a small black woman, was confident of herself and knew how to take care of things. Hospital across street from :Supermarket Back home, Cynthia made a dinner of pasta and some fruit. The gas range would not Church spire we headed for
light, but we found an electric hotplate and Cynthia made do. Sunday morning the gas range worked fine and we had breakfast in the outdoor patio, very pleasant it was. We decided to go downtown, to old Havana it is called, and first we walked to the market we had visited Saturday. (Taxis congretated on the street there.) Went inside and this time surveyed the shops, there were lots of people wandering around and it was pleasant, quite noisy, and interesting to look at what the shops had. Generally not staples but fancier, more expensive items. We then left and took the road by the market, a main street which led directly to downtown, and we could see a tall church spire a number of blocks ahead. So we just walked. It was Sunday afternoon but the church was closed. The entrance, from the street, was in the middle of a block and not particularly noticeable. On trying to ask about it, no one seemed to either know, or be particularly interested, how to get in, why it was closed, etc. The language barrier was a problem, though. We continued, observing the buildings - some abandoned, others not abandoned but looking like they were falling down, or parts of them had already collapsed. And some of the remaining structure still being used..within a few blocks we could see the towers and spires of large and beautiful buildings, and then the imposing Capitolia Nacional, the dome surrounded by scaffolds. Being repaired a standard state of many of the buildings. We were a bit tired and somewhat confused in general, so stepped in to the classy looking Hotel Saratoga, on the corner across from the Capitolia Nacional. From a concierge we got a better tourist map of downtown, and also found there was a tourist office in the hotel. Their small classy snack bar and restaurant attracted us, and we sat down and had lunch good sandwiches, US prices. We talked with a Partially razed building across from the church Business building with gilded tower Hotel Saratoga where we had lunch
nice lady in the tourist office, learned about tourist possibilities and the prices (rather expensive), and booked a city tour, on a bus with a guide, for Monday afternoon. We then walked through the old city (it was walled at one time for protection from pirates) to Cathedral Square, with the original Catholic church, an impressive structure, built as I recall in the early 1700's. It was closed (Sunday afternoon again..) so we did not get to see the interior. Wandered around the area, Cynthia and Hilkka looking for postcards, jewelery and trinkets for children, while I looked at some other churches and buildings, and at the waterfront looked at the rather small town of Casablanca on the shore across the channel, and the impressive fortifications on the 100 or so foot high cliffs. I also found a poster of Raul and Barack, almost hidden in a corner of one of the buildings. Finally, when it was threatening rain, I got a regular, official taxi from the parking lot - $10 to get home. But it rained heavily, and we were glad not to get wet. Poster from Obama's visit only one I saw, kind of hidden in a corner, on Cathedral Square Imposing oldest Cathedral, constructed by the Spanish in the 1700's