Day 9 - High Mountains, El Che, and Lots of Rain

After breakfast, we left Trinidad and headed to the mountain ranges to the north, and away from the sea. Twisty roads and switchbacks are fun but when you add … big, wide, deep, potholes, gravel, dirt, pavement, chickens, dogs, cows, people and very old vehicles moving really slow … then, it is really really fun!

We stoped at the top of the first mountain range to look back at Trinidad and the peninsula by the sea where we had lunch yesterday. Cuba is way bigger than I thought, with incredibly diverse terrain and landscapes. We went down and up the mountains and saw lakes, rivers, 4x4 trails, hiking trails, and pine woods ... and interesting recreation area to complement Trinidad's other charms.  

We eventually made our way to Santa Clara, the site of Cuba's last battle of the revolution in 1958.  Once there, we visited the Che Guevara mausoleum and the small museum there dedicated to his life. Another very interesting stop. Visitors from all over the world … Poland, Croatia, Italy.

Che makes me realize that finding your purpose in life can be a force multiplier that can impact mankind and its ongoing evolution. My guess is that his deep commitment to help the oppressed and those in need, while renouncing all attachments, burnt in his heart so strongly until his death in Bolivia.

I know that travelling, moving, meeting people, and seeing things is part of my purpose but I still do not fully understand what it is. The intensity and resonance of these experiences with my being is hard to ignore. I do look more intensely for signs on these trips. I do feel I am making progress ... but I do not know where all this is going yet.

After Santa Clara, a massive rainstorm hit us for about 2 hours on our way to Moron. These bad roads are slippery as ice when they get wet ... the oil from all these old cars gets dislodged with the water. Very spooky … slow progress ... and then, I got a flat tire!

Met Carlos close to where I stopped and he offered to help with an old air compressor he had in his lime green Russian Lada which also had a small trailer attached to it. We joked that if the air did not hold, we would put my bike in his little trailer and he would take me to Moron.  No need, the tire held and we finally made it, soaking wet, to our guest house in Moron.

After a hot shower to recover, we headed to see the town and to dinner. Rode a bicycle taxi, walked in the Plaza Marti, and had an amazing tuna and shrimp pizza at the best restaurant in town.  

Restaurants usually have a big long menu with all kinds of starters, salads, soups, entrees, and deserts ... but there is always somethings missing ... no pork, or no beef, or no milk, or no electricity, or juices, or nothing but lobster tails, or no salads.  We are used to it by now : )

I had the most interesting conversation with my bicycle taxi driver after dinner. He was born in Camaguey, moved to Moron when he was 16, and has been here for 40 years. He makes around 10,000 pesos a month riding his taxi (about 70 USD) but has to pay around 870 pesos to the government for his license to operate. He is able to live modestly for that amount.

As we rode through the streets, he was telling me about all the buildings, houses, parks, monuments, and businesses around us … the grand government-owned hotel in Moron, the best pizza place in town, a cluster of “privately owned stores” … he is actually the first Cuban I meet that finds the fact that there are private businesses in Cuba amazing.

Tomorrow, we head to Remedios and the Cayo Santa Maria as we make our way back to Varadero and Habana. 

Saying goodby to our host in Trinidad

The view towards Trinidad and the ocean from the top of mountain 

A elementary and secondary school in the mountains.  

A lot of building in Cuba seemed abandoned but they are all alive and well.

In between mountain ranges - rivers, lakes, 4x4 trails, hiking trails

These motorcycles are so unique in Cuba that they are always a hit

At the Che Mausoleum - this is Che's last letter to Fidel

A 3D mural at the Mausoleum

Our motorcycles outside our restaurant in Santa Clara

Our lunch at a stately home in Santa Clara

Some of the buildings around the main plaza in Santa Clara

Small private businesses everywhere - a novelty here

These Chinese tuk-tuk's are nice!

Our house in Moron after the torrential rain

Wouter and Anton taking a bicycle taxi to dinner

The train station in Moron

A street in Moron

Cool stuff everywhere

Day 8 - Giron, the CIA, and World Heritage Sites

The more time I spend in Cuba the more amazed I am at the creativity, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurial spirit of its people. Building a house could take 7 years and materials need to be bought when they are available, even if our of order, and stored them until needed.  

A German/Cuban couple we met at the coffee shop told us that their bar needed a cooler and that they had to chase one across multiple towns once they heard that the government got some and were going to be sold on a certain day.  Lots of people got in line to buy them and immediately posted them for sale on Facebook at twice the price. 

Today, after another breakfast al fresco at the beach, we took a nice, long, leisurely ride around the entire Bay of Pigs and straight into Giron.  This is the landing site of the failed attempt by the CIA and some mercenaries to overthrow the Castro regime. We visited the very nice and small museum there and saw a documentary film with pictures and film from that era. Very interesting.

I did not know that right after this failed attempt, Fidel turned to the Soviet Union (and communism) as a way to defend itself from future US attacks. Fidel’s revolution color was actually green until this moment. He was not originally a communist. Interesting.

After the museum, we rode though the marshes and low lands following the coast. A great ride with very few cars and great vegetation tunnels over the road.  It is amazing how few people use the roads between towns here ... felt deserted. 

 We saw more agriculture (finally) … some rice fields, some corn, but nobody in the fields working them … and we even saw a solar power plant.  It is amazing how things we take for granted at home become sources of wonder here.

We arrived to Cienfuegos, a UNESCO world heritage site, and rode through its beautiful avenues full of stately mansions on both sides … and a soviet-built nuclear plant across the bay that was never started because Chernobyl happened a few months before it was supposed to start operating.

We kept riding along the coast to Trinidad, another UNESCO world heritage site, and our stay for the night. A great quaint colonial town on the hill overlooking the ocean. A great setting. We ate the largest lobsters I have ever seen at the beach.

Trinidad is a proper tourist destination … full of people from all over the Europe … Italy, France, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Switzerland … great restaurants, cobblestone streets, churches, plazas … and an incredible music scene, as soon as it gets dark.

I am beginning to drink the cool-aid. The more Cubans I meet and learn about their challenges and tribulations but realize how they have mastered the live-in-the-moment lifestyle and how they enjoy life ... and their surroundings and the people around them … and how they spice it all up with joyful music, salsa, and smiles … I am now realizing that I am meeting more and more people that truly appreciate their life in Cuba and would not change it for one in the outside world with their work first culture.

We had dinner at an amazing restaurant in an old restored house by the main plaza with a great band that played Cuban and Mexican music until late … even Juan Gabriel … what?!? 

After dinner, we went to the Casa de Musica where another band was playing and every foreigner in town congregated. Happiness all around. Smiles everywhere. And time slowed down again … the moment was there … complete focus … no distractions … resonance.

It is late … time to go to bed … tomorrow we keep going East to Moron.

Henry and the owner of our stay at the beach in Playa Larga, Bay of Pigs

The museum at the landing site of the failed US invasion

A great picture from those days

Mission accomplished - first country in the world with 100% literacy

A drink stop at the main plaza in Cienfuegos

Inside our coffee shop in Cienfuegos 

The wide avenues in Cienfuegos

A look at the bay in Cienfuegos 

One of the old mansions in Cienfuegos

Another one

Lunch at the beach in Trinidad - I had the biggest lobster I have ever seen

Through the marshes on empty roads

This family packed 15 people in this car

Our house in Trinidad - It took 7 years to build and get ready

Art everywhere

Roaming and exploring the streets in Trinidad

A good saleswoman - she convinced me to get my first Che beret at the market

Oh Oh

At the famous Casa Pepe coffee house and bar

The view of Trinidad from the tallest tower in town

The ocean in the horizon

The curved colonial streets of Trinidad

Our dinner restaurant with great music

I love this place - a cappuccino in nice china!

La Casa de Musica where the town congregates at night to continue the party

Day 7 - The Central Highway and the Bay of Pigs

After breakfast al fresco in Soroa, we said goodbye to our host Dunia and headed out towards the Bay of Pigs.  A long ride following small roads at first and then connecting to the main highway that crosses the island from West to East. 

A 6 lane divided highway with very little traffic … no billboards or any marketing sign of any sort anywhere just a nice fast road and nature all around … interesting cars when we did see some … and a beautiful deep blue sky with the whitest clouds here and there.

It is strange how the country still tries to maintain a two-tier system with a card that can only be loaded with hard currency (i.e., dollars, euros, even Mexican pesos) and stores that only accept to be paid with the card. These stores have special items, usually imported, that are not available to the average citizen ... including high octane gasoline.

Cubans are very clever though and they usually figure out how to get some hard currency and load their cards … or how to get them through black market intermediaries. I guess the government's main objective is to replenish hard currency reserves to purchase other things like fuel, food ... but who knows.

We crossed a few busy villages and towns. Lots of animal-drawn carriages, animal-drawn taxis, and even animal-drawn buses … horses, cattle.  It is also interesting how a lot of people in Cuba wear Bermuda shorts ... not usual in Latin America.  Also, lots of people queueing in front of nondescript buildings here and there waiting to get or buy something.

Even though there is sense of scarcity everywhere,  you can feel the creativity that has been growing, and allowed by the government, everywhere as more and more independent small businesses grow … there are no medicines in pharmacies or clinics but you can find literally anything for sale in Facebook … just for fun, we looked for antibiotics, unlocked iphones, and even Honda sport bikes … all available from private citizens for sale. 

My favorite saying proves true: “Con Dinero Dancing the Dog”... as close to a universal tenet, if there is one : )

We arrived to the Bay of Pigs … a beautiful, remote, rustic, big and wide bay with white fine sand, palm trees, and lots of small guest houses dotting the shore. 

 Our lunch consisted of fresh caught lobster, fresh crab meat, and fresh fish … and even a cappuccino. What ?!?!  People from all over the world here. A very cool, hippieish, relaxed, Zen vibe.

We sat by the beach all afternoon ... we talked, walk down the sandy beaches, talked to people, talked some more about history, the world, how to solve everybody’s problems … until it was dinner time and time to order more food again … so we ordered lobster, crab, and fish again!  A very Latin American kind of day.  Just go with the flow.

Time to go to bed now … tomorrow, we go to Trinidad, allegedly the most beautiful town in Cuba and a UNESCO world heritage site.

Leaving Soroa - our host Dunia

A great "how to live life" sign. Wow.

At one of our stops - kids on their way to school

My first glimpse of the Bay of Pigs

The view from my room at the Bay of Pigs

Dancing with a Cuban band again - realized that I am a very bad maraca player

Waiting for our freshly caught lobster, crab, and fish feast

Day 6 - Che Guevara and the Land of Tobacco

We had breakfast at Casa Chechi where half of our group stayed last night and we headed out to the tobacco region in the south west corner of the country. A great ride overlooking the valley where Vinales and Pinar del Rio are.  Beautiful.  

The tobacco area is very agricultural and it is called the “green gold region”.   We arrived to one of the better known farms, La Finca Hector Luis Prieto, and had a great tour of the place and of the whole process … planting, harvesting, drying, sorting, bundling, and ultimately how to make a cigar. Extremely interesting. 

We had lunch and headed out to see the caves at Hacienda Cortinas where Che Guevara hid and where he had his office during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.  Amazing natural formations with a number of caves and rivers running through it. This used to be the weekend estate of a very wealthy land owner during the Batista regime before it was confiscated by the state.

We then headed to Soroa, a well-known orchid growing area in a beautiful setting with mountains, twisty roads, jungle, birds … and, interspersed homes renting rooms here and there. We were exhausted. It was hot today. We had a great dinner in the dark … electricity went out again … and went to bed.

Tomorrow, we go to the Bay of Pigs to swim in the ocean.

Good morning Cuba! The view from our breakfast table.

Huge dinosaur mural on the side of a Mogote

A panoramic vice of the valley of Vinales

I thought this guy was a bronze statue - scared the hell out of me

A typical gas station - chaotic, some gas for local, some gas for tourists with special money only

The Belgians have converted

A tobacco field

Tobacco drying

The classification and selection shop

The Guatemalan-Mexican has also converted

Historical marker - Che Guevara hid here during the nuclear missile crisis in 1962

A beautiful setting - caves and rivers

Che's official office inside the cave

The motorcycles through the tunnel

All together still : )

The motorcycle picture

Leaving the old Cortina Estate where the caves and rivers were