Cycling Cuba 2018 -- Part 3

Monday February 5, 2018 – Sancti Spiritus to Trinidad

The day starts with a modest breakfast before we hit the road. It was very hot for cycling as we traversed a series of rolling hills. We had one fairly long, but not too steep, climb, and a couple of good downhills. Most of us stopped at a roadside café for coffee and/or fruit juice.

Crab at the coffee stop

We ended at the Manaca Iznaga estate and used the bus as our changing room as we donned more comfortable shorts, shirts and shoes. Several of us climbed the 144 foot tower for an excellent view of the Valle de los Ingenios. From there, we shuttled to Trinidad.

We had a brief walking tour of Trinidad (a city that Kathleen and I had visited in 2003) before having an excellent lunch at a rooftop restaurant. After some delicious appetizers, I had braised lamb for a main course. The dessert was flan and ice cream. It is worth noting that there appear to be far more private restaurants in Cuba now than there were in 2003. In fact, there is far more private enterprise leading to an “inverted economic pyramid.” Most professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. continue to work for the extremely low government salary while entrepreneurs such as restaurant owners, taxi drivers, etc. earn far more. Consequently, fewer and fewer people are entering the university system, and many professionals are turning to other endeavors such as operating a restaurant.

Our tour is classified as a People to People (P2P) visit and to meet US Government requirements, we must engage in a number of P2P activities. These provide a great opportunity to meet and engage with the people of Cuba. This afternoon we had two such opportunities. The first was a visit to the workshop of a woodcarver portraitist and the second to a collective shop established by a group of women embroiderers who have successfully turned their craft into a business.

We share the road with all

 

Tonight we are staying in a number of different casas particulares, private homes which rent out rooms. David and I are together in one of these. Our hosts offered to prepare dinner, which we agreed to, rather than search out a restaurant. We had a good home-cooked dinner of grilled fish, green salad, black beans and rice, yucca, bread, and ice cream. And, of course, a cerveza (beer).  Because we will be here two nights, we also asked our host to do laundry for us.

We wanted to use WiFi and walked about a block to the office of Etecsa, the nationwide provider of internet services. We were able to buy more access cards (some hotels run out of them), but the connectivity was poor. Directly across the street from our casa particular, however, was a WiFi hot spot with a small cluster of users. We joined them and had good connections.

Tuesday February 6, 2018 – Trinidad Loop

Our hosts prepared a good breakfast with a plain omelet, ham and cheese on the side, guava, fruta bomba (papaya), toast and guava juice. We asked what we owed, and the husband said, $10 each for the dinner and $1.50 each for the beer. What about the laundry? Whatever you wish, he said. So, we left a total of $30 – quite a bargain. (1 CUC is roughly equivalent to $1 US).

Today is a “rest day” with a short bike ride to Playa Ancon, a nearby beach. Traffic was a little hairy on the way out of town, but quickly dissipated, and we had a flat 10-mile ride to the beach. The bus was waiting for us there, and we used it as a changing room so that we could have a quick dip before our picnic lunch. We took a slightly different route home on the bicycles, so the loop was complete – about 20 miles total for the day.

Having been in Cuba a few days now, several thoughts are coalescing. The vintage cars (1950s and even earlier), are everywhere, not just the major cities. Most are working as licensed taxis. On the long stretches of our rides we would see the same cars repeatedly as they worked their shuttle routes. In addition to the old American cars, there are lots of Russian Ladas, old and new. There are also several new taxis including BMWs and Peugeots. And, of course, any vehicle whether pulled by horse or tractor or propelled by a cyclist could serve as a taxi. It seems that you can walk as fast as the bici taxis move, especially with cobblestones, congestion and small hills.

In the afternoon, I returned to central Trinidad and returned to the embroidery collective where I bought a crocheted bag for Kathleen and a linen guayaberra for myself. Then I stopped for a beer on the terrace just off the Plaza Mayor (central square). After a few minutes, an informal ensemble started playing salsa music. It was very enjoyable.

Tonight’s dinner was a very different experience. We went to the roof of our restaurant (Paladar, or private restaurant) and had a group salsa lesson. My main problem was remembering which left foot to put forward first! I think several of us were skeptical about this endeavor at first, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Lisa was my partner. After an hour or so of the salsa lesson, we went inside for dinner. There were lots of choices and I had rabbit which was rather tough. The lobster looked better.

Carolyn and Lee -- let the salsa begin

Cycling Cuba 2018 -- Part 2

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Sunday February 4, 2018 – Remedios to Sancti Spiritus

The day got off to a less than auspicious start when my ham and cheese omelet arrived with only vegetables – mostly carrots. David, who does not eat meat, got the ham and cheese, after I had nearly finished the veggie omelet. After breakfast, those of us who had arrived on the later plane to Santa Clara got fitted to our bikes and then we all started off for our first day of cycling. It was a good ride and we got our first taste of the high temperatures that would mark this tropical visit. For the most part we had gently rolling hills through sugar cane fields, and past some bananas and coconut trees. I noted one small tobacco field, and one gorgeous poinsettia plant that was huge. After about 37 miles, we stopped for a picnic lunch, the first of many. There was an optional additional 11 mile ride after lunch and, for the first time on one of these tours, I opted to skip it and ride the bus. In the past, I have always tried to cycle every available mile.

Lee Savage

There is one big difference between this trip and my seven prior ExperiencePlus trips. Instead of a 14-passenger van (which can carry our bikes on top), we are supported by a huge luxury bus, complete with toilet, video system, lots of room underneath for the bikes, and a refrigerator with post ride beer! The bus is necessary, because we are rarely able to cycle directly from one hotel to the next – we often have to shuttle, sometimes for considerable distances.

After arriving in Sancti Spiritus, we had a guided tour of a guayaberra (classic Cuban shirt) museum
which included guayaberras worn by both Fidel and Raúl Castro, as well as other famous Latin Americans such as Gabriel García Márquez.

It is time to introduce the cast of characters. Lisa, an Italian who has cycled all over the world, is our tour leader, and Alex is a Cuban who is our local expert on all things Cuban. Aylan is the third guide, and Luís is our ever-present coach driver.  Our group includes 16 cyclists the first week, including four of my friends from prior rides – Carolyn and Lee Savage and Diane and Bill Cornish.

We had a group dinner, featuring ropa vieja (literally, old clothes), which is a dish of shredded beef that we will see repeatedly on this tour. It is a staple of Cuban cuisine.

Contrary to my expectations, the internet was generally available throughout the parts of Cuba that we visited. To use it, you have to buy a WiFi card, good for one hour, and which will cost anywhere between one and two CUCs, and then find a WiFi hot spot. Almost all of our hotels had WiFi. There are also hot spots located at various locations around towns and cities which are easily identified by the small clusters of people grouped in one spot, all using their hand-held electronic devices. The connection was always good enough for email and text messaging, but only once did I have sufficient bandwidth to use the internet for a VOIP phone call.

Cycling Cuba 2018 -- Part 1

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FOREWORD: In recent years, I have created blog pages – essentially my journal – of my cycling trips abroad. [Most of those are still visible on this site.] I did these in “real time,” creating and posting pages each evening during the course of my trips. Because of the anticipated lack of ready access to reliable internet service on my Cuba trip this year, I did not post as I went, but I did keep a reasonable detailed set of notes, from which I am now creating this blog, having returned home after a delightful trip during which I made new friends, got reacquainted with some old friends, and learned a great deal about this wonderful country.

Friday February 2, 2018

Unable to check in on-line because my itinerary included Cuba, I dutifully heeded American Airlines’ suggestion that I be at the airport three hours before departure. That proved completely unnecessary, since I got through check in and security in less than an hour before my 10:35 pm flight. Aware that I had an extremely long layover in Miami, I purchased a one-day pass to American’s lounge, the Admiral’s Club, knowing that it would be valid in Miami as well.

Saturday February 3, 2018 – Arrival in Miami

I awoke on the plane to a beautiful sunrise above a thick blanket of clouds. 

After landing at 7 am, I headed for the Admiral’s Club where I nibbled on snacks, read the newspapers and watched a movie on my iPad while waiting for my 2:30 departure for Santa Clara, Cuba. I got to the gate early, having some uncertainty about how the “document check” procedure would work, but it turned out to be painless. I had already purchased my visa, and the airline simply stamped my boarding pass as documentation that I had the needed medical insurance. [I have no idea how that insurance would have worked, had I needed to use it.] About ten minutes before boarding, an announcement was made, in Spanish only, that the flight was completely full, that storage for carry-on baggage was limited, and that all large carry-on items should be gate checked. It seemed likes hundreds of people took the advice, and several large baggage carts were filled. An orderly boarding process followed and we were on our way to Cuba.

The flight was smooth, and we landed at Santa Clara airport which was very much more efficient that the Havana arrival terminal that I remember from our 2003 visit. It was interesting to watch the inspection dogs walking along the luggage conveyor belts smelling each suitcase as it went by. My bag was one of the first off the plane and passing through customs was quick and easy. Experience Plus [the tour operator] had arranged for a shuttle to get me to our starting point, the small city of Remedios. After changing some money into Convertible Pesos (CUC’s, pronounced “kooks”), I began looking for the shuttle driver. After some initial confusion, I found him and three others of our group who had come in on the same plane. We had about a one-hour taxi ride to Remedios, arriving just as the main body of the group were about to start dinner. After a good fish dinner, I retired early at 8 pm, tired from the overnight travel. Unfortunately, my room did not have hot water, so I had to shower in water that was barely lukewarm.