iViva la Cuba!
I've always wanted to go to Cuba - before the Kardashians went 😒 Latin American culture always intrigued me and the movie Dirty Dancing: Habana Nights with Diego Luna got my heart pumping. A colleague-turned-friend, KS, from California was awesome enough to come with me for my 25th birthday (and I'm sure he too was excited to see what hispanic culture had to offer😍)! We got an airbnb in Centro Habana (I didn't stay in the other neighborhoods but we were close to El Vedado and overall great location).
Luckily we went during the Obama administration so really the only requirements were to get a visa (I did this online through Cuba Travel Services via the airline I got my flight tickets from) for 'Education/People to People' and made a tentative itinerary. I also booked only a one way to Cuba, thinking I'd get a cheaper flight from Cuba to my next destination Puerto Rico with another airline like Jetblue. Unfortunately, you have to book your flight to Cuba and leaving Cuba from the same airline. Other airlines at least Jetblue won't let you book a one-way flight leaving Cuba. If you're an American citizen (entering Cuba with an American passport), you can't go to Cuba purely for tourism. Your reason for entering must full under one of the 12 listed reasons. Reading travel writers' advice, you could potentially get away with going for Education/People to People instead. So that's what I went with and drafted a full itinerary that didn't include anything like going to the beach or something. At the time we went, when I went through customs, no one really asked for my itinerary or followed up on my reason for going to Cuba.
I didn't have the foresight to exchange money before I went, so when I exchanged USD to Cuban CUC, I had to pay the extra fee cause it's USD exchange. I heard it might fare better to get Euros from your bank and then exchange Euros to CUC. I got in late Friday after work, and by the time I exchanged my money (even though the cambio is outside of the airport and I was a little nervous to exchange money where people could see, they have security manned outside the sliding doors and limit the capacity of who goes in/out) Taxis in Cuba are readily available. Of course by the time I was ready for a taxi, the drivers stopped saying "Taxi, Taxi" to people. I managed to make eye contact with one of them and he said 30 CUC and I took the chance to bargain and say 25. He took it and I felt a small thrill of winning. So he got in the passenger seat which I thought was weird, but then an older guy came in to be the driver (maybe that's common?) The whole time I was tired and thought he was driving slow, and I was mentally willing him to drive faster. Of course when he did, he got pulled over. I felt really bad and ended up giving them 30 CUC anyway mainly because I didn't have change. Houses in Cuba are narrow and tall, European style. They have gates in front of the door, and the driver helped me locate the door bell. A young guy opened the door and I was worried I got the wrong place, but he knew my name so I went in.
Day 1
So KS was flying in later cause there was a nice direct flight from LAX that flights out once a day. I started my day by going to an airbnb experience on Santeria. I was worried about using data while I was there so I had a paper map, and an offline map but internet is pretty slow there (to be discussed later). In the morning, I had a quick breakfast at the airbnb, and I asked the young guy where I needed to go to meet my tour group. He pointed vaguely, but not really helpful. So off I went. I have no idea how but I was so lucky that I just kept walking and turning where I think the young guy pointed, and by the time I looked up, I recognized the main streets on my map and a group of white people congregating where I was Learning about Santeria and the roots of the culture that surrounds Santeria was amazing. How slaves were brought here and then forced a religion. And to survive, they accepted it as their own with their own interpretations from a religion they believed in back in Nigeria, and santeria was formed. Our tour guide was a professor in Economy and it was cool learning about her perspective in how Cuba has changed. Cuba has one of the best education systems and healthcare systems in the world. People that want to go to school, can go to school- paid for. I know it's a strong word, but there is a lot of desolation in Cuba as well. So many buildings just decaying and run-down. The contrast is more so because you can just imagine how beautiful the buildings used to be.
After the tour was over, I walked around and just happened to come upon the famous Nacional hotel. Very picturesque view with a nice lawn and palm trees and tourists with their straw hats. At the hotel, I saw a path down a little bunker type thing. Inside there was a small lookout, and I saw a guide looking person talking to an old caucasion couple. I thought I wasn't supposed to be there and it was a private tour only, but the couple walked out and I didn't get kicked out so I stayed and tried to read the posters on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then I heard one of the doors close. I was like hmm. Then the old tour guide looking guy came up and started to talk to me and explain some things. Then he was like follow me. Back near the door of the small bunker area there was a small hallway that I missed. He pointed me to go down. I was a little sketched out, but it was maybe a 5ft walkway and I saw an opening and sunlight at the end of the tunnel so I was like, it can't be that bad and people can hear me if I scream. Basically he led me through what was similar to the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam. So apparently the hotel was used as a lookout cause you can see Key West from that bunker. However at the time when he was leading me through the tunnels, I was very very sketched out. The narrow tunnels widened at random pockets and had side rooms where I thought people were waiting for me or something. Of course it was for military purposes and it wasn't until I saw glass encasings of war memorabilia that I was like ohh he's just showing me around, and it was too late to take pictures. I felt bad for thinking bad of the old guy and also bad at myself for not taking pics! But also glad that didn't take a bad turn...
I ran into a couple from the tour guide at the hotel, and I asked them any suggestions and they suggested a jazz bar instead of the famous expensive Cabana one. Unfortunately, and understandably, they don't remember the name, but they remember it had that trademark British red phonebooth in front of it. Not much to go on so I disregarded it. I kept walking to site-see and I saw a guy with an Ohio State shirt so I yelled O-H! I got so excited! I kinda slowed down thinking he'd want to talk but he just said I-O and kept walking. Like what are the odds you'd meet someone from the same college in Cuba? I guess it wasn't that big of a deal for him. I kept walking to the outskirts to the border of Old Habana then walked back near El Vedado area and on the way back to the airbnb, I saw the red phone booth!! It was such a lucky day.
After catching up with Keval, it was too late to go to the jazz club so we went to hotel Nacional for some drinks and people watching. Interesting enough, along the waterfront, thousands of locals just crowd the sidewalks and looks like they just hang out there. It was quite peculiar.
Day 2:
There are so many places to see besides Habana, but many require at least a day to travel. Since we were only there for a short time, we decided to go to Vinales since it's only a couple hours away. We booked a private tour where they drove us in a *classic* American car. It was a sweet ride and felt really cool being in one! Vinales has a lot of beautiful green scenery of which its known for. We visited a park and went on a boat ride thing inside the cave. We also went on a tobacco farm where we tried cigars like noobs. This was also where I saw a horse appendage not once but twice (!!!). It was so crazy!! Happy 25th birthday to me!!!
Another first was we went to horseback riding! I thought there would be helmuts, and instructions but nope. Just hop on up, and the old guy who took us riding knew little English, so he just showed me to tug right or left. Luckily the horse I had was gentle and smart. But it was a little nerve wracking not having a helmut or know-how.
After that we had lunch and there was some strange awkward confusion with the tour guides joining us and whether we were paying for them, etc. It felt sooo uncomfortable and a little annoying cause it felt like he was trying to take advantage of us. It definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. We took a break and went to dinner after. Then checked out the jazz club. This was both our first time at a jazz club (a BIG day of firsts hehe) and I felt really sophisticated listening to jazz while sipping mojitos.
I have to say food and items in general are quite cheap in Cuba. I had good seafood and good drinks too. A LOT of mojitos.
Luckily we went during the Obama administration so really the only requirements were to get a visa (I did this online through Cuba Travel Services via the airline I got my flight tickets from) for 'Education/People to People' and made a tentative itinerary. I also booked only a one way to Cuba, thinking I'd get a cheaper flight from Cuba to my next destination Puerto Rico with another airline like Jetblue. Unfortunately, you have to book your flight to Cuba and leaving Cuba from the same airline. Other airlines at least Jetblue won't let you book a one-way flight leaving Cuba. If you're an American citizen (entering Cuba with an American passport), you can't go to Cuba purely for tourism. Your reason for entering must full under one of the 12 listed reasons. Reading travel writers' advice, you could potentially get away with going for Education/People to People instead. So that's what I went with and drafted a full itinerary that didn't include anything like going to the beach or something. At the time we went, when I went through customs, no one really asked for my itinerary or followed up on my reason for going to Cuba.
I didn't have the foresight to exchange money before I went, so when I exchanged USD to Cuban CUC, I had to pay the extra fee cause it's USD exchange. I heard it might fare better to get Euros from your bank and then exchange Euros to CUC. I got in late Friday after work, and by the time I exchanged my money (even though the cambio is outside of the airport and I was a little nervous to exchange money where people could see, they have security manned outside the sliding doors and limit the capacity of who goes in/out) Taxis in Cuba are readily available. Of course by the time I was ready for a taxi, the drivers stopped saying "Taxi, Taxi" to people. I managed to make eye contact with one of them and he said 30 CUC and I took the chance to bargain and say 25. He took it and I felt a small thrill of winning. So he got in the passenger seat which I thought was weird, but then an older guy came in to be the driver (maybe that's common?) The whole time I was tired and thought he was driving slow, and I was mentally willing him to drive faster. Of course when he did, he got pulled over. I felt really bad and ended up giving them 30 CUC anyway mainly because I didn't have change. Houses in Cuba are narrow and tall, European style. They have gates in front of the door, and the driver helped me locate the door bell. A young guy opened the door and I was worried I got the wrong place, but he knew my name so I went in.
Day 1
So KS was flying in later cause there was a nice direct flight from LAX that flights out once a day. I started my day by going to an airbnb experience on Santeria. I was worried about using data while I was there so I had a paper map, and an offline map but internet is pretty slow there (to be discussed later). In the morning, I had a quick breakfast at the airbnb, and I asked the young guy where I needed to go to meet my tour group. He pointed vaguely, but not really helpful. So off I went. I have no idea how but I was so lucky that I just kept walking and turning where I think the young guy pointed, and by the time I looked up, I recognized the main streets on my map and a group of white people congregating where I was Learning about Santeria and the roots of the culture that surrounds Santeria was amazing. How slaves were brought here and then forced a religion. And to survive, they accepted it as their own with their own interpretations from a religion they believed in back in Nigeria, and santeria was formed. Our tour guide was a professor in Economy and it was cool learning about her perspective in how Cuba has changed. Cuba has one of the best education systems and healthcare systems in the world. People that want to go to school, can go to school- paid for. I know it's a strong word, but there is a lot of desolation in Cuba as well. So many buildings just decaying and run-down. The contrast is more so because you can just imagine how beautiful the buildings used to be.
After the tour was over, I walked around and just happened to come upon the famous Nacional hotel. Very picturesque view with a nice lawn and palm trees and tourists with their straw hats. At the hotel, I saw a path down a little bunker type thing. Inside there was a small lookout, and I saw a guide looking person talking to an old caucasion couple. I thought I wasn't supposed to be there and it was a private tour only, but the couple walked out and I didn't get kicked out so I stayed and tried to read the posters on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then I heard one of the doors close. I was like hmm. Then the old tour guide looking guy came up and started to talk to me and explain some things. Then he was like follow me. Back near the door of the small bunker area there was a small hallway that I missed. He pointed me to go down. I was a little sketched out, but it was maybe a 5ft walkway and I saw an opening and sunlight at the end of the tunnel so I was like, it can't be that bad and people can hear me if I scream. Basically he led me through what was similar to the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam. So apparently the hotel was used as a lookout cause you can see Key West from that bunker. However at the time when he was leading me through the tunnels, I was very very sketched out. The narrow tunnels widened at random pockets and had side rooms where I thought people were waiting for me or something. Of course it was for military purposes and it wasn't until I saw glass encasings of war memorabilia that I was like ohh he's just showing me around, and it was too late to take pictures. I felt bad for thinking bad of the old guy and also bad at myself for not taking pics! But also glad that didn't take a bad turn...
I ran into a couple from the tour guide at the hotel, and I asked them any suggestions and they suggested a jazz bar instead of the famous expensive Cabana one. Unfortunately, and understandably, they don't remember the name, but they remember it had that trademark British red phonebooth in front of it. Not much to go on so I disregarded it. I kept walking to site-see and I saw a guy with an Ohio State shirt so I yelled O-H! I got so excited! I kinda slowed down thinking he'd want to talk but he just said I-O and kept walking. Like what are the odds you'd meet someone from the same college in Cuba? I guess it wasn't that big of a deal for him. I kept walking to the outskirts to the border of Old Habana then walked back near El Vedado area and on the way back to the airbnb, I saw the red phone booth!! It was such a lucky day.
After catching up with Keval, it was too late to go to the jazz club so we went to hotel Nacional for some drinks and people watching. Interesting enough, along the waterfront, thousands of locals just crowd the sidewalks and looks like they just hang out there. It was quite peculiar.
 |
| Hotel Nacional |
 |
| Example of Santeria prayer ritual |
 |
| Hotel Nacional |
 |
| Where people at night hang out? |
 |
| Boys playing |
Day 2:
There are so many places to see besides Habana, but many require at least a day to travel. Since we were only there for a short time, we decided to go to Vinales since it's only a couple hours away. We booked a private tour where they drove us in a *classic* American car. It was a sweet ride and felt really cool being in one! Vinales has a lot of beautiful green scenery of which its known for. We visited a park and went on a boat ride thing inside the cave. We also went on a tobacco farm where we tried cigars like noobs. This was also where I saw a horse appendage not once but twice (!!!). It was so crazy!! Happy 25th birthday to me!!!
Another first was we went to horseback riding! I thought there would be helmuts, and instructions but nope. Just hop on up, and the old guy who took us riding knew little English, so he just showed me to tug right or left. Luckily the horse I had was gentle and smart. But it was a little nerve wracking not having a helmut or know-how.
After that we had lunch and there was some strange awkward confusion with the tour guides joining us and whether we were paying for them, etc. It felt sooo uncomfortable and a little annoying cause it felt like he was trying to take advantage of us. It definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. We took a break and went to dinner after. Then checked out the jazz club. This was both our first time at a jazz club (a BIG day of firsts hehe) and I felt really sophisticated listening to jazz while sipping mojitos.
I have to say food and items in general are quite cheap in Cuba. I had good seafood and good drinks too. A LOT of mojitos.
DAY 3:
It was really important to me that I try salsa dancing in Cuba and take lessons and luckily KS was on board too. See reference to Dirty Dancing: Habana Nights above. Since internet was bad, before I left, I marked down locations on a map of potential places we could get lessons. If you go walking around Habana, you'll see areas of people just sitting around looking at their phones. That means that square or area has good wifi. Anyway, as we were walking around Centro Habana/El Vedado and the neighborhood for these locations I marked down for salsa lessons, it was harder than it looked. Some we couldn't even find, even though we knew were in the right street. Some, it looked closed. I was getting desperate cause time was running out. Finally, we found a place and they were able to give us a lesson right then and there. It was a partner lesson, but I learned mainly with my own instructor and KS learned with his own as well. We took like 90 minute lesson but didn't want it to end! After the lesson, we tried to figure out where we wanted to go the next day, and an option was to take the ferry. Since we didn't have good internet we decided to walk to the ferry to figure out how it worked so we didn't waste time the next day. This involved us walking though a very local part of town that kind of resembled the slums I saw in India but not as congested.
DAY 4:
This was my last full day in Cuba so we were trying to figure out what to do. We tried to figure out how to get to the beach which we heard was pretty, but that involved the internet and taking the bus. Once again, we've proved how much we relied on internet to figure things out and it was so hot that after we got lunch we just decided to stay in the area, look at the university and take another dance lesson. Aye aye aye! (the guy instructor made a comment that he knew I'd be back.. not sure what that means?) After that we did a free City Walking Tour in Old Habana the main attraction. Old Habana has a lot of history and like many historic towns, a lot of squares and plazas to see. Needless to say we cut the tour early cause we were so dang tired. We went to a nice rooftop restaurant in the area and took in our last night with some good looking drinks and followed it up with one last night at the hotel Nacional top view.
 |
| University |
Cuba has so much culture and so many things to see! I'd definitely go back to check out their famous beaches and do more salsa dancing! Now off to Puerto Rico with the fam!
Comments
Post a Comment