Caribbean Ultra Bodacious Adventure: the final chapter, 5/2-3

If you want to read about my C.U.B.A. trip chronologically from the beginning, start in Jamaica at  http://peacefulroadwarrior.blogspot.com/2013/05/ya-mon-saturday-420.html and read the 12 posts in reverse order moving up the navigation bar.

As I wind up the tales of my wonderful journey, I am so thankful that Alisa invited me along. Alisa has decided that taking photos is not living in the present. She believes that photographers are so busy setting up the shot and viewing life through a len or viewfinder that they are missing the moment themselves. She thinks that if we take photos to share with others, we are robbing them of the opportunity to live in their own moments by forcing ours onto them. If we take pleasure in looking at our own old photos, we are living in the past and missing out in the present. So, I tried purposefully during this trip to take in the present moments but nevertheless managed to capture 800+ points in times. I have culled through these and posted just a small fraction on this blog.

When I returned to NY, I met a woman who had just gotten back from her own awesome Caribbean Ultra Bodacious Adventure. Her story is very different from mine. She had gone on a sanctioned cultural mission. She talked about the cuisine at the fancy restaurants, the nice hotels, seeing the Buena Vista musicians and going on guided tours. She didn't see the local markets, ride the truck/buses, eat the street pizza, sway to the plaza musicians, or use toilets without seats but had a just as memorable time. We all experience the same reality in our own ways.

Thursday, 5/2: We celebrate Guillermo's birthday with a cake and two coco glaces (coconut ice cream made with coconut and condensed milk served in a coconut shell). We had seen people walking down the streets with elaborate cakes out in the open air. The bakery we went to put it in a box. Maybe we needed to go to a peso bakery.

As if we hadn't had enough sweets, we seek out the "best" ice cream shop in La Habana where one scoop costs one peso (4 cents).  It seems that each city has its own "best" ice cream. While there are not a large number of obese people here, there are a lot of ice cream afficionados.

Yes, it was excellent ice cream. We walk it off along the Malecon back to our casa particular:

Friday, 5/3: Even bodacious adventures must come to an end. So, sadly, I say good-bye. Alisa will stay a couple more weeks and then join the crew of Die Stahlratte as it makes its way to Mexico, Panama and then Colombia where she will have completed the circle in mid-June that she began in mid-April.



 And, I too complete my circle and find my way back home with wonderful memories (and 800+ photos).

El Primero Del Mayo, Wednesday, 5/1

We woke up early to make sure we didn't miss any of the May Day parade. It was a long hike from our casa particular but we walk most of the way there and back except for a short hop on a bus that was headed in roughly the right direction. We think it was the largest march that we had ever been in. Besides the size, the biggest differences were there were no anti demonstrators shouting at the marchers; the police was not a big presence and those that were there were helpful. Of course, images of Che were everpresent along with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.

It was a festive but short day as many people quickly headed to work and we continued to enjoy the sights.

Capitolio Nacional:

Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisdo de Asís:

 

 

After visiting a couple of markets to buy fresh ingredients for dinner, we looked for a place to buy some rice. Alisa asked a couple of men on the street and they lamented that the stores were closed at 5:30. But, after chatting with Alisa, they invite us to their home where they will give us some rice. We meet the aunt of one of the men. She had studied dance in NY, had many relatives in Canada and US, but has no desire to live anywhere but where she is. They shared some rum with us and would not take any money for the bag of rice that they give us.

Enjoying our homecooked meal of rice, squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cheese, fruit, etc.

 

La Habana, Tuesday, 4/30

We meet up with Die Stahlratte crew in Cienfuegos. One of the crew members Joán has rented a car for $60/day. He had excitedly invited lots of people to ride with him to La Habana but Alisa and I were able to secure a spot along with Captain Ludwig and Guillermo. The others (one of the German passengers and two other German travelers) were told that they could hire a taxi for $20.

Die Stahlratte moors in Cienfuegos because it is close enough to La Habana without the hassles. Along with its glitzy neighbors there is also an old formerly sunken ship that is being lovingly restored.

It's nice to see the countryside from a car window as opposed to stuffed in a peso truck/bus. We are able to stop along the side of the road to get fruits/juices and other treats.

La Habana is big and much more chaotic than the sleepy towns that we had gotten used to. Much noisier and a little more littered but that's all relative. We get door-to-door service and Joán decides to take a room at our casa particular. We're located near La Habana Vieja but not in the old city. The host proudly shows me the toilet and how quiet and efficient it is. But, I'm just struck how it doesn't have a toilet seat (reminiscent of traveling in the old Soviet-bloc countries). I guess that "toilet seat up or down" is one less thing that men/women here need to argue about.

The architecture is much grander and on such a different level.

 

We ran into the Germans who took a taxi from Cienfuegos. They apparently didn't understand that they were supposed to find a entrepreneurial "taxi" driver and negotiate a pre-set rate. They ended up in a metered taxi and when the rate topped 100 CUCs and they weren't anywhere near the city, they tried to negotiate (but, of course, without much leverage or recourse). Anyway, they arrived, a little wiser.

Cienfuegos, Sunday/Monday, 4/28-9

To get to Cienfuegos from Sancti Spiritus, we first need to get to the bustling, coastal town of Trinidad. But, Sancti Spiritus isn't fully awake and the transportation options to the bus stations are limited. Alisa decided we weren't going to be "ripped" off and pay 15 pesos (about 75 cents) to get to the station by horse-drawn taxi and instead we paid the local price of 3 pesos each to get to a place half-way there and walk the rest of the way.

We hop on the truck/bus for 15 pesos each for the two-hour ride to Trinidad. Trinidad is full of foreign tourists but no one is looking to go to Cienfuegos. Our choices are to wait four hours for the 3pm bus for 6 CUCs each or find a taxi that will take us for 15 CUCs total and, perhaps, share the taxi if we can find anyone else who wants to go.

We find a taxi driver who will make the drive and he disappears looking for other passengers to share the ride/fare with us. Instead, he returns with another taxi driver who is from Cienfuegos looking for passengers for the ride back. It's a government taxi (very cushy and new) and the driver is wearing a crisp taxi-driver uniform. He's a little officious and not chatty but he's very customer-sensitive and when I take out my camera to take photos along the way, he slows down so I can get a shot.

We stop along the way so that he can pick up some mangos at a road-side stand. He says they are the best mangos and he gets about 10 for a peso. The very cute girls are very interested in us and happily mugged for the photo.

 We get dropped off right at our next casa particular. It is conveniently close to the center of town without being touristy.

We're in Cienfuegos to meet up again with Die Stahlratte which will moor here until it leaves for Mexico on 5/18. It will arrive tomorrow so we enjoy the town:

Alisa enjoying the excellent coffee on the roof of the casa particular.

The next morning we take a short ferry ride out to Castillo de Jagua, a castle on an island built in 1740s to keep pirates and the British out.

We see Die Stahlratte in the port.