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.
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.
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