Well it’s goodbye to Colombia today, it’s been an interesting journey through a country that’s and a bad reputation that it still haven’t shaken off. The Drugs are still here it’s just the drug lords are no so powerful as they once were.
It’s the one country where our travel plans were besieged with problems. First we couldn’t get into the country thanks to a new budget airlines Viva Colombia. This meant we lost our opportunity to see the city of Bogota. With just half a day we thought we’d just book an airport hotel and fly on to Havana in the morning.
Our previous days in Cartagena involved several trips to various money exchangers trying to get enough Euro Dollars to exchange into Colombian currency once we arrived into Cuba. This is one difficult country when it comes to money and I’ll explain it on another blog post : Cuba Currency and Accommodation Needless to say we almost ran Cartagena out of Euros.
The flight with Air Vianca is just over 3 hours and if you time it right you’ll fly directly over the city of Cartagena, a city we really got to relax in. The waters as we cross the Caribbean start to remind me of our own island paradise back in Vanuatu. That azure blue tropical colour is so alluring, it’s only wonder we love the tropics.
Cuba is now under us and after being on countless deserts and mountain ranges Cuba looks surprisingly flat. With the beauty of our packs traveling as onboard luggage were pretty quick to disembark. Elena has organised a home stay with a guy by the name of Alex, however we don’t have his address. Nor do we have access to the Internet, so after waiting an hour for his driver to turn up we give up on Alex and make our way to a travel agent office and as for help. The guys makes a all and organises a place for us. We have no idea where it is in the city all we can hoe for. Is that it’s a nice house as the guy told us.
The roads from the airport are wide massive highways yet there is very little traffic. Elena is reminded very much of the Soviet Union where she grew up. There’s so many old 50s American cars and the rest are mostly Russian. I’m reminder of my first trip to Russian in 1997 and this place looks so similar to that period for me.
Arriving our taxi finds the place with relative ease and we’re ushered inside to meet with the owner. Tanya speaks English although you do have to speak a little slower.
Over coffee Elena discovers that Tanya speaks Russian and extraordinarily she studied in the same university as he parents at the same time as they were there!
Tanya introduces us to her son Onix, who’s English is better than his mothers. We spend the afternoon discussing local politic, economic and comparing how Russia was in the 90s to the current thawing of relationships between Cuba and the US.
We believe that if Cuba continues in the same way Russia did, Cuba will be a totally different place in the next ten years. Now is the time of opportunity. Real estate and tourism are two industries that once the Cuban Government releases its grip, are industries that will flourish.
Onix has several professions, he’s a cook, massage therapist, tour guide and an actor who last role was in Macbeth. He’s just left his last job as. a cook ad is starting with a new Restaurant in a few days times, so we ask him if he wants a job showing us around the city of Havana for a couple of days. All in all from not having the guy turn up at the airport we’ve secured a great family to stay with.
As Onix is well connected with people in the tour industry as his mum worked in a Portuguese tourist agency for many years. He suggests a little restaurant call Bistro that’s not far from the housework dinner and walks us there. The restaurant belongs to one of is friends the owner happens to be there when we arrive. Onix introduces us and then leaves us for the evening with plans to meet up tomorrow morning in place.
Old Havana.
With not organising breakfast it’s on top of our decision to skip dinner the night before it’s going to be a long morning and as we’d not seen any convenience stores finding anything to have a snack on proves to be difficult. Onix isn’t a person who eats breakfast so Elena ask for a so hot water and grabs a tea bag from our emergency supplies.
” if you’re traveling to Cuba it’s a good idea to bring a few snack bars with you if you need something. You won’t find your confectionary isle here anywhere.”
Off we trudged, with little in our stomachs. Onix flags down an old 50s car that hark of a pre Castro era. These cars defy the scrap heap and soldier on. Some have been lovingly restored and some really should be condemned to the parts yard. Still it’s a huge part of the recent history of Cuba. The whole place seem to be stuck is some kind of 1920’s-1950’s time warp that extends beyond just central Old Havana and across the city.
Not only are the cars stuck in this warp of time, so too are the buildings. Street after street of homes ranging from 20’s Art Deco to 50’s Bungalows, the whole place is a renovators dream. The house (Casa) we’re staying in is 3 levels and a whopping 7 bedroom 7 bathroom home. Onix announces that the family have plans to build yet another 3 rooms and to build a bar and recreation area on the roof.
We only wonder what will happen once the government lowers deposits and makes buying a home more achievable to both locals and foreigners alike. The opportunities here for businesses is massive, so many companies are not represented here. There’s not one billboard with advertising anywhere, but nor is the socialist propaganda that I had imagined.
Onix is very proud of his city and rightly so, its architecture is incredible. He shows us a restaurant of a friend of his, it’s not quite lunch time so he’s not ready for business yet so we continue to walk.
Spying a seller of fruits on a cart we quickly devour a couple of bananas each, it the first thing I’ve eaten all morning and it’s nowhere near enough to keep me going.
We discover a small market square selling secondhand books and trinkets, honestly my mind throws back to my first trip to Russian in the late 90’s. So much of what is happening in Cuba right now is a direct reflection to what happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
With talks of US cruise ships coming to Cuba within the next few months and American Airline companies scheduling flights for 2016 there are massive changes coming for Cuba, I really wonder if Cubans are ready to see the rest of the worlds technology.
Returning for lunch we now have the wait as the place is so popular it’s a full house, however the wait is worth it and I settle into pawns, rice and salad, washed down with my first Cuban beer. A Buccanaro at just over 5% alcohol on an empty stomach it harsh but it’s 2pm and I’m so parched and hungry.
With the late afternoon we walk off lunch and stroll the streets a little more. Onix offers to take us to new Havana tomorrow as there’s so much to see there is no way we can fit in everything in one day.
Returning to Bistro, we had dinner. The staff recognised us from the night before and honestly the food is spectacular here. My choice Pork Brachetta (pork kebabs)
New Havana.
Not wanting to miss breakfast and getting so thing into our stomach we returned to Bistro for eggs and toast before meeting with Onix again and embarking on our tour of the newer part of Havana. Even this part of the city is old, but not in comparison with what we’ve seen the day before. Old Havana spans centuries, yet New Havana stopped construction last century and looks like it’s struggled to build anything since Castro won the revolution in 1959.
The houses and buildings in New Havana are grander and boast larger plots of land. The styles vary slightly but the majority are built of brick and rendered concrete. Most have flat a flat roof and several have balconies adorning the upper most section.
Havana’s a lot bigger than I initially imagined and the suburbs sprawl for miles. Thankfully Onix. knows his way around and where to grab a taxi to get to the next important landmark. He shows us the tallest apartment complex in Havana and explains that as (like most things in Cuba) it’s government owned and since the revolution a lot of people left Cuba, the building is only 30% occupied. He can’t understand why when in this building is shops and restaurants and even a cinema. But I guess it’s all state owned and seeing what’s available in a state own shop there’s no incentive to live there.
Returning back to the Casa we decide to grab a rest before heading out again later in the evenings Onix wants to show us one of his favourite coffee places that doubles as a bar during the night.
Walking as night around Havana I don’t get a sense of uneasiness, everything on the surface seems controlled and orderly. We walk past a couple of houses that are having loud music and it’s obvious that there’s a party going on yet there’s no feeing of drunken youths causing any sort of trouble. Cubans seem to leave us foreigner alone.
The bar is an eclectic mix of everything old. From a collection of typewriters lining one wall to a horses carriage and half a car for people to nestle into small cosy group sit was an ideal setting to end the evening. It’s been a while where we’ve managed to stay in a bar until closing time but with the waiters collecting glasses and people settling their bills it was time to go. Opting to walk home instead of trying to find a taxi in the small hours gives a chance to plan a trip to the beach tomorrow. Although we don’t want to be getting up too early.
With goodnights and a friend of Onix’s organised for taking us to the beach I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow.
Cuba is starting to grow on me, and the hospitality is great.
