Cuba Trip Report
by Jane Lucas
Hello all!
I just got back from a week's holiday in Cuba and had a great time!
It was my first cycling holiday and everything worked out really well. I
went by myself. I stayed five nights in private homes and two nights in
hotels.
I arrived at night, and started out in fine form by immediately
leaving my mega bicycle lock on the pavement at the airport, and then
finding the hotel had never heard of me and there was no room. Eventually
they found me a room in a private house, which I managed to lock myself out
of while trying to buy a replacement lock for the bike. Naturally the
owners had gone out immediately on getting my money. Eventually after much
effort found them, and so spent the rest of my first night in Cuba drinking
rum and coke at the bowling alley in Varadero!
The whole week was one adventure after another, more or less in the
same vein.
My plan was basically to go west to the Pinar del Rio area, but I
didn't have any exact plans beyond that. I ended up spending the first
night in Varadero, the second in Havana, and then a few days in the western
mountains, then Saturday night and Sunday in Havana, and to Varadero and
Vancouver on the Monday. A mixture of cycling and hitching with the bike.
The cycling part worked out really well. In Cuba right now having
your own transportation makes all the difference in the world, and as there
are so many bicycles there is a sort of critical mass that makes it easy to
ride, even in a big city like Havana. Out in the country there is a good
network of roads, most of which are still in really good condition. Lovely
countryside.
I found I went fewer kilometers per day than I had thought I would
be able to do. This is probably because it was my first tour, but also
because somehow or other I always seemed to have a headwind. It really
didn't matter, however, as I was by myself and there was no reason to go
very fast at all. I stopped all the time to look at the map and to buy
things just to have some interaction with people. No one else there seems
to be in a lot of hurry either. I never once saw a Cuban stand up in the
pedals, for instance.
I did a mixture of cycling and hitching on trucks, which once I got
it figured out was ideal. I headed west on the Autopista, their freeway,
which of course had not a lot of traffic and included other bicycles,
tractors, carts, as well as trucks and cars. It was fun to see the variety.
The first ride I got because the drivers stopped and asked me for
American cigarettes. I said I didn't have any, that I was pure (ha! ha!),
and they asked me if I wanted a ride. As I had just realized I'd never get
to my planned destination, I said Yes. (They did get their cigarettes by
conveniently stopping at a dollar store so I could buy some for them! No
problemo!) It was a huge Russian truck from the second world war and in the
cab there was room for the driver, his two helpers, myself and all my gear,
and a 100 lb bag of flour (contraband) we dropped off on the way at the
house of one of the helpers.
I found travelling by myself to be perfect. Its very easy to meet
people and I'm sure you have a different kind of trip than even with two
people. When you are cycling (or doing anything) you just stop and start
whenever you want. Accomodation was probably a little easier for me as a
solo traveller as well. The Cubans were all impressed that I was cycling
around by myself, as a not-so-young woman. (I'm 47, seeing as everyone
seems to be fessing up these days!) I didn't think it was that big of a
deal myself, but it does show how different our lives are.
I never once felt the slightest fear for my personal safety during
the whole time I was there, although they repeatedly told me to be careful.
In Old Havana, where the streets are really, really narrow, I did ride
very quickly though!
Staying in the private homes was great. They are sort of like Bed
and Breakfasts that we have here, and like here, there is a lot of
variation. I don't speak a word of Spanish, and completely wore out the
phrase book. You can have a lot of laughs! Naturally, you know that the
depth of contact you can have is terribly reduced when you don't share a
language, but still the warmth and friendliness you feel for each other is
transmitted no problem at all.
The trip was a little more expensive than I thought it would be,
but some (most) of that is caused by inexperience with the ways of the
country. Air fares are going down, down, down. This week you can get a
return ticket (air only) from Vancouver to Varadero for $199!!!!
Unbelievable. I paid $499 at the beginning of January. Everything is in
US dollars and you keep forgetting to mentally add the exchange for
Canadian dollars.
It was a really interesting trip for me as it prompted so much
thinking about the social and political situation there. You see the good
and the bad. As a cyclist you get to see the rural parts at a slow speed,
and I have to say that in general the country people are very, very poor
and have next to nothing, but it wasn't the misery kind of poverty, and I
never saw homeless people. Mixed thoughts about it all though, now that I
get home. I don't think there is any right answer. For sure I was
horrified by the extent of my possessions when I came home though!
So---it was a super trip, the cycling was great, and so was the
scenery and the people I met. Many thanks to those of you on the list that
gave me suggestions before I left. It gave me confidence as I was a little
unsure of going by myself. Now I'm thinking of the next trip!
Happy cycling,
Jane
Jane Lucas
North Vancouver, BC, Canada
(604)986-8734
jlucas@istar.ca
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