Cuba

• INTRO CUBA

• IMPRESSIONS OF CUBA

• THE TRAVEL IN CUBA

• PHOTOS OF CUBA

• TIPS FOR CUBA

• PRINTABLE FORMAT

INTRO CUBA

Kind of travel:
Me and my wife Elisa in an independent travel

When:
23th April'12- 01th May'12

Do I need a visa:
No, but there's a Tarjeta Turistica that you need to have. (I don't know if you can buy once landed); I bought at the airport in Milan (25€), but it's not clear how is the standard procedure (see here)


How many km:
1900km


How I moved:
The bus company dedicated to the foreigners (called Viazul buses) is the only choice since you'll not manage to buy the tickets of the Cuban bus company (Astro). There's a railway along the whole country, we tried to buy the ticket, giving up after half day for the crowd. Taxi is the only mean of transport to access Major resorts (as Cajo Santa Maria).

Freezing or baking:
Colder than expected 20-25C, since often cloudy; a good weather for backpacking but not for sunbathing. However this is the best season for Cuba given the hurricane risk in July - August and the chilly temperature (15 C) in December- January

Where I slept:
In Casa Particulares, namely private houses renting a room: you'll find plenty of them, with fixed prices (24€), and for 2 days we stayed in a boring resort in Cayo Santa Maria that had nothing to do with Cuba. Generally forget hotels, they are few (manly in Havana) and expensive.

What I liked:
The friendly, clean and original Casa particulares (a rented room in a house): the dream of every backpacker since the best way to enter in contact with Cuban families. The 50's atmosphere of Havana with the sidecars, rundown buildings,....a movie set feeling. The last but not the least the safety of Cuba, letting you to feel tranquil even in the heart of the night

What I disliked:
the lack of freedom when it comes taking the Cuban means of transport: the bus company for foreigners Viazul has good standard but quite unfrequent (Santa Clara- Havana: 2 bus per day!). Buy a train ticket and get the train is a challenge and the all inclusive resort where we spent 1.5 day had nothing to do with Cuba (and it was boring like hell)

What you do need:
don't forget the tarjeta turistica before arrival (call your air carrier for info) and the health insurance since it's mandatory (from may2010) to show proofs of having one with a company recognized by Cuba at the airport (I didn't hAve and nobody asked anything to me)

Alby

TRAVEL IN CUBA

Thanks to a Milan- Havana direct fly we landed after 11hours directly in the capital, right in the middle of a thunderstorm. At the airport we arranged a taxi to downtown (17 CUC, sharing with other foreigners) to the friendly Casa particular Gonzales. Immediately Havana stroke me with his genuine 50's atmosphere: car, houses, people, sidecars, movie like setting, politic propaganda...everything as the time stopped when Fidel took to power in 1959.
Usually I'm not fan of the capitals and 1 day for me it's enough... but I've to admit that after 3 days in Havana we weren't fed up yet.
On top of it the safety is total and you can walk in the street in the heart of the night without any risk.
From Havana we tried to buy the train ticket to Santa Clara, but after one entire morning queuing at the station we gave up and jumped on the Viazul buses to Trinidad. 5h later we were pulling in the Cuban jewel: a very small town, characterized by cobblestone, colorful buildings, people living outside the houses.... Definitely the cutest place we have visited in Cuba. The day after we took a steam train (2 trains per day) to reach the Valle de Los Ingenios. It's a turistic stuff but at least an interesting way to visit the Cuban inland characterized by fazendas (former slave farm). In the late afternoon we reached Playa de Ancon (10min by taxi from Trinidad). I found the beach a convenient place to enjoy the Cuban sea in particular if you don't have your own mean of transport: the sand is white, it's very near the city, there'r facilities,... I found it much better than the resort in Cayo Santa Maria. A looong way from Santa Clara, perched in the middle of nothing, full of foreigner... in short a place where you'll feel in a cage having nothing to do with Cuba and the sea is not better than Playa de Ancon..
From Trinidad we went to Cientfuegos (1.5h by bus) where we spent the most of the day. Nice town, much bigger than Trinidad and without his charm, but still worth stopping by. From Cientfuegos we got to Santa Clara in 3h. the town is the least interesting among the one we have visited, but it's the symbol of the revolution (including the Ernest Guevara mausoleum) and you shouldn't miss the tobacco factory, where you can have a 2h guided tour.
We spent 2 boring days in Cayo Santa Maria (we can easily book it in any travel agency as Cubatour) and then we fle back to Havana by taxi to Santa Clara (40 CUC!) and shared taxi to the capital.
The last days we stayed in the beatiful Havana also visiting in a daytrip Las Terrazzas (2h by bus): it's an eco-village where 2.000 people live in the wildlife in a eco sustainable way (cultivating, recycling,...) you can have several walks in the forest, enjoy the lakes, some hot springs and a great vegetarian restaurant.

Alby