It was great to get the first blog out of the way although I am still working through a few technical issues.  I had hoped to get this one out earlier but it has been near impossible to get a decent internet connection.

I forgot to mention that just before landing in Havana I woke up from a nap completely disorientated.  It was reasonably dark in the cabin and when I looked at my watch I thought it was late evening – imagine my surprise when they served breakfast!

We land in Havana and its a very laid back (slow moving) airport.  I go to collect our bag from the luggage carousel and was entertained by the sight of luggage being thrown out of a hole in the wall on to the conveyor belt.  I think the baggage handlers were having a competition to see who could make the largest suitcase bounce the furtherest.  On the subject of luggage you would not believe what was taken on to the plane as hand luggage – I now know that the locals bring back literally everything they can carry as general goods we take for granted are non-existent in Cuba.

After watching the conveyor belt for 30 mins I finally found my backpack which had been disguised (?) in plastic wrapping;

We make our way out of the Airport and into the humidity – the feeling is exactly like when you land in Bangkok and go through the big doors out into the heat.  Thankfully a driver was there holding a card with my name on it – I should point out this is a total first and was part of my birthday present Helen had organised.

The driver takes us outside and makes us wait in the shade whilst he brings this bad boy back;

 

Its a 1956 Dodge – the driver is a local lad that provides us with heaps of useful information whilst he takes us to our lodgings.

We did not bother to change any money at the Airport given the length of the line  – just had no petrol left in the tank after being in transit for so long and the thought of lining up for an hour was too much.  The driver reassured me that there was a bank just around the corner from where we were staying so not to worry.

We arrive at our ‘place’ in the Vedado area – this was previously known as the Mafia district.  The Hostel makes me feel like I am staying in a room straight out of Casablanca;

The place is not a Hotel but more like an old classic guest house.  Marble floors/bathroom, massive high ceilings and balcony.  On goes the air-con and we have a well needed sleep for a few hours.

We end up just eating in and meeting a young Israeli couple that are also guests.  They tell me that a lot of Israelis their age travel due to finishing compulsory military service.  All females have to do 2 years service (18 – 20) whilst males have to do 3 (18 – 21).  The worst part is that even though you finish your compulsory service you remain a ‘reserve’ and can be called up for active duty at any time.  We end up swapping stories and don’t retire until around 1:30 am.  Jet lagged to the max. 

Next morning we go to breakfast and out comes the very best bone china – made me think fondly of some old memories;

We have a great continental breakfast that had everything.  After finishing I logged on to the Internet and went searching for our next accommodation.  Now this was my first experience with the Internet in Cuba and everything went well but at the time I didn’t realise how lucky I was that the hostel charged by the hour and did not make me go and buy my own Internet card – more on this later.

There is a well known local website that caters for travelers looking for the ‘homestay’ experience – I checked it out before comparing it to Airbnb.  What I found was that although Airbnb was relatively new to Cuba it seemed to be far easier and better organised.  I was able to book a room in ‘Old Havana’ in a great looking place right in the main area.

So once that was sorted we made our way on foot down to the local bank;

I had taken US cash with me for Cuba but decided to see if my travel card would work – no dramas as it worked fine.  Back in Australia I had loaded my travel card with USD.  I knew that if I accessed it in Cuba I would be charged a transaction percentage whereas if it was loaded with another currency (Euro) then it would just be the exchange rate.  I wasn’t totally confident that the card would work so I took so made allowances for that.  My advice therefore would be that if you were simply traveling to Cuba and not in the US I suggest that you load your card with Euro to save the surcharge.

On the subject of money I need to point out that there are 2 currencies operating in Cuba – ‘Cuc’ (tourists) and Cup (locals).  It sounds weird but the reason is that the tourists basically support the Cuban economy – there is no way a local could survive if they had to base their living on the Cuc given the standard government wage is 24 – 40 Cuc per month.  So what that means is that tourists pay more than the locals.  Roughly 1 Cuc is 25 Cup – both those amounts are 1 USD.  I have found no issue in getting anything mixed up and have as yet not even seen the local currency.

Now with Cuc in my wallet we set out for lunch and find a Iranian restaurant where the falafel burgers were amazing;

After lunch we went back to the Hostel and chilled out under the air-con.  Later on we walked back to the main road and caught a taxi to Parque Central – the route took us by the esplanade;

We pull up at Parque Central and find that it is an area where it seems to be all happening as its right on the edge of ‘Old Havana’;

We go into the nearest hotel where a band that we had heard playing was now having a short break – good time for the first Mojito even if it was alcohol free;

The band came back and to say the front dancer was entertaining would be an understatement;

Yep you are 100% right – a very attractive fella!

After having our first live music show we decided to go back out and take a 1 hr tour around the local area in a classic car – there is no need to pre book anything as there are loads of cars lined up in the square looking for tourists. We decide on this guy as he had a car that stood out due to its unusual colour;

Kikko is a great lad who tells me that the car belonged to his grandfather and has been handed over to him.  I ask him about whether he is married and turns out he only just got married a couple of weeks ago – it apparently was hard to hold out as all of the girls fell in love with him because of his car! ha.

Kikko takes us in his car and we get a tour around the local points of interest and take a photo break where Fidel Castro was famous for his 7 hour speeches (made same time every year) to the people.  Reminded me of some of my bosses back home except its weekly not yearly!

Kikko drops us back to our Hostel and we later head out on foot to an Italian Restaurant that we had seen on the way to the bank.  The food is great and we make our way back home in the dark.

I will end this blog here and take up the next one when we move over to a Airbnb in ‘Old Havana’.