Day 10. 12.4.16. Trinidad, Valle Los Ingenios, Playa Ancon. LSCT day # 6.

Two vintage cars for our transport today.

Took some shots from my casa rooftop of the busy street below. Lots of comings and goings.

The Parrot next door. Whistling and talking away.

View over the rooftops.

My rooftop, they are working to build a kitchen up here, for outdoor entertaining.

Horse and cart as public transport. There are many cobblestoned streets in the old town.

waiting right at the front door.

Breaky was the antithesis of previous experience, while the ingredient were almost the same, the speed with which it was delivered was very different. I had fruit, juice, coffee, eggs, ham, cheese, capsicum, tomatoes and cucumber with bread and butter all on the table within 5 minutes. 
Need to ask for less tomorrow.

Breakfast. Yes that's all for me. Fruit, bread, hot coffee, hot milk, hot water, juice, cheese and vegetables and eggs too.

Irael did the egg cooking, and T-phung was never far away.

T-Phung.

Irael and T-phung.

He was a bit of show off.

Anyway we bundled into our two cars; one a spiffy pink 56 Chevrolet, the other was red and rather neglected. As they say you can’t judge a book by its cover, they were both comfy, with the old leather seats, bench front and back, no seatbelts. Door handles and window winders were optional, seems there was one winder handle for all doors and the door handles only worked occasionally.

Here we are loading up into our two cars, with Yaniel.

We started in the pink one.

An extra oldie passing by.

It's a Chev.

Immaculate inside and out. Suzie and our driver. Door and window handles are a challenge, usually missing, but driver has a handmade wooden handle to use if needed.

Our first stop, not far out of Trinidad was a lookout overlooking the Valle de los Ingenios (Ingenios is a small sugar mill) –the sugar valley. This valley was once filled with the mansions and farms of the sugar barons. Now lots of sugar cane, palms and generally a lush green valley.

The sugar valley and Suzie.

Me too.

Some seed pods in the sunshine.

Lots of sugar cane.

This is where we are and where we are going.

Welcome to Trinidad de Cuba.

Following that we visited San Isidro de los Distiladros. An archaeological site, with ruins of a Hacienda (being reconstructed, slowly), stone slave barracks, a slave watch tower, sugar mills and molasses ovens. We also saw a couple of interesting birds, which the guide called Red Lizard Cuckoo (a later google confirmed this)

Slave families lived in 4x4m stone barracks, they were plied with a shot of rum each morning, to keep them happy and breeding Children were an industry, they worked as slaves from age of 7 and at 10 were another commodity to be sold to other barons. So not only slave labour, but a slave trade as well.

The Mansion, under restoration.

The tower used for watching over the slaves.

Here we are at the base of tower, listening to local guide.

That's the tower again.

The ovens used to cook the molasses in the sugar process. Huge metal bowls sat in the rounded shape in the stone, with a fire burning underneath.

Red Lizard Cuckoo.

Red Lizard Cuckoo.

Working on the restoration, mixing cement in the barrow.

One of the old iron sugar pots.

Then onto an actual Hacienda, Tower and working mill at Manaca Iznaga, we watched some people belonging to a tour group actually crush some sugar using the slave driven mill, they made it look hard, so I guess it was.

Yellow taxi, waiting at Manaca Iznaga.

The name of the little Village and the Sugar Plantation.

Getting our instructions, it was hot, so we used the shade in the car parking area.

A ox drawn cart.

Milk tanker - Cuba style.

The Tower here has a story. There were two brothers vying for the hand of one girl, she indicated she would choose the man who built either the tallest tower or dug the deepest well, hence the belltower, but no well was ever round and the girl chose someone else altogether.

One of the guys with a falcon, had me and my phone before I knew it.

Taking off from my hat.

Back on the hat.

On the hand.

The driveway leading up to the house was lined with local selling a range of haberdashery – tablecloths, dolls, shirts etc. There were also several touts with baby falcons which were handed to tourists for photo opportunities.

The bell from the towers.

The very tall tower, which didn't win the girl.

Yaniel pointing out the map of the area.

Another group waiting to crush the cane.Slaves drove this crusher. The people made pretty hard work of crushing one small piece of cane.

In goes the cane and out came sugar syrup.

It was a nice old Spanish mansion with Cuban influences. We grabbed a cool drink and then travelled back towards Trinidad and onto Playa Ancon where Glenda and I swam in the blued hued water of the Caribbean once more, lovely white sand and warm water.

Front passenger seat view from Chev.

Drivers side.

Our Driver. 

Passing  a load of grass I think.

Celebrating an anniversary of the Triumph that was the Revolucion. 

A load of grass again and horse trotting along behind.

Homeland or death.

Playa Ancon, Beautiful beach. I seem to have taken no pics.

Happy travellers.

Me Too.

A lizard at the beach.

Nowhere to change, so they offered to close the bar for a few minutes for us to change – not an easy feat being quick when you are hot and sticky. Suzie and Jeannie paddled.

Then back to town for lunch at San Jose again, delicious chocolate milkshake and lobster cocktail.

We swapped cars on trip back to Trinidad. The Red one.

Walked home, changed out of togs and off to explore the city once again.

More doorways, people working, people stopped chatting in the street. Had a look at the ‘infant’ school and gave them some pencils and koalas. Did a small Wi-Fi stop after buying a new 5 hour card.

Chocolate milkshake, Yaniel recommendation. Same spot as yesterday for lunch - San Jose.

Margot, Suzie and Yaniel.

Found these guys in the same courtyard that I found the Dominoes players, today the boys are shooting air rifles, the dominoes players have moved to shady side of courtyard.

The boys were being instructed by the guy at the back.

Hot dogs.

This one is a hotel car.

A bit more clapped out.

Doorways.

Very little in the way of grafitti, this was some street art.

Another of those cakes.

Delivering bricks. They were being walked into the house.

Stacking bricks.

Helping out.

Delivering furniture.

Doorways.

A rooftop terrace with Staircase.

The ornate staircase.

Paintwork.

No paintwork, and a doorway.

Public transport.

Antonio Maceo? On one corner of the 'internet park' 

Windows.

Doorways.

Standing around in the street watching, chatting.

Colours of Trinidad were many and varied.

Patina.

Sleeping on the narrow footpath.

We saw this type of tank everywhere, in paddocks throughout the country. Four tanks on a concrete stand.

View from Suzie and Jeannie's second Trinidad Casa. 

Busy mural on the back wall of Suzie and Jeannie's casa garden.

Taking the bird for a ride.

My Casa La Fruta. 

Home again to wash, sort pics, shower and get ready for dinner at Esquera Restaurant, which is near the steps of Plaza Mayor – a cool band with percussion, guitars, double bass and singer, they were quite good. 

Still going, this was our taxi for Dinner.

A touch better inside.

The Church at Plaza Mayor in a different light.

Looking down to what is now a Museum.

There was a complimentary welcome cocktail which I followed with the cocktail Trinidad is famous for – Canchánchurra – made up of honey, lime, rum and ice served in a small terracotta pot. 

Our Restaraunt tonight.

The Steps.

Welcome cocktail.

Front table tonight.

Yaniel and his girls.

After a delicious dinner we headed up to the Steps of the plaza to listen to the bands play and watch some of the crowd/locals dancing, it was a balmy 23 degrees, drinking under a clear black sky with moon and stars.

The band and some dancers.

Looking down onto the main area from top of Steps.

The dancers where a whirl of colour and rhythm. 

Sitting on the Steps with a drink.

Cuba is so hard to describe, listening to Yaniel, our 28 year old guide is fascinating, he is very clever and does a brilliant job managing us and sharing his country and his experience of his country with us. The government controls everything – food, work, money, information. Of course things are opening up with world, wide web and information, but still the access to the outside world – movies, news, etc is limited and I think many don’t go looking. Yani is not one of them!