Cuba, Costa Rica and a bit of the US.: Day 6. 8.4.16. Havana to Vinalés and return. LSCT day # 2.

Up early and up to the rooftop for sunrise, the Casa roof has almost 360 degree views so it’s great for overlooking the city.

One of very few cranes in the city.

Here she comes.

Looking the other way Plaza Vieja, with Mercury on top of the Chamber of Commerce Building.

The sun up.

The rooftop of the Casa, lots of vegies growing. We eat breaky under the shaded cover on the left. The kitchen is at the end on the right.

Looking over the Old Town towards Capitolio building, a direct copy of US Capitol building.

And again, unfortunately under renovation. The renovation has taken many years longer than the initial building.

Suzie and Jeannie admiring the view and waiting for breaky

Today we head west to another province Pinar del Rio, 190kms to Vinales. Once out of the city it’s pretty much double or triple lane highway all the way.

Lots of interesting learning along the way. Cuban history is very complex, I’ve read a bit, but can’t retain it. Hopefully Yaniel will assist during the tour. ie. ‘Special Period = 1981-1999, this coincided with the fall of the Soviet Union and Cuba was left on its own, having previously been supported by Russia. In 1984 Cuba opened up to a little tourism which in combination with the friendship between Castro Fidel and Hugo Chavez along with the assistance provided by and Venezuela in 1989, this helped end the ‘Special period.’ Yaniel mentioned that there were distant members of his family who starved to death during the ‘special period’ though the Government would never accept that this was the case.

There were fincas (farms), hitch hikers which is actually how the people get around, they wait by the roadside for a government vehicle or local bus/truck to stop and collect them, and they can wait for hours – not very efficient. There were several men selling a chunk of cheese with guava paste on top, Yaniel never buys it even for him, he worries about the water used.

There were some interesting water tanks and a couple of bridges to nowhere.

A flower farm of some description.

In 1961 the US embargo began.

The Cuban national plant is the Royal Palm, a lovely neat palm of which we saw many along the way today; there were also some Pot-bellied palms.

A tobacco barn with Pot-bellied palms.

Our first stop was a banos (loo) stop at roadside area, with some tourist info, some souvenir shops and general store type thing. Got some wafers in order to break some of our notes, for tips for toilets etc.

Then onto stop # 2 – Cueva del Indian, where we went into some caves, then onto a boat on a river through the caves, a quick bit of souvenir shopping back into van and onto Vinales, a town of about 20 000, where almost all the homes are Casa Particulars, they are marked as such with a blue anchor.

On the boat in the cave.

Another boat coming to drop its passengers off.

Looking out of the cave, the boat went out there to turn around

The homes are a variety of amazing colours, all well-loved. Got some pics on the return journey.

Then onto stop #3. Casa Confianza (confidence) for lunch. Here we met Eduardo, adult son of the farm owner, he was very pleased to chat with us and tell us all about their organic gardens, the produce, the compost, how they prevent insects, he was also a cook.

The vegie gardens at Confianza with the Valley and mountains behind.

In his previous job as a hospital cook, he accompanied a Cuban Medical Brigade to Java to assist following volcanic eruption and earthquakes. The Cuban government pays their doctors very badly ($60 per month) these overseas expeditions can be quite enticing.

Eduardo was also keen to learn and use English, we used the term ‘bugs’ he wanted to know what that was and how to spell it, he wrote it down in his ‘little book.’ He was so passionate about their organic garden and café and very generous with his time also.

Lunch was amazing:

· Plaintain and taro turkey cups

· Taro chips

· Fabulous vegetable soup

· 15 platters of meat and salad and vegies

o Chicken, pork, beef, tuna

o Cabbage and carrot

o Beetroot and lettuce

o Tomato and bok choy

o Rice and beans

o Capsicum

o Green beans and pickled zucchini

o Mixed vegies

o Potatoes – mixed

o Pumpkin and sweet potato and taro

· An Anti- stress cocktail – basically a Pina Colada with organic anise, spearmint, basic, mint, lemongrass, with a bottle of Ron Rum on the table to enable us to add our own ‘dash’ of vitamin R.

o Finished off with crème caramel

Phew!!! All eaten under the shade of a beautiful almond tree. This farm also assists aged care homes, schools and takes in many homeless dogs as well – a place with a real social conscience.

We then rolled ourselves back into the van for a quick stop in Vinalés to take some pictures of the coloured houses. Vinalés is home to the Adirondack chairs. Most places had at least two on the verandah.

Vinales Street.

Very typical mode of transport - everywhere.

The tractors are old too.

Houses

The ever present Adirondack chairs. Many wooden, but they also have a cast iron rocking chair as well.

Ready for work.

The chairs.

Stop # 4 – a Tobacco Barn, where we saw some tobacco being picked and hanging to dry in the barn. Also saw a tree rat (which is a native animal that they sometimes eat).

A nice weed growing among the tobacco.

Picking tobacco.

Stack of tobacco in foreground, really about the view.

Tree rat. Evidently it is endangered. It was a source of food during the 'special period."

A car ornament. Old cars are everywhere.

Tobacco in the Tobacco barn.

So hard to believe these become cigars/cigarettes.

#5 – a quick stop (thankfully) at the Prehistoric Paintings – super kitsch and cheesy – check the pics. Some General/naturalist thought it was a good idea to capitalise on the tourist market, and strip a mountain face bare of vegetation and paint it with a range of shells, prehistoric animals and man.

Yep, that's them.

Stop # 6 – Las Jasmines lookout, with a huge hotel/resort and great views of Valle Silencio. There were some banos and souvenir shops as well as a ‘girl band’ performing, they were quite entertaining.

A beautiful Valley.

And again.

and again.

The Girl Band.

A little house in the Valley dwarfed by the mountains.

An oldie.

Time to head home, in time for ballet. A few windy bits and slow spots behind trucks laden with goods or horses and carts making their way along the roadway. Onto to dual carriageway back to Havana. We stopped for a pic of bridge to nowhere. There were the people standing under the bridge waiting for a ride, we didn’t want to give false hope, so drove past and stopped for the pic.

Wasn't sure we would stop so tried to grab a pic out the van window

Bridge to nowhere.

Better shot.

There was quite a bit of work to do, to get road built up to that height, so I guess they didn't bother.

The story of the bridges is – There were two Cuban companies contracted by the Government, one to build roads and one to build bridges…in this case bridges built, but the road company never completed their job. These bridges to nowhere can be seen all over Cuba.

Christ Havana Style, the locals say he is holding a cigar in one hand and a rum in the other.

Home for a quick turnaround change before heading to ballet. We caught 3 bici-taxis to our recommended restaurant El Chanchullero, only to find a huge line, so we continued to the Gran Teatro – Alicia Alonse theatre for a quick salad/sanga at Hotel Inglaterra, then off to ballet at 8.30.

View from the Bici-taxi.

Poor attempt at a selfie.

Suzie and Margot.

Glenda.

Our guy had the best smile. They had to walk through this part, due to regulations.

The theatre is newly renovated, with this the first night of performance here and opening night of this new ballet company.

Our tickets were pretty good in the stalls. Lots of people, the place was literally humming with the buzz of excited people – we included. There were not a lot of local looking people in the audience. They were an eclectic lot.

First half was 3 contemporary ballets.

1.Aldrededor no hay nada – all danced to narration in Spanish, no music at all. Dancers in black with interesting low, but clever lighting. Very effective. We were curious to know the ‘story’ but no clue in Spanish.
2.Fauno- 2 dancers, guy with long ‘Jesus’ like hair and yukky purple ‘undies’ type costume. Boy was he sculptured, not an ounce of flab and muscles in the most amazing places. He was joined by a female dancer in weird costume tied in the middle. The dance was almost contortionist type movements, but unbelievable core strength and body control.
3.De Punta a cabo – very, very funky contemporary. The company were dressed in a range of individual casual summer/beach gear, accompanied by a percussion band on stage and trombone. The set was the Malecon (bayside wall in Havana.) There were four girls ‘en pointe’ and I’ve never seen anything like it, it was amazing. It was a really fun piece and I enjoyed it heaps.

Following intermission, the second half was Carmen. It was a very powerful version, lots of emotion, strength, lighting, effective costumes and staging. Curtain call saw Carlos Acosta and all the crew join the company for the applause. The crowd got into a real rhythmic clapping and gave a standing ovation. WOW!!! We were all most impressed, tired, but really well worth it. We were surprised to get tickets the day before and so lucky to see this show.