15/04/2019 – Travel day to Trinidad, Cuba

Joshs alarm woke us up at 0500, we snoozed for a bit then finished packing our things, downed a coffee and walked to the bus stop round the corner. Our tickets got checked, our bags tagged, and then we sat in the dark (pre sunrise) on the steps at the main plaza in a group of bleary-eyed tourists ready for the next adventure. Even prior to sunrise it was warm enough for shorts and tee shirt. The local stray dogs, of which there are many, seem to find solace and friendship with the tourists. The dogs are super friendly and just want cuddles, and when we sat down on the steps a few came and sat close next to us so that they were touching us. One nearly got in my bag and I so wanted to adopt it! The dogs cuddle up and fall asleep next to the tourists for protection I think, and bark and yelp at the Cubans as they walk, drive or cycle past. The locals clearly find the dogs a nuisance and are quite violent towards them. It is a wander to me that the dogs can be treated so badly but yet still have so much trust for mankind! And also kind of mind blowing that they can tell the difference between the locals and the tourists?

The bus comes and our bags get loaded (the man loading them charges 1 CUC for putting each piece of luggage on the bus, typical Cuba/tourist dynamic!) We get our seats and our on our way. It is a picturesque drive to begin with, but it didn’t take long for both Josh and I to nod off (at one point Josh’s breathing was so loud I thought I might need to sharpen my elbow on behalf of the other passengers!). The air con was on full for the first two hours and I was tucked into leggings, long socks, fleece etc and still freezing cold. I think the drivers may have swapped at some point along the way because the temperatures on that bus most definitely had a 20*C variance so it was clothes on, clothes off the whole way! We had a horrific service station pit stop, one where you try to touch as little as possible, followed a few hours later by a tourist service station (£5 for a basic sandwich). Even so, all in all, the 9 hour or so journey wasn’t actually so bad, we napped, listened to a podcast (the high-low – topics included interview with director of the recent Michael Jackson documentary) watched some t.v. (BBC documentary about a priest in Buenos Aires who believes he can cure mental health problems with exorcisms – totally bizarre but worth a watch!) and listened to some music.

We arrived in Trinidad, Cuba and of course had to pay the luggage man to offload our bags. We got our bearings and walked to our casa, about 15 minutes away. Those big rucksacks are so ergonomical, they are brilliant! Really loving the one mum and dad bought me the more I use it!

As we started walking down our street our host was waiting for us outside the front and showed us in. The feel of the place was immediately welcoming and homely, with his 3 boys playing FIFA in the lounge, his mother cooking some dinner, and the dog lounging out in the courtyard in the sun. Our host is a 50 year old GP, whose English is very good, so it was very easy to get settled in! Truth be told we absolutely loved our host in Havana (recommended to us by Hattie). However, although far from disastrous, our hosts in Vinales felt a bit more money/business orientated and less like a casa where hosts and guests share experiences and get to know one another. This casa already feels different, so fingers crossed!

Our host, Leo, gave us coffee in the garden whilst taking our passport details. He then pulled out a map and suggested somewhere for us to go and get dinner so we took his word (it was delicious and cheap – rice and chicken) then went to the wifi park. The connection was pretty awful so we quickly lost interest and a huge raincloud was looming so we headed back to the casa via the local shop. When we got back to the casa we sat with our host Leo and he explained that when Cuba first got the wifi parks the connection was really good and quick, and now he says the government seem to be controlling it and reducing it slowly to try and limit the information Cubans can receive. He talked to us about politics and the way of life here, and told us he and his wife hope they can move their whole family to Italy one day, papers permitting. He said he used to be a psychiatric doctor in a prison before becoming a GP, and also previously practiced as a doctor in Venezuela as many Cubans do. He explained to us how much of his earnings were taken by the Cuban government (90%) which is why he has quit medicine. He and his wife now run their own (illegal) business – she flys over to Panama (where she will be whilst we are staying here) buys clothes, and anything else she feels will sell, and then brings it back to sell over here. He seems very clever and talks to us about Theresa May, Brexit and world-wide news including the blazing down Notre Dame today (not suprising that he knows more than Josh and I combined on these topics!) All found out through his phone and his data roaming, which he has only recently been granted.

Leo and family, our new host's

We had bought cereal at the shop but couldn’t find any milk, so we asked Leo for some. He poured some filtered water into a pan, put it on the stove, and then pulled out a Tupperware of powder, and then said go ahead! I think he could see in our bewildered faces we had not a clue what was going on so he sorted it for us (powdered milk!!!) it actually tasted fine (thanks mum for the lifetime of UHT skimmed milk, don’t think I will ever be fussy!). Josh played the eldest son at FIFA – when he chose to be Brighton the son was like, oh they are a rubbish team, and then Josh lost in penalties much to the sons glee!

We had showers (beautiful air con, en suite bedroom) and got into some nice fresh sheets for a big sleep, hopefully!