Cuba
10-31-2012, 09:41 AM
I just came back from my second trip so here's a little update on that.
This time I traveled with 3 friends. We met up in Havana and stayed in two casas. It hasn't changed much. There's hustlers everywhere. And hookers, of course. This time I didn't feel the need to hook up. Last year I was in a bad place after a breakup so I fucked a few girls (didn't pay though except for one), but this time I didn't feel inspired (or maybe horny enough) to do so. In one club a very attractive teenage girl approached me and we vibed a little bit. But eventually she dropped the info that she would fuck me for money and that turned me completely off. I introduced her to another tourist and said goodbye.
Nevertheless, here's some quick info on other cities and, perhaps most importantly, where to find tourist girls.
Havana
Casas should cost you between 20 and 30 CUC (1 CUC = 1.25 EUR), hotels are vastly more expensive. Don't expect warm water or toilet paper (bring your own). A meal should be between 5 and 15 CUC and there is decent food in Cuba, if you go to the right places. The recommendations for Havana in the Lonely Planet guide are good. You can also get a nice pizza on the street for less than 1 CUC which is mostly good. (Though I had one day of diarrea after eating one, so judge yourself.)
Internet costs 6 CUC per hour and is available in hotels and post offices. It's 28.8 modem speed with outdated browsers. Forget uploading photos etc.
Car rental costs about 300 CUC for a small Kia or Hyundai, european driver's license is no problem, credit card required.
ATMs are easy to find. Getting cash from a bank or exchange office (Cadeca - casa de cambio) is hit or miss, because sometimes their connections are interrupted and they cannot swipe your card. Passport required to get money that way, but at least you don't have to use an ATM. (One ATM swallowed my card and switched off completely afterwards due to some error, so I recommend you use the counters.)
Hookers cost, should you be inclined to pursue them, around 20 CUC, but they will ask for 100 or more first. If you want to hustle Cuba, you can promise them 50 and then say you only have 5. Don't know. It's what some British guy told me he did. There's no pimps, it seems, so nobody will break your legs if you cheat a hooker.. But, I do not recommend all that shit. Just FYI, heh.
Spanish is a requirement but we managed to get by with english, french and some emergency spanish from a phrase book. It was fun and our language skills improved.
Party in Havana: Go to places like Hotel Florida, Casa de la musica, or hang out at the Malecon to meet people. There's other places that are good, check Lonely Planet guide for that.
Don't buy any cigars from street hustlers. You are either overpaying, buying stolen goods or counterfeit cigars.
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos is a small city (130.000) at the south coast, about 4 hours away from Havana (by car). We really enjoyed this place. There's some fantastic casas for rent directly at the waterfront in Punta Gorda. Villa Lagarto is the perfect destination if you are traveling with your girlfriend or wife. We felt for the first time that we're in what tourists might describe as paradise in that city.
There's also a street called Malecon that connects Punta Gorda and the inner town where many young people hang out. We've witnessed some open air music (including Rock and Metal, which was surprising in the country of Salsa and Reaggaton), but there's also 3 or 4 decent clubs.
Quick warning about the club "Benny More". My friends iPhone got stolen there so be careful on the crowded dancefloor. Other clubs include the "Hotel Jagua" and the "El Cubanissimo Artez", which are typical Cuban clubs. Shitty Reaggaton, some live shows, Mojitos and Vodka for 2 - 3 CUC and beers for 1. Do not believe a local that tells you he can get you in cheaper. He's trying to rip you off. The cover charge is usually 2 - 5 CUCs in the clubs. Taxis between clubs and Punta Gorda (where you will stay) should not cost more than 3 CUC. But they will ask for 5 or more..
Cienfuegos has a fantastic beach nearby called "Rancho Luna". Can be reached by taxi for 8 - 10 CUC each way. Tell the driver to pick you up at some designated time later, because it's more difficult to find a taxi there.
The beach has clear, warm water. Nice things like huge turtles, swarms of fish and crabs. Some beach vendors which are far less annoying than anyone in Havana. It's difficult to rent a boat though. (You can get a Yacht at the marina but it's expensive because you have to rent a crew even if, like in our case, we had the proper licensing to operate big boats.)
There's a nice little resort hotel for 40 - 70 CUC per day directly at the beach, perhaps it's worth checking out to meet tourists.
Food in Cienfuegos is good, especially fish, lobster and such. Don't pay more than 10 CUC for a meal though.
Trinidad
Trinidad is about 1.5 hours away from Cienfuegos. It's a much smaller city, but it's beautiful in the sense that it looks like nothing changed for hundreds of years. Some fantastic casas for rent here, too. Send me a PM if you want a recommendation.
Since the city is very small you should probably not stay longer than for 2 days. However, because of the size you are more likely to run into tourist girls since you want to avoid locals that want your money.
There's a dance club in a beautiful location: It's inside of a natural cave. Take a taxi and ask for the cave and they will know. Don't pay more than 5 CUC for the taxi and, again, set up a pick up time for the way back.
The club is where you are most likely to find tourists. Drinks are the usual price and the music sucks as usual.
Trinidad is good if you want to buy souvenirs. Lots of competition means a lot of room for negotiating prices.
We spend 5 days there and most of the time we were just hanging out in the park drinking beer. Sounds shitty, I know, but after a while we knew a lot of people in the city. They would just be curious and approach as for a chat. We had a good time.
If you want to be classy and have some spare change then go to the five star Iberostar hotel bar. Expensive, but rare drinks. And the bar man is a real recommendation. He is charming as hell, looks like George Clooney, and is the most knowledgable man in terms of fine drinks that I have ever met. Me and one friend kept going there to remind ourselves what life as James Bond must be like. Beautiful people with nice clothes, a 20 CUC cigar that goes along with a shot of Rum that costs 20 CUC. And a barman that tells you about exotic wines from Guatemala. Highly recommended. Dress appropriately for full effect.
For 6 CUC you can go to Playa Ancon south of Trinidad. This is the best beach I have seen in Cuba, beautiful waterfront, white sandy beach, some resorts nearby, you can rent a boat or go diving at the coral reefs.
Playas del Este
Our last stop was a town called Guanabo at the Playas del Este near Havana. We slept in a 25 CUC casa together with various insects and cockroaches and drinking water that was salt water. Crappy living, but the beaches are nice. It might have been because of the hurricane, but the water was rough. So it was a different experience from the south coast. It was perfect conditions for kite-surfing if that's your thing.
The city of Guanabo (and nearby Santa Maria) are slow paced, relaxed places, perfect to unwind. Almost no hustlers and hookers that tried to approach as here. We've met some new friends though. Food was cheaper than in any other place in Cuba (around 4 - 5 CUC for a decent meal), too.
There's some clubs but we didn't visit. I assume it's the same shit as always so we didn't bother.
Meeting tourist girls
Cuba is popular with Russian tourists so that's where you should raise an eyebrow. Reason: Russian girls. (I am a big fan.)
However, it's tough to find tourists in Havana or Cienfuegos, because there haven't been many there and if you found them, chances are they were either couples or girls that are fed up with being approached all the time.
But yes, if you go to Trinidad, you are bound to run into them because of the city's size, and there's also the cave. In Cienfuegos you might get lucky at Rancho Luna, in Trinidad at Playa Ancon, as well.
But there's a better way to meet them, and I only have this information from meeting other travellers from Canada and the UK: Go to all-inclusive resort hotels, for example in Varadero.
We heard several stories (and seen proof pictures) from guys hooking up with Russians, Germans and Italians at those resorts. Apparently hurrican Sandy turned Varadero into a huge orgy when everyone stayed inside and had a lot of alcohol.
So if I go back to Cuba I'll probably do an all-inclusive trip, just to have the keys to the beach resorts.
Summary
My first trip to Havana was, in comparison, like a trip to some horrible dystopia where the food is bad, where almost every girl is a prostitute and every guy is a thief and hustler.
But this time I left a different country. There are nice, honest Cuban people, there's good food, there's fantastic landscapes and coasts, and there's options to party besides the mainstream tourist traps.
It's a country that is about to change. Socialism slowly turns into Capitalism, information spreads because Internet is available and starting next January Cubans will be allowed to leave the country for the first time in decades, provided they have the cash for the trip. If you want to see socialism before it all collapses, go there now.
Still, Cuba is by all means not a cheap country. So bring a decent amount of money. And one has to be aware of pickpockets and fraud.
