If you’re reading this, we’ve obviously found internet again!

After spending most of Tuesday on our feet walking around Havana looking for a local bus to take us to different cities, and finding absolutely nothing, we opted for the train, which Lonely Planet said was 10CUC for a 4 hour ride. On Wednesday, when Abra and I huffed it to the train station with 86 lbs of gear under a hot sun at midday, to find there was no train to Santa Clara as per the guidebook. So we opted to cab it to the bus station only to find that the next bus was full, and the one after that would have us arriving in S.C. at 2am! Awesome. There was a bus leaving in 15 minutes for Viñales, so we quickly changed our plans and decided to head east.

Viñales is a lush and beautiful valley, surrounded by limestone mogotes (mountains) that jut vertically out of the ground. Besides hiking, climbing and exploring caves, it’s known for being the best tobacco-growing region in Cuba. When our bus arrived, we were swarmed by locals advertising their Casa Particulares for us to stay at. We literally had to push through the crowd just to get off the bus!

The Casa we ended up choosing was of a young family; Marilyn & Adel were both in their early-30’s, and they had a son (10) and daughter (3). They were both University educated, former teachers-turned B&B owners. Adel explained that as teachers they only earned between 350-500 pesos per month (only about $20 USD), but as a Casa they could do much better. According to him, this difference in income is leading to a big class division: of those catering to the tourists, and those catering to Cubans. This is his first taste of capitalism (as Cubans were formerly not allowed to run Casas), and he doesn’t like what it’s doing to his country.

The Casa was very nice, very clean, and way better than expected for only 10CUC per night. Adel had built the house himself only about 2 years ago, after a hurricane destroyed their old wooden house on the same lot. It was very nice to be able to sit on the front porch and feel so much at home, especially after coming from the hustle and bustle of Havana. (Casa de Marilyn: Calle Primera #4B, entre A y B, Reparto la Carbonera, Vinales, Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Cell: 01 53 373972. Email: yaidyn82@princesa.pri.sld.cu. http://www.bbinnvinales.com).

On Thursday, we hired a guide to tour us around the countryside of Viñales on horseback. First he led us into the mountain to overlook the valley, then to a cave, and lastly to a tobacco farm, where we learned about tobacco growing. The farmer told us about the different parts of the tobacco plant, and taught us how to roll a cigar. His family had lived on the land for over a hundred years, and only rarely ventured into town for the essentials.

On the walk back to town, we stopped by a primary school, and got a tour from the director herself. She showed us classrooms, and explained a little about the school system in Cuba. She herself had worked there for 35 years, starting at age 16, first as a teacher, and now as a director. She’ll have the right to retire at 57, at which time she’ll receive a government pension, but she said she’s likely to continue working.

After returning to the Casa, we decided to climb up to the Hotel Los Jazmines for a view of the entire valley. We were told it was “just 3km,” so we decided to do the trek by foot. After what seemed like forever (trekking uphill and under a hot sun) we arrived for some awesome pictures.

We spent the rest of the day finding cheap food and packing our bags for the 8:10am bus ride to Cienfuegos. I spent the evening talking to Adel about politics. We talked about Cuban baseball players fleeing to the US, and about how America is still trying to exert influence over and manipulate Latin America. He seems convinced we are, I tried to convince him otherwise, but it’s difficult to go against so many years of propaganda.

Marilyn, who admits she is much less a revolutionary than her husband, tells us that the Cuban government tends to blame many of the problems on the embargo. And while in some cases it may be true (ie. “We can’t import new cars because of the US embargo”), usually it’s a straight lie (ie “We can’t provide internet because of the embargo”). Though she supports Castro, she says she’s tired of the same excuses she’s heard her entire life, and is ready for change. Mostly she just wants there to be no embargo, as she wishes she could travel to Italy and California.

That, along with numerous roadside signs such as “To have more, you must divide the produce more”, have made me realize how indoctrinated this society truly is. Castro unites Cubans by vilifying the US as imperialistic, ready to pounce on Cuba at any sign of weakness. And he does this very effectively, mixing historical happenstances with accusations of CIA-backed kidnappers in Ecuador, and allegations of American warships sitting off the coast of Cuba in 2006. There may be a historical foundation for this fear, but I don’t see a modern one.

On Friday, we were set for an 8:10am bus to Cienfuegos, a French-styled city in the middle of the country. We overslept our 6:50am alarm, and didn’t wake until 25 minutes before the bus departed. Fortunately we were able to finish up our packs which we had started the night before, and briskly walked the not-quite-10-minute walk to the station with 5 minutes to spare. It was a 7 hour ride, stopping several times at the chauffeurs favorite road-side cafes (where I’m sure they’re getting favors). When we arrived we found another cheap Casa and set out to explore town before sunset.

More later (and hopefully soon)!

Posted by Hans & Abra