cuba: havana for a day

I know this was in my last post, but I'll repeat a little bit here: there was drama for me when traveling from Cienfuegos to Havana. I'd bought a bus ticket, and arranged a taxi from my accomodation to the bus station. The taxi picked me up, then picked up three other travelers. I don't know where the miscommunication happened, but the taxi driver thought I was going with them, all the way to Havana. Just after he passed the bus station I realized he wasn't going to stop, so I asked what was happening.

He said they were going to Havana, why would I want to go to the bus station. I said because I had a bus ticket, and I didn't have extra cash to forego the ticket AND pay for a private taxi. It would've been faster, for sure, but it wasn't in my budget. This being Cuba, I didn't have the option to go get more money from an ATM. The taxi turned around and dropped me at the bus station, but he wasn't happy about it. I still wish I knew how the miscommunication happened, because I know I'd told my 'landlady' that I only wanted to go to the bus station.

My bus from Cienfuegos arrived in Havana thirty minutes earlier than it was supposed to, even with a 30 minute stop for lunch, which was awesome. I caught a taxi at the station, which took me to the casa particular I'd booked in Havana. It wasn't the same place as where I'd stayed when I'd first arrived, but that lady already had a guest. This new place was actually a separate appartment I had all to myself, yippee!! The air circulation was non-existent, I knew I'd have the fan and air con on when I came back. 

Just as I was getting ready to head out for a walk, it started raining. Pouring. In other words, I had to wait. 30 minutes later, I started walking. The streets were wet, but life was coming back outside again. I assume Cubans know how to deal with massive amounts of rain, as it happens on a regular basis.
I walked all the way to a local ferry. The map that came up on a travel app took me through some non-touristy streets, which were in worse shape than the touristed areas of the city. It's always 'fun' to walk around constant piles of rubbish, and avoid puddles at the same time.

At the same time, I enjoyed getting to see locals living their normal lives. At one point I was on a sidewalk with plenty of space for someone going the other way. A man walking the other way decided to walk so close to me that I felt his hands on my body. Totally inappropriate and totally unnecessary. Argh.

At the ferry station I figured out where to go, then just waited. This particular station has two routes, and of course the one I wanted had just left when I got there. Sigh. Security took a quick glance at my purse, but that was it. There was no posted price, but locals clearly knew how much it was, so I watched how much they paid. I'm pretty sure I overpaid, but it still wasn't that much. Other travelers paid more than me, and no change was given.

The ferry ride was 15 minutes, across the bay to the side with a couple older fortresses. These were built and used when Cuba was involved in various wars for independence, and wanted to protect itself.

I disembarked, and followed a couple sets of stairs up the hill. At the top of the hill was a small park with a giant statue of Jesus. This made me think of the photos I've seen of Christ the Redeemer who overlooks Rio, in Brazil. The views over the bay, and the rest of the city on the other side were really nice. There were still massive clouds rolling through the sky, with occasional rain.

I found the street leading to my next sight, and kept walking. Rain started to fall, but wasn't too bad. It did get worse just as I arrived at one of the forts.

I stood for a few minutes under the protection of an old gate, and figured out where to go next. This gate had a price list on the door, but when I tried to go in, someone came out and said the gate was closed. Okay then.

I followed the walls of the fort and came to another gate, and fortunately this one was the proper entry gate. I looked around for a place to buy a ticket, but never saw one.

This particular fort had more views of the city across the bay, as well as old cannons still pointing in that direction.

The clouds were still dark, and now there was plenty of thunder and lightning. I was a bit nervous about staying outside, but no one was closing the fort, so I hoped I was okay.

The fort has rooms dedicated to various aspects of life in the fort, weapons used over the years, people involved in the various battles, etc... As expected, some of the displays were more interesting than the others. I liked walking along the fortress walls, looking in all directions better than any of the displays. I don't know if it was too hot for most tourists, or the weather was too bad, or what, but there weren't many people visiting this fortress even though it was a unesco designated sight.

One of the exhibits didn't have much to do with the fortress or fighting. It was all about Che, and the life he led. There were pictures of him in various countries, as well as the names he used. There were descriptions of major events in his life, always with a positive spin. (I didn't expect anything else.)

At this point I realized I was really tired, and ready to go back to my room, instead of visiting the other fort. I walked back to the ferry station, and didn't have to wait long for the next boat. I paid with a 20 CUP note, and waited for change.

I could tell the man didn't want to give me change, (as that was the equivalent to the amount the other foreigners had paid,) but I could see that locals had paid far less, and he seemed to understand that I had seen how much the locals had paid. I got 17 CUP in change, so my ticket cost just 8 cents if you're using US currency!!

I followed various streets until I got to a pedestrian street with cafes and small shops. I didn't want to eat at a full blown restaurant, and going to a supermarket for food wasn't really an option. This street gave me cheap options like the pizza I chose. Who doesn't love a $1 pizza?

After eating I walked back to my room, stopping for a couple of the iced 'juices' along the way. Even though it was cloudy and rainy, it was still hot, so the cool liquid felt amazing. Unfortunately my room in the flat didn't have amazing circulation, so it was not so fun when I got back. The combination of the fan and aircon sorted everything out, but I felt too guilty to leave it on all night. I turned it off, then woke up in the middle of the night sweating. Sigh.

The next morning my 'landlady' helped me catch a taxi (old school american classic cars ftw!!) back to the bus station. Sadly, my bus did not depart on time. Even though this was the main bus station of the capital city, they had just one lane where passengers get off the bus. The same lane was used to board the buses, meaning traffic jams are constant. Sigh. At least I got where I was going eventually.