cuba: trinidad

My bus left Camaguey at 0215, and arrived early in Trinidad, around 0700. Since it had departed in the middle of the night and only been 4.5 hours or so, I was only able to doze a bit. In other words, when my taxi picked me up at the bus station in Trinidad, I was exhausted.

My taxi was actually a bici-taxi, or a bicycle with a little carriage behind it. The driver got to have all kinds of fun with the cobblestones of the city center, as they're not at all even, nor is the road flat. I probably could've walked faster than he was riding, but oh well. As tired as I was, it was nice to have someone drop me off exactly where I was supposed to be.

Or at least that's what I thought. It turned out that the first place was actually full, so the lady was sending me down the road to stay with her friend. She fed me breakfast first, which was much appreciated. These tourist breakfasts in Cuba were about the only time of day I had any appetite.

After eating breakfast she walked me down to the new place. She said I'd stay there one night, then come back to her place the next day. The new lady took my information, showed me her house and my room, and I prompty fell asleep for a few hours.

When I went for my first walk of the day I realized immediately that Trinidad gets a lot more tourists than either Santiago or Camaguey. This is both good and bad for a visitor. Good in that there is more information available, good in that there are more services available. Bad in that there are more people trying to sell you things, and bad in that things are more crowded.

Trinidad is another of the Unesco designated cities of Cuba, and it's closer to Havana, which is why it gets more visitors. Plus it is close to a beach, and has another Unesco sight nearby: Valle de los Ingenios, or Sugar Mill Valley.

Judging by the ridiculous number of stands set up selling to tourists, embroidery is a big thing here. I'm not sure if that is something Cubans still do/wear, or if it was an older tradition. I had yet to see anyone using an emroidered table cloth, or wearing embroidered clothing. I was rather annoyed by the way several streets were clogged with these stands.

Trinidad is also apparently a haven for artists, as there were a number of art galleries around the city center, all of which invite tourists to come in and wander. Sometimes you get to see the artist at work, but more often than not there are simply displays of art you can buy. 

I never did, given that I don't have a permanent space to store or display such things.

My first sight was Palacio Cantera, the former house of an old sugar mill baron, a German man. The entry used to be a living/family room I think, I loved the wood ceiling. There was a courtyard in the middle, of course. Since it was mid day no one was in the courtyard, it was too hot.

Another room was what a bedroom would've looked like. There was an area where the coach was stored, it was pulled by a horse.

The best part of the whole thing was the chance to climb the bell tower, the views from the top were awesome. I could see the mountains surrounding the town, and even though it was full of tourists, you couldn't tell from the top of the tower.

From there I walked to Plaza Mayor, in the middle of the city. Back in the day this was the hub of the town. Now there is a small landscaped area in the middle, but no one was there as it was mid day and the park area had no shade.

Along the edges of the platz were fancier buildings, which used to belong to the wealthy/important folks of town. Now several of them are souvenir shops, and art galleries. There is a church, and a museum as well. I made sure to visit the church, as it was only open around two hours a day, in the middle of the day. The church isn't exciting to see from the outside, nor from the inside. As with other churches I'd been able to see, the altar was wood, and the ceiling was white. Pretty, yet simple. I liked the large set of steps next to the church, they made me think of the so called Spanish steps in Rome. 

Wifi is available on these steps, so there were plenty of peole sitting around looking at their phones. In the shade, of course.

I also visited the museum, which was all about architecture. They had a few really good displays about smaller aspects of architecture, and how those had changed through the years. Who knew there was so much to be known by the shape of your door, or the decoration above it? Who knew that the shape of the bars over your windows mattered in some years? Even though it was small, I liked seeing and reading the explanations.

I also really liked the long, wide front porch on the museum building. It just felt relaxing.

I walked through one of the galleries, but wasn't terribly impressed. There weren't any artists there, it was basically a store for tourists. On the other hand, I did find really cheap postcards, the only time I found them during the entire trip.

As I continued walking, I walked past several official state stores, with things like rice and oil. Trying not to be really obvious, I noticed how little was on the shelves. Each store had a 'menu' of sorts, usually written on a blackboard in chalk, but I'm not sure all the items listed were actually in the stores. 

Cubans are used to not having a lot of goods available, but it's not something I can imagine. They don't have giant supermarkets like Kroger/Safeway/Walmart/etc... Any tourist coming to the country should bring everything they need or might want with them, do not assume you can just go to a convenience store or supermarket to pick up things like shampoo, toothpaste, a t-shirt, etc...

Sitting on the platz were two older men smoking cigars. They were the perfect photo, I definitely wasn't the only one who noticed them. I wonder if they sat in the same spot everyday.

My next stop was another church, this one different in that it was a set of ruins, not an active church, Iglesia Santa Ana. I have no idea how a church happened to fall apart in the middle of a city, but oh well. It was picturesque, with a small park on one side. The streets I walked to get to the church were colourful, each house painted a different colour from the house next door.

Even though I hadn't been out walking for very long, it hit me right then that I was exhausted, dehydrated, and starting to overheat. I went back to my house and relaxed for a while. 

As I was in the house, my host asked me if I live in Ukraine, and I said yes. She told me she had studied there for five years when she was younger! For the rest of the time I stayed with her our conversations were in a mix of Russian and Spanish. It's funny how I know some words in Spanish, others in Russian.

After hanging out in the shade and aircon for a couple hours, I decided to go for a sunset walk. Lonely Planet makes a special sunset walking tour in Trinidad, I figured I should see if it was any good.

The walk didn't last very long, and it wasn't as beautiful as I'd hoped. Maybe the sunset wasn't as awesome that night, I don't know. You definitely notice a difference in the 'quality' of the streets and homes when you walk outside the normal tourist area in the city center.

As I walked back home, I kept trying to walk around water running down the middle of each street. It wasn't a heavy amount of water, but it was enough that my sandals would kick up drops, which would land on my legs or feet, with the dirt in the water. Ick. As I got closer and closer to home, I noticed more and more water, and I saw it on nearly every street. Yuck. 

I'm not positive, but I think the evening is the unofficial cleaning time, so a lot of people would wash their front stoop or house floors, then send the water out on the streets. I took one lovely photo with the water reflecting night lights, but in general I was not a huge fan of all the water running down the streets when it wasn't raining!.

The next morning my host fed me an awesome breakfast. The types of food were the same I'd been eating during the entire trip, but the quality was better, and the fruit was fantastic. (My host had an advocado tree in the backyard!) I was kinda sad I had to pack up my stuff, and move it to the house where I'd started out the morning the day before.

I started my walk on this day by walking to a tour agency to book a tour of a Unesco designated valley not too far from Trinidad. I got to the agency to find an empty desk. When I found a back office not too far away, one of the employees in there told me the lady would be coming back in a couple hours, that she was the only person who could take money or sell tours. (What is the point of having 4 people working, when only one can take money, and that person is on a long lunch break?)

Since I had to wait I decided to check out the nearby park. It wasn't big, but like other parks in all the cities I was visiting, it had benches near the trees, and was a wifi hotspot.

I didn't wait in the park for long, it was too hot to just stand or sit still. Plus I figured I could take the time to walk somewhere else to see something. I decided to walk up one of the hills surrounding the town, attempting to find a viewpoint over the city.

On the way I was able to see what remains of the skeleton of a church, it was beautiful. Sadly, those ruins are being made part of a luxury hotel, so I wasn't able to get very close. 

I wonder what the final hotel will look like, and whether people will be able to get up close to the ruins.

The walk up the hill was fairly easy, though the roads were definitely not paved. Cobblestones in a few places, but nothing consistent. Since I was out of the tourist zone, I got a lot of 'what are you doing here looks' but that's not unusual. The path to the top of the hill wound around quite a bit, so it was never clear how much further I needed to go for the best view.

Eventually I decided I was up high enough. I was able to see over most of the city, it was indeed quite pretty. I could also see the mountains ringing the city, I wish I'd had time to go hiking in the area. (One of the reasons Trinidad is so popular is because it is close to a national park.)

On the way back down I decided to follow a small path through high grass and bushes. I saw some pretty flowers that way, but also ended up with a long scratch down my leg. Apparently branches don't move just because you tell them to do so.

From there I walked back to the tour office, and thankfully the lady was back from her lunch. I bought my tour ticket and got the details sorted for the next day.

I walked back toward the center of town, and headed to a museum. Called the Museo Nacionale de la Lucha Contra Bandidos, it was yet another museum about the rebels/guerillas during the revolution. The focus was on the years of 1960-1965, and the surrounding geographic area. Most of the museum was filled with photos, I have to admit they all looked similar to what I'd seen in previous museums. 

You can only see so many photos of people in jungle camoflage uniforms and keep them straight.

Hands down the best part of this museum was the chance to climb up the bell tower. More great views of the city, and a nice breeze. Another nice part of this museum was a room that looked like it was used for presentations of some kind. There wasn't anything special going on when I walked in, but I noticed a tv turned on and tuned to the world athletics championships which were taking place in London, England. It was fun to watch for about 30 minutes.

After the museum I went back to my room to relax for a couple hours. It felt good to cool down and rehydrate a bit.

My evening walk was totally spoiled by rain. It was heavy rain, it didn't let up for hours. Ugh. I was out walking when it started, and initially took cover on the front porch area of a church. Even though the lightning and thunder was crazy, it was fun to watch other people, and chit chat with those around me. Eventually I decided to go home even though it was still raining. I waited for it to lighten up a bit, then raced home.

Who doesn't sleep well to the sound of rain?

The next morning and early afternoon were taken up by my tour of the Valle de los Ingenios.

After returning home, I changed into my bikini and went up to the roof of the house and laid out for a couple hours. I would've stayed out longer, but it started raining again. I was not at all happy that I wouldn't be able to go for another walk. Argh.

The next morning I ate breakfast, packed up my stuff, then moved everything back to Suzanna's home. Since I was the only guest at her place, it felt much more like I was in a home. Olga's place was nice, but it was much more like a guesthouse, with too many other guests.

After dropping my bags at Suzanna's, I caught the bus to Playa Ancon, a beach not too far away. (Read another post for the valle de los Ingenios and playa ancon visits.)

I arrived back in Trinidad around 1330, and decided to relax and rehydrate for a couple hours. I was already turning a bit red from the time in the sun, but I could tell it wasn't going to be too bad.

I went out for another walk later in the afternoon, walking streets I hadn't walked previously. I made my way to a cemetery with a grand gate, but it wasn't open. When I'd seen it while on the bus to the beach in the morning, I assumed it was always open. Oh well.

I kept going, and made my way to another cemetery. On the way, I passed two games of dominoes, I stopped and watched both of them for a while. Both times I was asked if I wanted to play for a while, but I declined both times. I don't know why I enjoyed watching so much, as the game isn't terribly exciting. At the same time, it is perfect for people watching. You get to see how different people communicate, both verbally and non verbally. You get to see teamwork, and different strategies, as much as someone can have a strategy in a game of luck. 

I noticed that the game pieces in both games were homemade, and looked quite different. One set had coloured dots!

The second cemetery was open, so I walked all over. There was a rebel memorial, for those who had fought during the revolution. I saw flowers on some of the graves, but most of them were empty. I wonder how often the graves are visited by friends or family members?

I walked back home, picking up a pizza for dinner along the way. Like the first night I'd been in Trinidad and gone for an evening walk, I noticed the streets were turned into running creeks from all the cleaning water people were putting out into the streets. Ick.

The next morning I said goodbye to Suzanna, and caught a bus to my next destination.

I would definitely go back to Trinidad, and hopefully stay with Suzanna again. There is a nearby national park I'd love to visit.