Cuba - Trinidad - Part 1

Most of my experiences in Cuba so far have been a bit of a rollercoaster, Trinidad is no exception. I was unphased when the Viazul bus broke down at Cienfuegos and had to go for a 10-minute turned 1-hour repair - hey, it's Cuba. I was also not too worried about not having booked my casa in advance - after all there are over 500 to choose from (according to the Lonely Planet) and I'd already emailed one that was right next to the bus station (though I didn't get the chance to check if they replied). All good, right? Wrong.

It turned out that the casa I'd emailed is under renovation, so they're not taking any guests. Luckily (but annoyingly) Trinidad has a disproportionately large number of touts - possibly because it also has a disproportionately large number of tourists who flock here to see all the neoclassical architecture and cobbled streets before the invasion of Starbucks and McDonald's. I usually take a hard stance against touts but with the 20kg rucksack, 30°C heat and no alternatives, I had to negotiate. It was actually an opportunistic woman who was enjoying an ice cream on a sunny afternoon with her daughter, who happened to walk past and asked the question. She said it was an independent apartment and I managed to negotiate it down from $25 to $17. Winner! The apartment was a little far but it was impressive when I arrived and saw it. It was indeed an independent apartment, on the roof of their own house, and had its own living room, kitchen, terrace and bedroom. I happily handed over my passport.

Just as I was getting comfortable on the terrace, there was knocking on the door downstairs. I was greeted by another Spanish woman who had my passport and was speaking a load of Spanish to me (usually not a good sign). Obviously I did not understand a word. Eventually the original woman walked past again and it turned out that they were sisters and the fast-Spanish-speaking woman had already rented out the apartment to someone else (or she wasn't happy with the $17). So I had to pack everything back up and leave. The English-speaking woman said her brother also had a casa and as the torrential downpour was arriving I reluctantly agreed to wait for her brother to come and pick me up. Alas, I had no choice.

25 minutes went by but no brother was to be found. I was quite irritated at this point, exacerbated by the dozen of flies flying around me (which presumably came from the neighbour's horses, and their shit). The rain also subsided so it was time to leave to find another casa before it got dark. Just then the Spanish woman said a load of things to me again, gesturing me to take me to see presumably her brother's casa. I might as well take a look, after all the waiting, but it turned out the room was just 2 doors down, and was much much worse than the apartment. It was time to leave.

My next challenge was to work out where the hell I was, then go to my next option which was a casa recommended by Pedro who looked after my mobile phone back in Cienfuegos. It was already 4.15 so it was a race against time with only an hour to go and not knowing my way around. After lots of asking for directions in bad Espanõl I managed to find the casa, and was pleasantly relieved to be greeted by a friendly grandma. She even offered me a cold glass of lemonade when I waited inside. 

I explained how I found her and although she had no availability she got her grandson to call around. The message I got was that everywhere was full because there were lots of tourists in a pre-Starbucks Trinidad. The grandson came back with an option, which was the gran's sister, but before I said anything the gran was already on the price. $25 per night non negotiable. I tried as hard as I could but she wouldn't budge. 姜真係越老越辣！I reluctantly agreed, thinking I would just negotiate with her sister when I got there, but that didn't work either. The casa owner also seemed annoyed that I won't be eating her breakfast for an additional $5 (local vendors cost 20 times less). I was annoyed that she would only let me stay for 2 nights - I thought the agreement was for 3. Ah well, it was already 5pm so it was take it or leave to find yet another casa in a town that was soon befallen by darkness.

My tardiness and disorganisation have cost me yet another afternoon!

The day was saved though when I managed to get WiFi outside a hotel. It was so good to catch up with the people I love after 6 days of being offline. I stood outside the hotel for 3.5 hours that evening.