Cuba - Trinidad - Part 3

I spent my final day in Trinidad horse riding to the Valle de los Ingenios. The recommendation in the Lonely Planet was Julio at Casa Muñoz, but he only cares for the horses; the actual people who organises the tours are at Yoel casa. They charged $26 in total, which was about $10 more than the touts at Plaza Mayor, but I was happy to pay that little bit more for a helmet (none of the other tour groups had one) and for good care of the horses.

And it was actually really fun. I've never ridden before and it took some getting used to. For most of the 4 hours my horse Apache seemed to just decide to speed up when he felt like it, without any warning. It turned out he and the other fellow horses (there were 3 other girls in my tour group) were quite competitive and when one goes the others will follow, without any input from the riders. Having a backpack with me didn't help either. At one point when Apache was racing the others I thought I was going to fall off. I held on to my dear life, and was extremely thankful for paying the extra for the helmet.

Then we had a stretch of clear road before we got to the waterfall and we all galloped - it was incredibly exhilarating. It was also much more rhythmic and easier to ride than when he was just trotting along. Absolutely loved it. 

The waterfall was really crowded so we decided to only stay a little while to give more riding time.

I spent the afternoon in the Museo Histórico Municipal, now that it had been fumigated. The rain didn't come that afternoon but from the top of the tower of the museum you could already see a torrential downpour from a towering raincloud coming in from the coast. The sun happened to be setting next to the tower. It was an incredible sunset. Wished you were here :)

Verdict

For me Trinidad was full of opposites.

The romance of the pre-19th Century cobbled streets; and the streams full of horse shit and whatever else running through them.

The tranquility of the colonial town centre and Plaza Mayor at sunrise; and the deafening noises of the tour buses, the tourists they carry, and the touts that prey on them.

The proud casa owners who earn $25 per room per night from their inherited beautiful neo-classical French architecture in the centre of town; and the old people who live on their own in their dilapidated poverty-strucken houses and take only $10 in monthly pension, sometimes only two blocks away.

For me Trinidad has lost its authenticity; or perhaps everything I saw was actually at its most authentic. But it wasn't how I imagined Cuba. The hassle one gets from touts offering casas, taxis, horses, tours -the list goes on - was incredible, and more than anywhere else I've experienced in Cuba, including Havana. If flocks of tourists and equally numerous touts are not your idea of fun, then don't bother with Trinidad. That said, there are plenty of variety of things to do here to keep you busy for at least 3 days.

Cuba - Trinidad - Part 2

No mishaps for three days straight (apart from almost falling off a horse). I could get used to this.

My first full day in Trinidad was spent at the local beach, Playa Ancón. The helpful assistant at Infortur (along Gustavo Izquierdo) told me that buses run from the corner of Antonio Maceo and Zerquera, departing at 9am and 11am ($2 roundtrip). There were probably more buses running after that but I didn't ask.

As is customary in Trinidad there is always someone around the street corner asking if you needed a taxi - not just in general, but specifically "for tomorrow to Havana Viñales Santa Clara Cienfuegos" (or whatever order it happened to be). Was he going to take me to all those places in one go? How they can predict my future travel plans AND my inability to get my bus ticket I don't know, but it was funny to start asking them exactly the same question back and seeing their reaction (one guy seemed quite annoyed). Ah, they're only trying to make a living afterall, but that doesn't give you the right to piss off every passing tourist.

So I was offered a taxi to Playa Ancón when I arrived at the "bus stop". I duly ignored their offers but it turned out I needed them to get to the beach - the bus was jam packed. About 9 of us shared a ride on this 10-seater antique, each paying $2 (one-way, so to get back you would have to pay another $2 whether by bus or taxi). These taxi drivers must make a killing with these rides, and I doubt they declare these earnings to the tax officials. He already made $18 from that one trip, almost the entire month's wages for the average Cuban working for the government. The long distance journeys are even more lucrative.

Ancón beach is alright. White sand, blue green water, sunshine and hot weather - exactly what it says on the tin. Each deck chair is $2 and someone comes over at some point to collect it. 

A few anoyanaces though:

1. Unless you are staying at one of the beach-front resorts, there are no public facilities to get changed and showered. The resorts hire a someone to guard the entrances so non guests aren't allowed it, not even to use their toilets. Stingy bastards. So yeah make sure you are changed and ready to go before you get there (or find a tree).

2. The water isn't completely clear and there is seaweed floating around and on the seabed. I preferred Langkawi.

3. There is a toilet by the restaurant but it was a portaloo and it was like an oven inside, so you can imagine what it smelt like. There is no toilet seat either so I have no idea what ladies do, or if one needed a dump. (In fact most toilets I've seen in Cuba don't have toilet seats - are they too expensive to make or import!?)

4. A couple of locals were walking up and down the beach touting really bad Cuban pizzas for $3. But they normally cost only equiv $0.4, a staggering 7.5 times less! I was not impressed, but hey, there's fuck all else to eat so it's a smart captive business. 

The bus was rammed again on the way back but luckily the driver promised to come back for us in 40 minutes. A Spanish couple tried to negotiate a taxi down from $2 each to $1, but that didn't work.

I had a good offer for dinner that evening, at El Diamente (Vincente Suyama #26, or Calle Encarnación on Gogglemaps). Everything on the menu, apart from lobster, was $7.50, which included a salad, rice and fried plantain as standard. They even threw in bread and fried croquettes on the house. It was a really satisfying meal.

On the second day I got up at 5.30am to hunt for sunrise shots. Trinidad is actually a beautiful town when there are no tourists or touts around!

I would have spent the rest of the morning wandering around their top museums (Museo Histórico Municipal and Museo Romántico) if they hadn't either been closed for the day for fumigation or permanently for restoration, respectively. The Galería de Arte on the south-western corner of Plaza Mayor was free and was fantastic though. I also walked up the hill to the local radio tower (north-eastern side of town) which was a nice (albeit really hot) half hour hike. I only had 5kg on my back but still struggled a little in the heat. Venezuela is going to be interesting.

For lunch I met up with Kaniko and her Korean roommate at restaurant Mimi (corner of Antonio Maceo and Colón). The lamb I had was great by Cuban standards, the portion was generous and price was reasonable. I went back again for dinner later that evening. The three of us exchanged lots of intel about the places we've each been to. It's always nice meeting other travellers :)

Trinidad has a daily routine - torrential downpour at around 4pm, but which only lasts for 30-40 minutes. It's not a problem to find somewhere for shelter, but what it does mean is that little rivers start flowing through the cobbled streets. Rivers full of horse shit and piss. Just saying.

If you don't fancy spending your evenings catching up with the world on WhatsApp, head to La Canchánchara, Casa de la Musicá and Bar Yesterday. All are very good and the first two have excellent live Cuban music and optional dancing. Bar Yesterday has live English music, including the classics such as The Beatles (obviously). Drinks 
start from $2-3. Tipping the musicians is also a common practice.

 Cubanm band just droped in at La Canchánchara

Tourists watching sunset on the steps of Casa de la Musicá

Casa de la Musicá livened up fairly soon after dark

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.