Brandy goes well with communism and cigars...
... as I recently found out.
Cuba is an interesting country that up to now I knew practically nothing about, save the embargo, Che having been one of theirs, and that they're commies. I now continue to know practically nothing about it, but I have a bit more context.
Cuba has two currencies, the regular peso (CUP) which is the national currency locals use, and the convertible peso (CUC) which we as tourists used. CUPs don't buy you much aside from the basics, meaning cheap goods that are not meant for exports but are instead for national consumption. CUPs cannot be converted outside of Cuba.
If you want to buy the export luxury brands of rum and cigars this exchange would be in CUCs. All businesses catering to tourists have prices displayed in CUCs - we did not venture enough into small towns to see any prices quoted in CUPs. Convertibles were introduced to replace USDs which was used as legal tender in Cuba '93-'04, and which acted as the "luxury" currency during that period. The USD was removed from circulation in 2004 following an increase of US embargo sanctions in order to make Cuba be less dependent on the US economy (right now there is a 10% conversion tax if you convert USDs in Cuba, so there is a strong incentive to come in with Canadian dollars, or practically any other currency).
The average salary is around 300 CUPs ~ 15 CUCs ~ 20 CAD, and so far it seems that it's best to work in the tourism industry. Apparently waiters making tips earn more than doctors (normally we'd tip around 10 CUCs per day).
The main figures are Mister Fidel, Che Guevara, and the Cuban Five (Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González). Fidel speeches are still aired on the radio, "Free the Cuban Five" billboards are very frequent, and Che is a friggin’ rock star.
The actual vacation was brilliant. We all went in burnt out, under-slept, pale and pasty and left healthy, tanned, and slightly drunk. We managed to walk around downtown Varadero a bit one of the evenings. One of the afternoons we rented scooters and drove around for a couple of hours (V did the driving, I did the enjoying the sights and flailing my arms - the whole thing was pretty scary at first).
On the 31st we rented a cab and went for a one day tour to Havana. The city is interesting in how the new contrasts the old, and in its character. It's very hard to describe... but one minute you'd be walking around in a touristy flea market along a boulevard with a nice park on one side and an imposing European-style building on the other and then you'd turn a corner onto a narrow one-way street bordered by colourful, decrepit buildings on each side with their shabby inhabitants talking in rapid Spanish outside the entrances. I'll post some pictures I took which will better explain.
We saw Fortaleza San Carlos de la Cabaña and Morro Castle (both fortresses overlooking Havana - At San Carlos I think we went into a fancy cigar store in Havana holding the world record for the longest cigar ever rolled - 41 meters or something like that), Christ of Havana, El Malecon (new Havana), Plaza de Armas, Hotel National de Cuba (famous prior to the revolution), La Habana Vieja (old Havana), a couple of flea markets, Plaza de la Revolution, and Bar Floridita (where I had a 6 CUC gin&tonic and took a picture with Ernst Hemingway).
I regret not spending the New Year in Havana as was our original plan. 2009 marks the 50th year since the revolution and apparently parties were pretty awesome. However we ran out of cash so we went back to our resort and did the countdown there. By the end of the trip there were a lot of people our age around who we got along with. On New Year's night everyone wanted to pick a fight though, and the testosterone overload was a bit much to deal with. We passed out around 4AM after dancing and arguing with drunken Quebecers in the hot tub (tip: do not advise a 300 pound drunken francophone to stop talking about hockey).
This ends the Scooter Diaries of Les Quatro Bandidos Canadienes. There are many little things that were not mentioned, but which essentially made the trip. We all smoked like chimneys, drank ridiculous amounts, ate, danced, laughed for the whole year to come, and did NOT burn to crisps under the fantastic Cuban sun!
A warning: Next stop - Spain! Start eating cheap.