Week 1 - Cuba
God, It seems like such a long time ago, but flew from London to Havana on the 28th June.
A word of advice; never fly with Cubana. The flight ended up taking 13/14 hours, because it apparently suddenly became an indirect flight, stopping over at Holgeith for a couple of hours. Absolutely terrible; you can get to Havana from London through Virgin Atlantic in 8 hours!
It was worth it once there though. Havana is absolutely stunning. The blockade imposed upon it by the US has pretty much meant that the country is almost suspended in time. Visiting it feels like you've gone back to some historical period that seems almost fictional. It's been described as a photographer's paradise, and its easy to see why. The scenery is very unique - like a strangely contemporary colonial style. Political hatred there is so open, its brilliant! The best place there was the Malecon; a long strip of road that ran alongside the sea, which always has people on it at any time of day or night. It's incredible, people play music there, or sit on the wall, looking out into the Caribbean sea. The Cuban music is brilliant; an excellent education system but no incentive to work has meant that you get music graduates playing in local cafes, who would probably end up getting more money from tips off tourists than doctors would ever be able to earn.
It is a shame really, as the communist system has meant that the life is very tough on the locals. If they do have a job at all, their wages are pretty much completely taxed by the government, and they have to just live on ration cards. The introduction of the dual currency system has perhaps twisted things round a lot more. The tourist currency 'pesos convertibles' (pegged against the dollar) are worth about 24 times the local currency, the 'pesos monedas'. With prices being equal in all shops, you can imagine the attempt at scamming there. Locals will dress up as beggars and try to get as much as they can off the tourists, and you will have plenty of people who try to persuade you that the currencies are equal, so you can switch the currencies one-for-one. It's unfortunately very 'elitist' with the tourists though... locals aren't even allowed into to hotels.
The country has a lot of history though, its incredible how hidden its become. Meeting with Clio, a friend from school who had a job there for a few months, meant she was able to talk a lot more about the history of the place, and really gave a lot more of a personal history of the place, having interacted a lot more with the locals.
Hundreds of photos were taken, but I've enclosed a random few as previews. The rest are all on Kodak gallery - if anyone wants to see the rest of beautiful Havana, I can email you an invite to view the album!
Havana:
Hotel Nacional de Cuba - the holtel we stayed at, overlooking the Malecon.
In front of the US consulate!
The Malecon.
A word of advice; never fly with Cubana. The flight ended up taking 13/14 hours, because it apparently suddenly became an indirect flight, stopping over at Holgeith for a couple of hours. Absolutely terrible; you can get to Havana from London through Virgin Atlantic in 8 hours!
It was worth it once there though. Havana is absolutely stunning. The blockade imposed upon it by the US has pretty much meant that the country is almost suspended in time. Visiting it feels like you've gone back to some historical period that seems almost fictional. It's been described as a photographer's paradise, and its easy to see why. The scenery is very unique - like a strangely contemporary colonial style. Political hatred there is so open, its brilliant! The best place there was the Malecon; a long strip of road that ran alongside the sea, which always has people on it at any time of day or night. It's incredible, people play music there, or sit on the wall, looking out into the Caribbean sea. The Cuban music is brilliant; an excellent education system but no incentive to work has meant that you get music graduates playing in local cafes, who would probably end up getting more money from tips off tourists than doctors would ever be able to earn.
It is a shame really, as the communist system has meant that the life is very tough on the locals. If they do have a job at all, their wages are pretty much completely taxed by the government, and they have to just live on ration cards. The introduction of the dual currency system has perhaps twisted things round a lot more. The tourist currency 'pesos convertibles' (pegged against the dollar) are worth about 24 times the local currency, the 'pesos monedas'. With prices being equal in all shops, you can imagine the attempt at scamming there. Locals will dress up as beggars and try to get as much as they can off the tourists, and you will have plenty of people who try to persuade you that the currencies are equal, so you can switch the currencies one-for-one. It's unfortunately very 'elitist' with the tourists though... locals aren't even allowed into to hotels.
The country has a lot of history though, its incredible how hidden its become. Meeting with Clio, a friend from school who had a job there for a few months, meant she was able to talk a lot more about the history of the place, and really gave a lot more of a personal history of the place, having interacted a lot more with the locals.
Hundreds of photos were taken, but I've enclosed a random few as previews. The rest are all on Kodak gallery - if anyone wants to see the rest of beautiful Havana, I can email you an invite to view the album!
Havana:
Hotel Nacional de Cuba - the holtel we stayed at, overlooking the Malecon.
In front of the US consulate!
The Malecon.
