Cuba Libre: Havana – Part 2

by Brenda Yun on

Having spent only two days in Havana and entirely in the old part of the city and only having two more days before hitting the road to Trinidad to meet up with the boys, I still had a lot of ground to cover.

The beach
Havana is full of great seaside and beach. If the outer part of Havana (where we stayed) called Miramar and Playa don’t strike your fancy, you can opt for taking a short bus or cab ride to Playa del Este. When I finally felt well enough to leave my suite, I took a quick dip in the ocean with my swimming goggles to see if there were some fishies to see. A local free diver helped me into the water and we toured the seas together. He pointed out some tiny squids, pufferfish, and some other things I just didn’t understand (is “pupu” a fish?). There was plenty of life just off the coast of the hotel, so I imagine the diving is probably pretty decent all over.

The art
We went into town that afternoon and browsed the Cuba’s most prized art museum, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. The Cuban art circa the Revolution was by far the most interesting, but we only browsed the second floor and got a bit bored, so we left. We did miss out on the third floor, which we just learned houses the Wilfredo Lam collection (oops!), but there is another smaller museum in Havana that is dedicated to Lam’s works called the Centro Wilfredo Lam.

The Vedado district
It is easy to get to Vedado, the most modern as well as the wealthier part of Havana, by foot via the back streets of central Habana and the Malecón. Just turn left when you spot the grand Hotel Nacional de Cuba, which sits on a hill with a grand view of the sea. It was a great place to snap a photo by a huge Cuban flag, and just to rest our feet. The Vedado really lights up at night with salsa clubs, bars, and discotecas starting at 10 p.m.

Live music
Lora and I decided to watch some live music in Miramar at a well-known joint called “La Casa de la Música.” There is one of these in every major city in Cuba. Our hotel concierge said one of the better Cuban bands led by Adalberto Alvares was playing that night, and because of his popularity he insisted that we be at the box office by 10 p.m. to get the tickets. Lora’s guidebook confirmed this advice, as it said concerts started at 10, so we left the hotel at 8:30 and split a quick dinner at a paladar a few blocks away called Paladar Los Cactus, which happened to be owned by a man who knew quite well my new crush, Che Guevara. (I’m not kidding!) The main dining room had a whole collection of letters from Che, as well as Che photos and a few Che artifacts. It almost seems as if Che is more revered than Fidel, but I’m thinking this has a lot to do with the fact that Che died. I can only speculate what will happen when Fidel passes. There will likely be a mixture of mourning for a great hero, yet a celebration and call for change to commence.

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We made it to “La Casa de la Musica” at 10 p.m. only to discover that the box office didn’t open until 11 p.m. We had a Bucanero beer (me – this became my drink of choice) and mojito (Lora – did you know mojitos came from Cuba?) and were the first to buy tickets and get seats inside. We clearly assumed the band would start playing no later than midnight, but found out the band would play for just one hour from 1-2 a.m. When 1 a.m. finally did roll around, some salsa dancing had already been had by Cubano couples near the stage. “Adalberto Alvares” is not just one guy, nor is it really one specific guy; it’s a full Cuban salsa band complete with a dozen players including four percussion players, three brass players, four singers, and a lone female pianist. The music ranged from rap to belting salsa, but it was distinctly Cuban with a Latin and Caribbean style. The band itself was pretty awesome and, yes, worth the wait, but the long three-hour wait was excruciating, and we had hoped at least that the band would play for longer than an hour. The music was promptly over at 2 and we were promptly pooped and went to bed.

Castillo de la Real Fuerza
Lora’s final evening was supposed to have been our big evening out on the town, soaking in the Vedado nightlife. We had every intention to do this, but Lora quickly found herself out of cash and we were both sort of low on energy. We made a grand attempt though: we left the Melia at 8 p.m. and then were shuttled over to the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, a 16th century fortress – the oldest in Havana and the oldest surviving one of its kind in the hemisphere, to watch the ceremonial setting off of the cannon.

Lora’s book said we could see the events take place from the Malecón, but our shuttle brought us directly to the fort (across the canal). As one would expect (we were in Habana, after all, where everything is three times as expensive), the entrance fee to see the ceremony cost 8 convertible! We weren’t too keen on the price. Nevertheless, we obliged.

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Luckily, the proceedings were really quite interesting! Soldiers wore colonial garb (complete with white wigs) and marched to the fortress that faced Habana Vieja. A man with a torch emerged from the barracks with a lighted torch and marched to the cannon as he sang/chanted. There was a lot of build-up to the setting off of the cannon, but finally there was a huge, startling explosion and the ball was set off, landing somewhere in the canal (I hope!). We had about 30 minutes following the ceremony to browse the fortress. I lost Lora in the small chapel, but managed to find a cool collection of Che artifacts in a nearby museum and listened for a while to some street music before boarding the bus back to the city.

The last supper
We were dropped off in the Vedado. Lora and I walked several blocks, intent of having dinner at El Gringo Viejo. The food was quite good (I had no idea chicken could taste good with olives and mushrooms!), but when we were done, Lora realized her sunburn (she had tanned by the pool during my long two-day recover) was quite bad and she was experiencing fatigue and pain. We had saved all that energy to see the Habana nightlife and pretty much came up empty. I didn’t really care that much, but I could tell Lora was bummed. I think she had expected some serious energy to the nightlife, but we quickly learned that some nights are just not meant to be. Our week in Habana really turned out to be a relaxed resort vacation with brief spurts of sightseeing, but for the most part, we probably could have been staying anywhere as long as it had a pool. It’s just as well – Habana was fun while it lasted, but I was glad to hit the road to Trinidad to meet the boys the following morning.

For a complete listing of my Cuba Libre posts, please click HERE or skip straight to the good stuff —

Cuba Libre: Being sick and discovering “Cash Cab” in Cuba

by Brenda Yun on

[Though this might look like the U.S. Capitol, it is actually Havana’s Capitolio. The strange resemblance makes even stranger sense when you get to the “Cash Cab” comparison at the end of this post.]

Peter and Frank planned to leave for Trinidad on Monday, leaving Lora and I in Havana. They had hoped for a noonish start to their day and planned on renting a car for the remainder of their stay. (Road trip in Cuba? Yes, please! I tried my best to convince Lora to hit the road with the boys, but she was nearly out of cash, had somehow forgotten her ATM and credit cards in Canada, and therefore was relying on the three of us to fund the remainder of her trip).

The boys dilly-dallied for a good two hours by having lunch and weighing the pros and cons to Cuba’s expensive car rental rate, which would come to a whopping $75 per day. By the time they decided to go for it, the car rental guy informed them there were no more cars available. So, that evening, Lora and Frank went to see the famous cabaret show at the Tropicana. They paid nearly U.S.$100 each for three hours of entertainment. Peter and I were less interested in seeing scantily clad women wearing chandeliers on their heads, so we walked to a delightful little paladar called La Cocina de Lilliam in the Embassy district and splurged on a delicious three course meal with red wine.

This paladar was a pleasant contrast to the crowded yet intimate La Guarida in town. La Cocina was set in the side courtyard of a large, lavish house. There were waterfalls and fountains spread about the courtyard as well as plenty of green plants and birdcages with cockatiel and parakeets. Peter and I had a really nice conversation about traveling and other things that time seemed to float by undetected. Somehow we didn’t get home until midnight. Soon after, Lora and Frank returned from their cabaret date. After a nightcap of Cuba Libres, smoking a bit more of our Cuban cigars, and listening to the ocean on the patio, we retired at 1 or so.

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It is never a good sign waking up pre-dawn with with a cold sweat, headache, and stomachache. The only time I felt this ill was when I ate a sweet (but apparently foul) mango in India and found myself on the toilet for two full days. My body felt weak, and I felt tired and gross.

Peter and Frank left early in the morning for Trinidad, but I couldn’t get out of bed. I slept almost all of Tuesday. Lora still made the most of her day, visiting la Plaza de la Revolución (with an enormous monument for pre-revolutionary figure José Martí) by cab and walking around our Miramar/Playa neighborhood. She found a cinema just a few blocks away and decided to have a quick dinner and catch an 8:30 movie (for just a dollar!). To her surprise and dismay, she was the only one interested in viewing this film and was turned away by the cinema attendant. Had I gone with her I think she would have been able to see it. So Lora was home by 9 p.m. and we watched a film on TV (I slept through most of it) and made it an early night. I didn’t eat anything all day.

My mysterious illness was a doozy (Pete and I think the lamb at La Cocina could have been the culprit), but I felt quite lucky to be in a 5 star hotel. I mean, things could have been much worse! I could have been like my friend Brody in the middle of rural Laos, who had to visit the village doctor to get hooked up to an IV and take an anti-vomit shot in the butt. If my situation had been more dire, I could have found myself in a Cuban hospital without travel insurance and maybe even lacking cash for medical care.

In the end, I think this sickness just made me appreciate the important things in life – like friends and a warm, comfortable bed. While I would have enjoyed seeing more of Havana, staying at the Melia Habana and with Lora was so comforting. In addition, as I am usually a solo traveler, I could have easily been much more depressed all by my lonesome and staying in some tiny casa particular.

The following morning I felt well enough to sit up and watch some TV, where I discovered my new favorite game show. Since I don’t have cable nor any real interest to watch TV here in Hawaii, leave it to my travels and stay in a 5 star hotel in Cuba (of all places) to hook me onto “Cash Cab” on the Discovery Channel. What a perfect and delightful premise and show! I watched 3 whole hours (that’s 6 episodes) of Cash Cab. It is utterly ironic how I stumbled upon this particular show in Cuba, though, for the contrast between the high-paced capitalist capital of New York City (the setting of Cash Cab) and my current environs couldn’t be more stark.

My excitement over this kind of game show just reaffirmed my Western upbringing. As I watched contestants win over $1,000 during a short cab ride (which is more than twice as much a Cuban citizen makes in a year), I wondered what Cubans thought of such a show. I was, however, watching it in English, so I imagine only educated and wealthy Cubans could actually comprehend the nature of the show. Regardless, the show’s premise is both perfect for the intended Western audience and quite jarring for Cubans (along with being a disgusting display of capitalism at work).

For a complete listing of my Cuba Libre posts, please click HERE or skip straight to the good stuff —

Travel Read: Road Trip USA

by Brenda Yun on

Avalon Travel writer Jamie Jensen traversed the nation several times, testing various two-lane highways in the process, to bring road trippers the best (really, it’s the BEST) road trip guidebook for the U.S. to date. Road Trip USA, released this month, features eleven unique cross-country road trips. I would not only recommend this guidebook, I would insist that you buy it if you’re embarking on a U.S. road trip of any sort — or if you’re one of those information junkies needing a good fill of fun facts and historical tidbits.

North to south, east to west, Jensen really covers it all, and he includes helpful information about nearly every interesting town along the way as well as detours or side trips that are worthy of some extra time. The great American byways have never sounded so enticing and intriguing. There is one mega-book that includes all 11 trips (retail $29.95) and two smaller books (each $9.95) for the countries two most charted journeys: the Pacific Coast and Route 66.
Here’s a brief overview of Jensen’s 11 road trips:

  1. Pacific Coast: Route 1, otherwise known as the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), spans the whole western coastline from Washington’s Olympic National Park through California’s rugged Lost Coast to San Diego. Forks, Washington, of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” fame, sits firmly along the PCH, so you can search high and low for vampires (or loggers) if you so please.
  2. Border to Border: Start way up north in Canada’s Jasper National Park and make your way through Banff, Sun Valley, and the Extraterrestrial Highway down to the Arizona-Mexico border. Little known fact: Hemingway wrote part of his famous For Whom the Bell Tolls in the Sun Valley Lodge.
  3. The Road to Nowhere: Follow the US-83 straight through the middle of the country from North Dakota to Texas. It’s all about the open road on this journey. Don’t know where the Chalk Pyramids or Monument Rocks are? Well, go and find them for yourself. Drinking is legal on the beach of one of the destinations on this route, too.
  4. The Great River Road: Follow the mighty Mississippi River to the deep south, and learn about some of America’s most iconic figures (Mark Twain or Elvis ring a bell?) You can find the world’s largest six-pack too, and I’m not talking about a hot guy, I’m talking about beer — a lot of it.
  5. Appalachian Trail: I considered maybe for a brief minute of hiking the whole Appalachian Trail, and while that would be an amazing feat, I think I’ll stick to pavement. Those who’ve accomplished the AT by foot talk about how grateful they were when they found “trail magic,” so you shouldn’t be surprised to find your own form of “road magic” — maybe in the form of food (diners aplenty), but more likely in the visual form (mountains beyond mountains).
  6. Atlantic Coast: Start at the Statue of Liberty and head along the the coast through eerie Savannah to the lively Florida Keys. Make sure you walk Jersey’s piers and try a night or two in one of the state’s many “Doo Wop”motels.
  7. The Great Northern: Something awfully mystical awaits you up north in places like Maine’s Acadia National Park and Montana’s Glacier National Park. If those don’t strike your fancy, there’s always the stunning Great Lakes in summer.
  8. The Oregon Trail: Niagara Falls, Yellowstone, the quintessential American cities of Boston and Chicago, Mt. Rushmore, the Great Plains, the Finger Lakes, Cape Cod. Yes, please.
  9. Loneliest Road: America’s backbone runs across such famed stretches as the Santa Fe Trail, Million Dollar Highway, and Pony Express Trail. You’ll be charting your own map, but journeying through some of the countries most gorgeous landscapes all by your lonesome. Don’t forget to bring your camara and don’t be afraid to get lost in the beauty of it all.
  10. Southern Pacific: This is the American south in all its glory. Deserts, swamps, spicy Tex-Mex food, and good old southern hospitality, where everything is biggest, sweeter, and just plain hot. You might want to brush up on your line dancing and donn that hat and those boots for some wild nights on the town.
  11. Route 66: John Steinbeck called it the “Mother Road.” Songs immortalized it as a place where you can “get your kicks.” Diners, roadside attractions, and motels are all just part of what gives it its character. From giant statues and Cadillac farms to barns and billboards, this most famous Route must be traveled at some point in your life. Why not let it be now?

If you’re traveling anywhere in the U.S. by car, rest assured Jensen’s got your destination covered. In many senses, you can bypass expensive single-State guidebook purchases and just invest in in this one comprehensive national guidebook. Check it out, really.

Gadling’s hosting a Road Trip USA giveaway in the next few days, so stay tuned for that as well as a “Talking Travel” Q&A with the series’ intrepid writer, Jamie Jensen himself.

Travel guide to Cuba

by Brenda Yun on

Cuba is a timeless place in more ways than one. Time has basically stood still for fifty years, and there is little anyone can do about it except Castro – and I’m not talking about Fidel, I’m talking about his brother Raúl. Since Fidel took the reigns fifty years ago, the “Revolution” still lives on in Cuba in the form of propaganda strewn across the country roadside and city walls. Aged cars are pieced back together, people live on pennies, and tourists stay in small B&B-like homes, but Cuba remains largely untouched by capitalism.

Something really special is brewing across the Straits of Florida: CHANGE – maybe not in Obama’s form of the word, but change is upon Cuba in the coming years, and if you can (if you’re allowed to travel there) you really should journey through the time machine to Castro country while you can and see a nation unlike any other you will ever see and may never see again.

Getting in:
Obama may have lifted travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans, but that doesn’t means it’s yet easy – or legal – to get to Cuba. Nearly all citizens, the majority of which are from Canada, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain, can get in upon arrival and out quite easily. Because of the existing trade embargo, American tourists are technically not able travel to Cuba unless they get prior permission the the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Visas are granted to all visitors upon arrival. No matter your citizenship, Cuban customs agents stamp the arrival/departure card instead of the passport when you arrive and your boarding pass when you depart. There is no evidence on your passport for anyone that you have traveled to Cuba.

The most frequent airline carriers traveling to Cuba are Air Canada, Cubana, AeroCaribbean, and Mexicana. Therefore, best departure points are in Canada, Central America, and Mexico. Round trip airfare should cost no more than $500. There are some very good travel package deals available through certain travel agencies that include roundtrip airfare and 7-14 nights in a 4- or 5- star hotel/resort for just $150-300 more.

When to go:
The devastating Hurricanes Gustav, Ike, and (to a lesser degree) Paloma indicate that the rainy season between August and October are not ideal month to travel to Cuba. However, I would strongly encourage all interested in seeing Cuba to go now – whenever that may be – because Cuba will likely change significantly socially, politically, and economically soon.

Where to stay:
Tourists basically have three choices when it comes to accommodation in Cuba: luxury resorts, mediocre hotels offered through Islazul, and B&B-like “casas particulares.”

Vacationers and business travelers prefer high-end hotels such as the Spanish-owned Sol Melia hotel chain. Expect to pay upwards of $200 per night.

Middle-of-the-road hotels are listed on Cuba’s Islazul website. Some are finer than others, which can be real decrepit places. Expect to pay between $40-100 per night.

Independent and budget travelers who don’t travel in packs (larger than four) can stay in a casa particular. These are private homes hosted by Cuban families who pay a hefty tax house foreigners in two rooms maximum. There are two online networks that list hundreds of casas in every part of Cuba: CasaParticularCuba.org and CasaParticular.info. Expect to pay between $20-40 per night.

Where to eat:
Similar to the hotel situation in Cuba, dining in Cuba is best experience by word of mouth. There are plenty of high-end restaurants that, in Havana can cost up to $40-50 a meal.

Ask around for the best “paladar” in town, and you will go on a little treasure hunt through residential neighborhoods to find a small “restaurant” inside a home or apartment. Owners of these paladares pay a hefty tax (notice a trend here?) to serve a maximum of 12 diners at a time. The best known paladar in Havana, La Guarida, was featured in the Cuban film “Fresa y Chocolate” and, like most paladares, offers a really authentic atmosphere for dining on the third floor of an apartment in central Havana.

Cuban cuisine is much like other parts of Central America. Most meals come with a side of salad, rice (the “gallo pinto” one speckled with beans is called “Morros y Cristianos” – “Moors and Christians!”) or plantains, and a main dish of meat or seafood.

Where to go:
… stay tuned to my future Cuba Libre posts to read about Havana, Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba, Baracoa, and Varadero!

For a complete listing of my Cuba Libre posts, please click HERE.

Cuba Libre: The U.S.-Cuba trade embargo

by Brenda Yun on

It was five years ago exactly that Cuba became for me a possible travel destination. My colleague Lora suggested we spend our spring break there and I thought it was a pretty novel idea. I had been to Vietnam the year before during spring break, and learned far more by going there than schooling or Miss Saigon could ever teach me.

At the time, I knew next to nothing about Cuba. Even if you mentioned the Bay of Pigs, which I had studied over ten years ago in high school, I would only be able to relate it to Kennedy and Castro, but I couldn’t remember the outcome of this event nor the repercussions it had on U.S. – Cuban relations. What better way to learn about a nation than get there, live, and breathe it. I’m a firm believer in experiencing a place and its history and culture by going there, not by reading about it. I knew then that Cuba for me would become a reality.
So it was that the plan to travel to Cuba had been hatched, yet it was only last month that I finally followed through and traveled to Castro country. But traveling to Cuba involves far more preparation, planning, and forethought than an ordinary trip. That’s because of one, in my opinion very antiquated, thing: the embargo. The U.S. – Cuba trade embargo is one of the strangest things I’ve ever heard of. While citizens from other countries, namely Canada, Spain, Germany, and Italy, enjoy vacationing in Cuba, Americans can’t. Well, technically, they can travel there, but once they’re in Cuba, the embargo dictates that Americans cannot spend money there. The reason: the U.S. does not condone the Cuban socialist/communist regime led by Fidel and now upheld by his brother Raúl.

If Americans are caught spending money in Cuba, they could pay a hefty fine (upwards of $10,000) or be put in jail. For 50 years now, Americans have ignored the embargo and traveled to Cuba anyways. Reports say that over 200,000 Americans travel to Cuba every year, and this number continues to increase. One of Cuba’s most important industries is tourism, so they continue to grant Americans travel visas upon arrival (how they do this I will explain in a later post). While some Americans paid the price when caught, most returned home undetected by traveling through Mexico or Canada. That is until the Bush administration (in the last decade), when cases of fines or imprisonment increased exponentially.

Now that Obama is in office, there is much talk about easing travel restrictions to Cuba. Already, a bill has been passed to allow Cuban-Americans to return to their homeland once a year, but American tourists still have to wait, and word is that it may still be a long time before the embargo is completely lifted.

There is also, of course, the “legal” way to travel to Cuba. To do that, you must get a “license” (not a visa) through the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Americans who successfully procure a license to travel to Cuba do so by getting a letter of permission by their employer or school. Therefore, licenses are given to those who are traveling to Cuba for educational or business purposes.

Adding to the difficulty of traveling to Cuba is safety and money. Those who travel sans license cannot be covered by travel insurance. This is, thankfully, not too much of an issue as Cuba has one of the best health programs in the world, so if something did befall you, you could still receive care, but you would have to pay the fees in cash. Still, you can’t be too much of a hedonist and go leaping out of planes or breaking bones.

Cuba is a very safe place to travel – even at night, but if your American passport gets stolen or lost, there’s also no embassy to go running to. If you are in such a pinch, however, the much-guarded U.S. Special Interests building in Havana is your only saving grace, but it is not an acting embassy and will therefore look unfavorably at your carelessness – especially if you’re there “illegally” as a tourist.

Money is a whole other issue too. Up until last year, the U.S. dollar was a useless currency in Cuba, but it is now accepted at an unfavorable exchange rate. In addition, U.S.-issued bank and credit cards continue to be rejected by Cuban banks and businesses. Because you shouldn’t be spending loads of money in Cuba, it’s also not a good idea to buy tons of goods (like cigars) either.

… The embargo, safety, and money matters aside, Lora and I decided to go for it. While it still remains a risk to travel Cuba, I for one wanted to experience a place that is largely untouched by America. There are very few places in the world that has so publicly dismissed America’s capitalistic way of life. Based on accounts from people who’d been there recently, I heard that traveling to Cuba is a most unique cultural experience yet also eye-opening socially and politically. Having been to socio-politically different countries such as China and Myanmar, I felt ready for whatever came my way, but having just returned from my two-week trip to Cuba, I can safely say that nothing could prepare me for such an intense culture shock. Cuba, for certain, is one of the most special places I have been to, and I hope this week’s Cuba Libre posts can express why.

For a complete listing of my Cuba Libre posts, please click HERE.