Vinales and Maria La Gorda

The next morning I took off from Havana with two East Germans I met thru

the internet. We rented a brand new Citroen from Havanautos, behind a huge

SENORES IMPERERIALISTAS sign that faced the American Interests Section, that

reassures the American residents that Cubans HAD NO FEAR OF THEM... We

look off through Miramar, where most of the embassies are, and is also where

Fidel lives.

His compound is heavily guarded and stopping is not allowed anywhere

along the road. Right at the entrance is a HUGE billboard painted

COMMANDANTE Y EL JEFE.... (imagine having that at your front door) and

the walls lining the street bristled with cameras and barbed wire....

We drove west through Mariel, where thousands and thousands of Cubans

were expelled in 1980 in a huge boatlift that Fidel orchestrated to rid

himself of his critics.... we drove past the KARL MARX cement factory that

belched plumes of smoke around the bay, we drove around in circles trying

to find the road to Vinales, (Cuba has NO roadsigns!) and we ended up at a

dead end that we later found out was where Fidel boards his boats to go

deep sea fishing! (You can even scuba dive off his boat, the CORAL NEGRO in

Maria La Gorda) the soldiers waved us off while shaking their AK-47's at us

through the windshield, while we sheepishly turned around and eventually

found the road.

We were following the coast along the north side of Cuba, and the scenery

was gorgeous - dark green hill that stretched off into the distance and royal

palms that were scattered around coffee, sugar, rice and tobacco plantations.

Sugar cane trucks overloaded with cane blared their horns at us and at one point

we turned a corner and about 50 pounds of sugar cane stalks pounded down onto

the hood and roof! We stopped and cleared the windshield and watched horses ridden

by Cuban cowboys way off in the distance.....

Eventually we reached Vinales, after passing depressing Russian style

apartment buildings and small villages. We were only able to find a state run

pizza place that churned out flat, tasteless pieces of bread that cost 15

cents. Soda water flavored with pineapple juice were 5 cents. It was funny

hearing the comments from the East Germans, because as we drove, they shook

their heads and said how miserable the living conditions were... I never made it

to East Germany before the wall came down (I only looked across the fence from

West Germany in 1985) but from what I heard it wasnt that pretty, either. I guess

people forget quickly.....

Pulling into Vinales, it was amazing entering the vast valley that is surrounded

by karst (limestone) cliffs, vultures circled overhead and vines clung to the

walls. We were planning on staying at the campismo, where Cubans go on vacation,

but it was full. (Surprise surprise, Germans staying in a campground for vacation!)

As usual, the custodio knew of a casa, just follow the road, and ask for Senora

Ophelia.

So we did. It turned out to be an awesome place, without electricity, running

water, phone or TV. It was a tobacco families house, and it was in the middle of the

valley. We paid $10 for the room and dinner, and they spoke no English, so

we floundered around translating German to English to Spanish, and all the way back

again.

After dinner that night, we went outside. Wow! The stars were so bright and

numerous it reminded me of outback Australia, or Montana..... We sat for an

hour watching the Milky Way appear and watched meteors scratch the sky.

When it came time to turn in, the wife told us to close the windows. She

made a slurping sound and I remembered what my guidebook had said about sleeping

in the countryside: dont do it with uncovered feet. Why? Vampire bats!

With that slightly unsettling warning, I fell asleep quickly on the hard

mattress. I listened to the family talking in the next room, and listened to the

farm animals lowing in the next field. I fell asleep and when I woke up, at

god knows what time, it was so dark I could not see a thing! It was like I had

been blinded...... It was a moonless night (that explained the clear stars) and

suddenly I started laughing hysterically. I couldn't stop. I dont know what it was,

the darkness, the silence, or the fact I felt like I was blind, but I could

not stop giggling! I couldn't stop for anything and barely suppressed it!

The next day we said goodbye to the family (Who were up early, pounding

coffee beans for breakfast and the farmer's machete was busy chopping down

bananas to take on our trip) went to a cave where a guide took us thru a cave

carved out over eons by a small river. Later in the day we drove thru Pinar Del Rio,

on the way to Maria La Gorda. A military checkpoint stopped us as we got to

the dry peninsula and we spent the next three days there, the diving center's

compressor was broken so I only managed to go snorkelling. On the last day, we

drove back to Havana along the Autopista, which was completely deserted, except

for the underpasses, where what are called botellas are found.

This is where Cubans grab rides. It is illegal for a vehicle to drive thru

without picking up spare passengers, who pay what they can afford. They cluster

around underpasses (and around most street corners in cities like Havana) waiting

for rides. The transport system is so poor that buses are sold out and people

are forced to hitch to get anywhere. Tourists are exempted from picking up

people.

We got back to Havana in the early afternoon, and I was dropped at the Havana

railway station, about 1/4 mile from the Capitolio.

I walked around central Havana for about 6 hours, waiting for my train to

Sancti Spiritus and onwards to Trinidad. I grabbed an ice cream for 5 cents and

walked down the Prado towards the Malecon. Later, I watched a movie for 5 cents

in a theatre across the street from the Teatro National. It was called BRUJAS

Witches) and starred Penelope Cruz before she became famous.... then I walked back

thru the darkened streets to the train station, where I boarded a bright blue car

painted with FERROCARRILES DE CUBA and grabbed my seat. As the train pulled out

of Havana thru smoke from fires burning next to the tracks, I got the last glimpse

of the the amazing baroque buildings thru the smudged windows. Then the lights

vanished and we trundled thru the darkness towards the central Cuban province of

Sancti Spiritus.