Day 42: First day of school

I almost feel like a kid again - today was my first day of school ;-)

The day started with a short introduction of the school and then everybody was assigned to their classes and introduced to their professors. There are just three other students in my class - which ensures that I get plenty of speaking practice, very good :) The teacher has the usual Argentine accent - which really isn't that bad, especially when you compare it with the Cuban accent. The topics we're going to cover this week include talking about the past which is exactly what I was hoping for. I'll keep you updated on any progress ;)

In the afternoon, there was another introduction of the school, somewhat longer this time, including all the extracurricular activities offered. One of these activities is the weekly screening of an Argentine movie, which was taking place today. I joined to watch of course - the movie El Secreto de sus Ojos received the 2010 Oscar for best foreign-language film, after all. They were kind enough to display Spanish subtitles, but even so the language was far too advanced for my skill level. So I cheated a bit - I downloaded the English subtitles and read along on my phone... This way I could at least understand the story - which is really good, by the way. Highly recommended!

Day 41: Tourist bus tour

So today I decided to hop onto the sightseeing bus to visit a few neighborhoods in Buenos Aires I hadn't seen yet. When I arrrived at the bus stop, however, it turned out that I had to wait for about two hours because the earlier buses were all full already. So I bought a ticket and went off again to see if I could visit anything nearby in the meantime.

The first thing I came across was the cathedral. I'd seen the building from the outside before, but this time I went inside, too. As usual, the cathedral is really grand and magnificently decorated:



There was one thing that I've only seen in South American churches. They have richly dressed puppets of various saints - I'm guessing that the richness of the dress is an indicator for the saint's importance. This, for example, is Our Lady of La Paz:



On the same plaza as the cathedral is the Casa Rosada (pink house), the president's palace. Again, I'd seen the palace from the outside, but I discovered today that it's actually possible to visit - they even have free guided tours!

The tours are pretty comprehensive. This, for example, is the press conference room:



This is one of the stairwells:



And the rest of the palace is equally grand, if not grander. They even have grand heaters - notice the decorations on this one!



Then it was finally time for the bus tour. My plan was to hop off at the neighorhoods I hadn't seen so far, take a quick look and hop on the next bus. However, at the first of "my" stops there was a huge queue of people waiting to get on the bus - and there was only room for two or three of them. So I figured I better stay on the bus without getting off to avoid long waiting times. Apart from that, the tour was pretty good. It lasted for more than three hours, and detailed explanations were available via headphones. My head was pretty full with all the new information about buildings, architects, people and events...

Cuban Revolution

I finished uploading my collection of pictures focusing on revolutionary slogans in Cuba. They are everywhere in Cuba, and I found them very interesting. Have a look if you like!

Day 40: San Telmo and Puerto Madero

I decided to revisit the San Telmo antiques market today because I hadn't really been able to enjoy it last week. I met a nice German girl in the hostel who wanted to go too, so I even had someone to share the experience with :-) It turns out that the market is far bigger than I saw last week. At some point it turns into a wonderfully varied arts & crafts fair that stretches on for about about 10 blocks - nearly one kilometer - along a beautiful street lined with old buildings.



After that, we went to check out the ecological reserve at the shore of Río Plata. It is a huge park with lots of birds and - allegedly - several ponds. All we saw of the ponds, however, were the reeds covering them.



On the way back, we accidentally stumbled upon some San Telmo nightlife. First, we saw a group of drummers perform samba - including people dancing on the street. I really loved the drumming, the rhythms, and how everyone in the group seemed to absolutely love what they were doing. Next, we found an open air dance floor where people came to dance tango - beautiful to watch! And finally, there was a short tango show followed by a flamenco performance. What a great night!

Day 39: Teatro Colón

In the afternoon I visited the gorgeous Teatro Colón. The guided tours are pretty expensive, but hey - how else would you get to set foot inside the president's private box?



Besides, the theater is really spectacular and well worth a visit - and the guided tours are cheaper than opera tickets ;-)

On my way back, I followed the sound of drums and found a drum/dance group practicing in a park. From what I saw on youtube later it probably was a samba group. They looked incredibly alive, and I instantly loved the rhythms. All too soon, however, their practice session was finished.

Later in the evening I went out to see a flamenco show at a place called El Perro Andaluz with a couple of people I met in the hostel. The show was great, but I have to admit - I liked the samba rhythms better... :-)

Day 38: Moving (in Buenos Aires)

Today I had to move to a different hostel because the previous one was books solid for the weekend. I'm moving back there on Monday - its location only two blocks from my Spanish school is just too perfect. Plus, it's a lot nicer than the new hostel ;-)

After having settled in, I went to visit the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAMBA) just a few blocks away. They had two really great exhibits, one concentrating on the work of just one artist, and the other playing with white, light, and shadow. The second one in particular made me realize just how important the curator of an exhibition is. The combination and presentation of artwork can really make or break an exhibition.



I noticed another thing about myself while in Mamba. You know how in art museums they often list the technique used to create something - like oil on paper, that sort of information. Well, every time I am really curious about the techniques used it only says "mixed techniques". That led me to think that I enjoy collages a lot. It occurred to me today - the only time I was satisfied with my work in my high school art classes was when I made a collage inspired by the song Revolution 9, by the Beatles. In retrospect, I am amazed at how bad art classes were - they didn't really teach us a lot. Very little technique, and next to no history. I wonder why that is? Nearly every other subject managed to get at least something across...

Cuban Cars

If you're at all interested in old cars, check out my picture gallery of Cuban cars!

Day 37: Planning in Buenos Aires

I still enjoy being in Buenos Aires, so I decided to stay a little longer: I just signed up for one week of Spanish classes :-) Classes start next Tuesday (Monday is a national holiday). I haven't been in actual classes for a long time - I think the last of my university courses was seven years ago. So I'm really curious about the classes - will they be boring and make me sleep, or will they be fun, entertaining, and - above all - instructive?

Afterwards, I went to the bus terminal to check transportation options in Argentina. There are lots of long distance buses available - unlike Cuba, there is more than one company here ;-) However, it turns out that the country is HUGE. The closest places I want to visit are about 20 bus hours away... So I guess I'll have to plan carefully and definitely throw in destinations in Chile on the way - backtracking isn't a good option in a country this size.

I also did some sightseeing: the Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco is close to the bus station - and free on Thursdays. The building is gorgeous, inside even more than outside.



The collection focuses on religious artefacts - a bit too much for my taste. But they also have some rooms where they put all sorts of everyday objects - that other museums might display separately - into context by arranging them as they might have been found in actual houses. Much more interesting than when everything is placed in its own display case!

Day 36: Palermo

Palermo is another neighborhood in Buenos Aires - this one is famous for all its parks and plazas.

I went for the botanical gardens first - this time skipping the zoo next door ;-) The atmosphere in the gardens is beautiful, a relaxed combination of flowers, trees, shaded paths with benches, some statues and nice flowery smells. Too bad you can't upload smells!





My next stop was the Japanese garden. I was curious to see how close it would come to the gardens I've seen in Japan.



Compared to the centuries-old gardens in Japan, this one is quite new: it was constructed in the 1960s for the visit of the Japanese emperor. So it's not surprising that the ancient-ness of many Japanese gardens was missing. Also, I think there were too many fountains around... But apart from that, I guess it is as close to Japan as you're gonna get in South America ;-)



Finally, I visited the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires. Compared to the rather dark atmosphere of the museum I visited yesterday, Malba is very light and airy. It also has a focus on more modern art which suited me very well. Another thing that's great about Malba is that their entire collection is available online. For example, check out Alejandro Xul Solar - I really like his work!

Day 35: Recoleta

Having recovered from my cold, I went to visit Recoleta today. Recoleta is a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, mostly famous for its cemetery. The cemetery is really interesting, especially when in direct comparison with the one in Habana . Both are catholic cemeteries, but the atmosphere is very different. Where the one in Habana is an open sea of white, it is quite impossible to get such an overview of the Recoleta cemetery: it consists of lots and lots of family mausoleums, and their height blocks everything from view except for the current row.



Of course, I had to visit Evita's tomb, too. The travel guide said only to follow the crowds to find it - bloody idiots! But after lots of wandering around, I did find it despite the lack of directions:



Afterwards, I visited the museum of fine arts. It was a little disappointing (or I was simply too tired?), but at least it was free - that's how it should be!

Nearby, there's an interesting monument - a homage to all flowers. It's a huge artificial flower that opens and closes with the sun every day. I like sculptures that react to their environment in some way :-)

Day 34: Lazy in Buenos Aires

Since I don't feel entirely healthy yet, I took another slow day today. During the day, I walked to the Copa airlines office again - only to find out that they need proof of some other kind of transportation out of Argentina before they will give me a refund for the ticket I have now. I wonder if German authorities are as big a pain in the ass (or an even bigger one?)

In the evening I went to see a movie - they show movies in English with Spanish subtitles here! :-)

Afterwards, I strolled around the city for a bit, shooting a few pictures of sights at night, for example the obelisk (the city trademark) and the Teatro Colón. Have a look:

Day 33: Sick in Buenos Aires

It had to happen at some point, and now it has: I caught a cold. I didn't feel up to much today - every movement was super exhausting. Good that I didn't stay in Habana for the marathon. There's no way I could have competed in anything except idling today.

So I only went out for a short time to go see the weekly antiques fair in San Telmo. There were stalls selling everything from art to jewelery to books to pots and pans.



There were also some music performers and street artists.



It was very nice to look at and enjoy the atmosphere, though I was only able to move at a snail's pace and didn't have the intention of buying anything.

I used the metro - called Subte - to get to the fair. The tickets are unbelievably cheap: one ride costs just 1.10 pesos. In addition to the ride, you also get free and fast wifi down in the station. Now that's what I call service! :-)
Another good service are the entrances: they all have signs indicating the status for the metro lines. So you know immediately if there are any problems - even with lines you want to connect to.

Day 32: Getting to know Buenos Aires

I was very surprised today by how much I enjoyed simply walking through the city. I love that it is neither smelly nor noisy while at the same time feeling extremely alive. I love the mix of old and new architecture and the fact that nobody is trying to hustle me here. And, of course, the climate is supreme right now: not as hot and humid as Cuba, but still warm enough for shorts.

My initial plan was to head to the Copa airlines office to get a refund for the flight to Chile the Cubans had me buy before they let me check in. But of course they were closed - it's Saturday. Well, the area is pleasant enough - located at the old port which consists partly of old red brick buildings and partly of super modern office buildings. It reminded me a little of Hamburg, just warmer and without all the wind ;-)



Somewhere in the area I came across an art museum - the Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat - which is mentioned in neither of my two travel guides (I have the Lonely Planet for details and a Spanish one with pictures for inspiration and language learning). I went in anyway - and thoroughly enjoyed the visit! They had a nice mix of paintings with a focus on modern art and Argentinian artists, but also some stuff like Censo en Belén by Pieter Brueghel. This flyer shows some of the artwork on display:



After that, I headed towards the Avenida Florida, the biggest pedestrian zone in Buenos Aires. The street is not only long and full with shops of all kinds, but there are also tons of tiny stalls in the middle, mostly selling various handicrafts. Very lively - and full of the variety I was missing in Cuba.



The end of Avenida Florida is very close to the city's central square, the Plaza de Mayo. Most of the important events in Argentinian history seem to have taken place here - small wonder, as there are several important buildings, like the presidential palace and the cathedral. But apart from that, it's simply beautiful - especially with the trees blooming purple like that :-)

Day 31: Buenos Aires

My flight arrived on time, at quarter to seven in the morning. Immigration was a breeze, and the officer wasn't even concerned that I didn't have accommodation yet :-)

After hanging around for a bit at the airport to get money and a printed travel guide, I got on a bus to take me to the city center. The availability of information about buses - a monitor in the baggage claim area said which bus to take, and how much it costs - was only one of many good surprises today.

The bus took nearly two hours - but the price of two pesos (divide by 5 to arrive at a euro approximation) was simply unbeatable. Plus, it was like a free sightseeing tour, so the time definitely wasn't wasted.

I spent the rest of the day catching up on information and communication, enjoying the hostel's free wifi. Even when walking around the city, it's amazing how many free access points there are. It feels great to be back online!

Day 30: Habana to Panama

So today I leave Cuba. I don't know if I want to come back someday - it was definitely very interesting, and the diving was superb, but overall I think I felt hustled too frequently to really crave to return soon.

My flight leaves in the late afternoon and goes to Buenos Aires via Panama. I'm scheduled to arrive in Argentina early tomorrow. So that leaves me with half a day in Habana. I decide to first visit the house of birth of José Martí - which turns out to be a bit of a disappointment. The museum has a number of rather boring exhibits - such as the dishes he used, or the cuffs he wore in prison. It doesn't really make an effort to give a coherent account of his life. Instead, it highlights certain aspects or incidents using seemingly random exhibits. Well, I guess not all museums can be top-notch, but I do expect more from a place praised in the travel guide.

Next I went to the Havana Club rum museum. Now this was a lot more interesting. The museum isn't very large, but the English-speaking guide explained all aspects of rum production very well. Did you know that they use old whiskey or bourbon barrels for the ageing process? Apparently that's why rum tastes smoother in comparison with whiskey. I guess it makes sense - the more use a barrel has been put to, the less aroma remains that the wood can give to the liquid in the barrel. The tour included the tasting of a 7 year old rum. I've never really cared much for rum, but it actually tasted quite good. Of course, it doesn't have as much character as whiskey... ;-)

Day 29: Habana

This being my second-to-last day in Cuba, I really have to start writing down all those random observations that are floating around in my mind.

First, I'd like to shed some light on Cuban money. There are two kinds of money in use: Cuban pesos, or moneda nacional, which is what Cubans earn and spend, and convertible pesos, which are used by tourists and for luxury goods. The exchange rate is fixed at 24 Cuban pesos for one convertible. Cuban doctors earn about 500 pesos a month, police about 1000, and regular workers less than that. Now compare this to the price of a pizza at a street stall: 10 Cuban pesos. Or the price of one night in a casa particular: around 20 convertibles, equivalent to 240 Cuban pesos. Of course, for most services, only tourists pay the convertible rates, while Cubans sometimes pay as little as the same amount in Cuban pesos - 24 times less! So, while it's evident that the average Cuban is poor, at least in comparison to the average European, and can really use the money tourists bring in, it's also often hard not to feel like a cow that only exists to be milked for cash as much as possible. And it's also clear why so many Cubans have taken to hustling tourists: if they make as little as one convertible a day, for 20 days a month, they have already earned as much as a doctor - with much less work, and much less education needed.

What has really been getting on my nerves is the lack of Internet access in Cuba. I don't think that this is due to some kind of Internet addiction, however. It's more the reliance on the Internet as a means of communication and information, and the fact that I've been pretty much cut off from both in the past four weeks. No way to quickly look up the bus schedule, or to get the latest news of the world, or of family and friends; no way to share my thoughts or check facts from Cuban history. It made me really aware how much of a digital citizen I've become. This is one of the reasons I'm itching to get to Argentina soon...

Another thing that I found weird in Cuba is the public transportation system. Aside from the long distance buses, which are excellent, I haven't been able to figure out how to use public transport. Apparently, there IS public transportation. I see crowded buses all the time. What is missing, however, is accessible information about it. Which buses are there? Which routes do they serve? What are the timetables, even if only approximately? Public transport clearly involves more than just providing the means of transportation - something that I've only just realized. I wonder how the Cubans know about it. Maybe it's handed down from generation to generation?

What I really miss when shopping is variety. Every shop has exactly the same selection of goods; for example, there is one brand of soda, one type of cheese, and three types of toothpaste. Big supermarkets differ from small ones only in the quantity of items that are displayed for each type. In addition, supermarkets are not really supermarkets in the sense that they offer all types of goods. For example, they don't sell eggs, bread, fruits or vegetables. For these, you have to find specialized shops or farmers markets. I have to say, I look forward to being blown away by capitalist supermarkets in Buenos Aires ;-)

Now, enough with the things-that-are-weird-in-Cuba rant. In the morning, I hopped on to the open-top tourist bus that covers most of Habana's areas of interest. In particular, I wanted to visit the Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón - allegedly the biggest cemetery in the Americas. The cemetery is a huge sea of white marble tombs, and contains several monuments relating to the Cuban revolution or its fight for independence.



The one I liked best was this monument to firefighters:



In the afternoon I visited the Museo de Chocolate - which is just a euphemism for saying I went to a cafe and feasted on hot chocolate. They did have a few exhibits related to chocolate-making, but the term museum was hardly deserved. The chocolate was really amazing though, rich and creamy and delicious - no wonder there was a queue of people waiting to be seated outside :-)

Day 28: Back to Habana

One of the things that I really enjoy here in Cuba is having a Spanish name. Officials at bus stations, some museums, and for all kinds of reservations ask for a name to put down in their lists. I tried only once to give them my last name - the lady had me spell it, but gave up after the third character... Since then, I've been using my Spanish first name. Everybody seems to be happy and relieved that they know how to pronounce and spell the name (correctly, by the way, which is more than most Germans have been able to do). They also remember it very well which is great because otherwise they address female tourists as "lady" - which I can't stand because it's what all the hustlers use ;-)

After I arrived in Habana, I called Copa airlines to change my flight to Buenos Aires to November 17th - the last date I can leave without having to extend my visa. With this change, I also canceled my participation in the Habana marathon. This was a really tough decision, I would have loved to compete! But Habana does have a problem with air pollution - I'll just mention the black clouds emitted by many cars and all trucks - and I think it's not the most healthy thing to run in this environment. In addition, I haven't been able to train adequately. I've done a bit of serious training, and lots of walking - I'd guess around 10 to 15 km per day. The problem with all the walking is that it is tiring and therefore prevents real training, but in itself it doesn't really contribute to the level of fitness needed for a marathon. I guess I could have tried to run it anyway, maybe even finished, but I do want competitions to be pleasurable experiences, and for that I need a proper preparation. So unfortunately my marathon debut will have to wait for a while.

In the afternoon, I went to visit the Cuban art exhibitions in the Museo de Bellas Artes. What I liked most were those pieces of modern art that use different techniques and materials and protrude from the 2D canvas in some way. There were even some pieces that - at least in my eyes - managed to subtly question the socialist revolution, such as one that simply spelled the word Revolución using everyday worn and faded materials.

Day 26: Viñales

The valley of Viñales is a world heritage site famous for its curiously shaped hills, called Mogotes.

The town itself is tiny, barely more than a village. The only sight I've been able to find is the church that has greenery growing on its tower:

But of course, nature is the real attraction here. I rented a bicycle for the day - the valley is too big to explore on foot. I have to say, the trip to Viñales was definitely worth it. Just have a look at this gorgeous landscape:

And of course, sitting on a bike again was also great - even if it wasn't as nice as my own ;-)

Day 27: María la Gorda

Today I went on a day trip to María la Gorda. My diving school in Germany had recommended this place as one of the top diving spots in Cuba. Originally, I intended to stay there for a couple of nights, but since the hotel prices have just switched to high season and the travel agency said it would be possible to go there, do two dives, and return all in one day, that's what I did.

There weren't many people going from Viñales to María la Gorda, so the travel agency provided a taxi instead of a bus. Sitting in the front seat gave me a prime spot to observe the state of Cuban roads.

On the way there, I initially thought that the roads were quite bad: uneven, no markings, some potholes. But then the roads kept getting worse. Towards the end, the road consisted to nearly 100% of potholes, some 20 or 30 cm deep, and the driver kept trying to slalom his way around.

The sun was already setting when we started our three-hour drive back. The darkness revealed another dimension of driving in Cuba. The roads are used not only by cars and trucks, but are shared with lots and lots of unlit traffic: pedestrians, bicycles, horse carts, and the occasional car or motorcycle without taillights. This didn't pose a problem when there was no oncoming traffic. But the slightly blinding headlights of oncoming vehicles blocked all unlit objects from view. This resulted in the driver hitting the brakes every time another vehicle approached, and accelerating again once it had passed. Luckily, there wasn't that much (lit) traffic - I'd guess one car per kilometer, maybe slightly more.

The dive center at María la Gorda was the most expensive and least well-maintained one I'd seen so far. They charged extra for equipment rental - which none of the other centers had - and the equipment was rather old and really worn down. During the first dive, I noticed that the valve connecting the air tank to the buoyancy control jacket was releasing a small but constant stream of bubbles - and not only mine, but those of most other divers, too. This, combined with the fact that there were about 20 divers in the water (which I'm not used to at all), really got me distracted, and I wasn't able to appreciate the dive as much as usual.

The second dive, however, fully made up for this. There were only about 8 people diving - apparently because the afternoon dives are supposed to be shallow water dives, which the more advanced divers seem to scorn. The divers were split into two groups, and somehow my group ended up consisting only of me, another girl, and the guide. It wasn't a shallow water dive, either: the guide led us through a small tunnel at a depth of about 18 to 20m to a coral wall that descended vertically as far as I could see - magnificent! After a while we ascended about 8 meters through a chimney-like coral structure, and that's when the shallow water part began. In my opinion, this was extremely beautiful as well. We saw two large crustaceans of some kind, lots of elegant jellyfish, a swarm of blue fish who seemed to be grinning, and lots of other fish and coral. Beauty and tranquillity - that's why I love diving!

Day 25: Habana to Viñales

I decided to break up my visit to Habana into two parts and visit a bit of countryside in between. So today I'm heading to the far west of Cuba: the valley of Viñales.

On my way to the bus station, I come across yet another piece of socialist architecture: the Plaza de la Revolución and the huge monument to José Martí.



To get an idea how big the thing is, just look at the size of the streetlights and the people in the distance... I can't help thinking that socialist regimes are just another breed of megalomaniac. Why on earth do they need all these huge empty spaces and oversized monuments?

Since I remembered to finally take a picture of the bus today, here's a note on how I've been traveling around - remember that Cuba might look small on a map, but is still more than 1000 km long...

As Cuba doesn't really have a reliable railway system, I've been using long-distance buses to get around. There are two companies (or should I write "brand names", since both are state-run, of course): Astro and Viazul. Astro is intended mainly for Cubans - allegedly they only have two seats for foreigners on each bus. Viazul is slightly more expensive, and therefore almost exclusively used by tourists. They have a fleet of modern Chinese Yutong buses, like this one:



I haven't really been able to figure out the timetables - the information I got off their website three weeks ago is no longer correct - but surprisingly, everything has worked out well so far. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the one trip (back to Habana) that remains ;-)

Day 24: Habana

In the morning, I visit the museum of the revolution. The museum is housed in the former presidential palace - a grand building with rooms like this one:



The museum details all aspects of the revolution, including the period of "building socialism" afterwards. The explanations conveniently stop in 1990 - when Cuba lost its primary trade partner with the fall of the Soviet regime, and ran into big-time economic trouble as a result.

I spend the afternoon just strolling around, for example to the bay with a view of the castle over an angry sea:



In the evening, I attend a ballet performance in the Gran Teatro de Habana.



The performance is very good - but a little short: the show is over after only 100 minutes - including two breaks of 15 to 20 minutes each. Even the dance/animation company in my cheap all-inclusive place in Santa Lucía made more effort...

Day 23: To Habana

I'd like to start this post with a remark on food and nutrition. Most days, I eat breakfast at the casa particular I'm staying in. Breakfast is quite cheap, but plenty: they typically have omelettes or fried eggs, lots of fresh fruit (mostly papaya, guava, pineapple or banana), fresh fruit juice, some bread and butter, honey, and of course coffee.



For lunch, I normally eat a pizza at a street stall and get some maní molido (peanut paste) afterwards.





In addition to that, I drink sodas if I cannot find a reliable water shop (i.e. one where I can examine the bottles closely before buying).

All that stuff is definitely sufficient for a day, so I don't eat dinner anymore.

But the thing is this: if you look at the foods I listed, you'll notice that all of them are rich in carbohydrates. Before my trip, I was following a low-carb diet - keeping to the principles of a paleo diet as much as possible. I did this because I believe that the reasoning behind the paleo approach is sound. Now that I'm pretty much forced to eat tons of carbs because there's no viable alternative available, I feel like crap. Constantly in danger of overeating, and always craving more. I really do hope this situation improves again once I'm back in the arms of "mother capitalism"...

But now back to my first day in Habana. I fall asleep in the bus to Habana - something about buses and trains always makes me sleepy. When I wake up, the bus is just coming out of the tunnel that leads under the bay of Habana straight into Habana Vieja (old Habana). So my first glance are not endless, crumbling suburbs, but rather a handful of beautifully restored colonial buildings. Very nice! After getting of the bus - and through the usual crowd of hustlers trying to drag me off to a taxi or a casa particular or both - I have time for a second glance at Habana. It seems to me that most of the buildings haven't seen much maintenance since they were built some time in the last 200 years. Some effort is going into restoration of the major plazas and sites of historic interest (i.e. tourist attractions), but the rest appears to be either a construction site, or in varying states of crumbling decay. Seeing all this faded glory, and the people living in it today, is somewhat depressing, and definitely exhausting.

Day 22: Varadero

Originally, Varadero wasn't on my plan for Cuba. But I figured since I was already in Santa Clara, only two hours away, I could just as well do some tourist-seeing ;-)

So I booked another two all-inclusive nights at the cheapest place on offer and decided to find out what the ordinary tourist sees of Cuba. In short, it's this:



One thing I noticed very quickly is the amount of really polished and gleaming old American cars, mostly serving as taxis. In the other cities, most of the cars are rather shabby and run-down, but is seems that with the amount of tourists in Varadero, taxi owners really have to make an effort to get people to use their taxi instead of a nicer one. I won't post pictures now - a collection of cars in Cuba is coming separately :-)

The hotel included a day pass for the tourist bus running the length of the peninsula - "Varadero" is stretched out over a 20 km long peninsula featuring 20 km of white sand beach on one side - so it's not really convenient to see on foot.



Most of the people on the bus seemed to use it only to have it take them once around the peninsula, and maybe to one of the big souvenir markets. I wanted to see a little more, so I stepped off the bus at some points.

One was to see the Varahicacos natural preserve - a glimpse of how the peninsula looked before all the hotels came. The trail was beautiful, and populated by thousands of small lizards:



There were also a few small caves - some were quite spooky to explore because I was the only one there...



My next stop was the Cueva Ambrosía, a cave populated by ancient drawings and lots of bats.



I was the only one there (again), and this was a really great experience. The cave is entirely un-touristy: there is no illumination inside - you get a hand lamp - and there are next to no written explanations - the person at the entrance explains everything you need to know about the cave. So then you have a lamp and are left to explore the darkness by yourself, with bats fluttering about, and the occasional drawing appearing on the cave walls. Wow!

Day 21: Che Comandante, Amigo

Today I went to see the Che Guevara museum, monument and mausoleum (yes, they really do adore him here in Cuba).

The monument is a huge plaza with a gigantic Che statue and several big stone slabs relating Che's values and visions in words and chiseled images.





Socialist architecture really seems to have a thing for huge oversized plazas, doesn't it?



The museum has various items relating to Che's life, such as his guns, some shirts, peso bills bearing his signature (issued when he was heading Cuba's central bank), a couple of educational certificates, his water bottle, etc. It also has tons of pictures showing Che in all stages of his life. I actually found these far more interesting than most of the exhibits because they conveyed a much more vivid image of the guy than all of his water bottles ever could ;-) It was also very interesting to see where all these photographs were taken. With the exception of Europe, he seemed to have been pretty much everywhere - in just the last 10 years of his life.

Finally, the mausoleum holds his ashes, and those of 38 other revolutionaries. As you might know, Che was shot in Bolivia in the 1960s - by government officials, under the watchful eye of US observers. His ashes were only returned to Cuba in the nineties, so the mausoleum is a fairly recent thing. It is a pretty small room, the ceiling is made of wooden blocks, and in the stone wall there are 39 niches each sealed with a stone telling the name of the person buried here, and decorated with a flower. No photography allowed inside, though - but I guess you can find plenty of images on the net. It's a really atmospheric place!

In the evening, on my way to Varadero, I had the opportunity to see another piece of socialist architecture: the autopista nacional.



The image shows only half of it - there are as many lanes again going in the other direction. The autopista was supposed to connect Santiago to Havana - basically provide a fast east-west connection throughout Cuba - but unfortunately they ran out of money at about half way. But as you can see, even the part they built is way oversized for the current amount of traffic. From a German point of view (with our constantly full highways), it is very funny to see how traffic entering or leaving the autopista - even for fuel or snack breaks - often has to cross over the entire highway, including the lanes running in the opposite direction...