Lost in Translation

I visited Cuba in Apr 2007. Two week trip took me from north of the island with its green tobacco fields in Pinar del Rio, all they way down south to Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo where the infamous US Naval Base is located. Cuba is a big island – spanning almost 1000km from one end to another. I used buses for longer trips (2 overnight) with full on air-con, salsa and snoring in the background and some shared taxis for shorter destinations, where you could meet lots of interesting people.
Tourism is Cuba’s second biggest export product (after doctors). Cuba has plenty of all-inclusive locked off beach resorts that I would avoid, unless you’re after that McDonald’s experience – standardized pleasure ride no matter where you are; in these resorts you could be in Cuba, Tobago or south of Spain, all the same. I chose to stay in casas particular instead, alternative to hotels if you want to experience Cuban life first hand. It’s basically renting a room in someones apartment or house, kids running around, home cooking and mojitos, the good life. It costs around €20 a night (plus €5-7 for a big meal and €3 for a drink) which my not seem a lot, but in Cuba €20 is a monthly salary.
Cuba is country of extreme contrasts, it makes me happy, but sad. Happy, because of charisma, passion and persistence of its people. Like Yoani Sánchez, Cuban blogger talking about everyday life (and struggle) in Havana. If you speak Spanish, her blog ‘Generacion Y’ is a great read. She gets her message out despite crippling Internet costs, restrictions to own PC etc. In Cuba dial-up Internet costs €6 an hour, ridiculous amount, clearly designed to limit access for ordinary people (average monthly salary would get you three hours online). Sad, because it is a land of wasted opportunities, whilst building their revolution for last half a century, the rest of the world has moved on, whilst Cuba has been frozen in time.
Full set of pictures from Cuba can be seen here.