6 weeks in Cuba

03/08/2009

The mogote hills of Vinales are the same karst landscape you find in Halong Bay in Vietnam. Eroded limestone hills potholed with various caves, it is a quite stunning valley.

Trinidad , a UNESCO-declared World Hertitage Site , is a georgous colonial city with cobbled traffic free streets. It's small size means that all the tourists being swept through on day trips leaves it feeling quite suffocating during the day. By late afternoon however these have all gone leaving the town to the backpackers and the locals, who seem to spend their afternoons sitting in their windows or doorways watching the world go by. Even the dogs seem to get in on the act! The surrounding countryside is stunning and can be visited by steam train , horseback or on foot.

Santiago on the south eastern coast is Cuba's second city and a fantastic place to visit. Steeped in history , from San Juan Hill when Teddy Rosevelt and his Rough Riders defeated the Spanish in 1898 to Moncada barracks where Fidel Castro first rose to prominance in 1953. It has a great music scene and plenty to see in the surrounding area including the magnificant coastal fort "El Morro".

Havana doesn't disappoint, it is everything you would expect it to be. From the waves breaking over the wall of the Malecón to the narrow alleyways and stunning buildings of Habana Vieja, the vintage 50's cars and the incredible "Buena Vista" style music, it is an amazingly vibrant city.I spent 9 days there and even if I did get tired of dodgy guys on street corners saying "my friend, you want cigar, Cohiba" I loved every second I was there.

Cienfuegos, the "Pearl of the South" is situated on a large enclosed bay and is a generic enough Cuban city,a central plaza with a church, a few museums etc. However the southern most point of the city "Punta Gorda" makes it worth the visit with stunning buildings and great views across the bay.

You would want to be really really into churches to spend a lot of time in Camaguey. But it has a couple of cool plazas where you sit and watch Cuban life go by. And it provided me with one of my favourite Cuban moments, the old guy and his statue........

There isn't a lot to hold the attention in the town of Bayamo itself but it is the nearest big town to the Sierra Maestra Mountains where Fidel , Ché & Co based themselves for over two years from 1956 to 1958.

Before the revolution Baracoa, encircled by mountains on the north east coast of Cuba, was only accessable by sea. The journey these days from Santiago takes you though Gantánamo, a grim town overshadowed by the US base 22km away. Baracoa itself has a stunning setting dominated by El Yunque the mountain described by Christopher Columbus as "a high square mountain which seems like an island"and by the guidebook as being "as square as a slab of butter".