Friday November 7, 2014
Not a good nights sleep, woken up by the disco in the next street and the bed had to have had the worst mattress we have slept on.
A nice ride today, but a little longer than expected. We arrived in San Antonio los Banos at around lunch time and had churros for lunch from a street vendor. They were hot and freshly cooked. He recognized the Canadian flag and told us his brother and mother now live in Windsor, Ontario. His brother moved there 25 years ago and his mother 18 years ago. His English wasn’t really good so he couldn’t explain why he didn’t go. He gave us good directions to get to San Jose and away we went up the hill. The morning’s ride was flat and along a rural road with sugar canes and bigger farms, than we have seen previously.
San Jose is a municipal area and quite a large Town, we had assumed there would be a casa particular in the Town. We spotted an office for campismos (campsites). I asked if there was any in the area – she directed me to the one we are going to stay at tomorrow night (Los Cocos) in the Matanzas area – 48 kms away. I asked if there was a casa particular in the Town, in typical Cuban style she went outside and shouted up the street to see if the local guy knew of any casas. He arrived and he seemed like a slimy dude to me. He asked how long we wanted the room for. I indicated for the night. He explained that the room was occupied at the moment but we could have it in about 30 minutes for the rest of the night. He gave me the heebyjeebies. We cycled through the Town again and asked at the cultural centre. She indicated there was a hotel somewhere near Tapaste or near the motorway. As we were leaving the Town I spotted what may have been a casa. We stopped and the neighbour said it wasn’t but there was a room for rent just down the street. We went to the house and another slimy guy came out – this room was also occupied but we could have it later.
We cycled out of town to find the hotel. When we arrived in Tapaste a small town, we doubted the hotel was here, so we asked about a casa in the pharmacy. A young woman said she knew of rooms for rent, oh not again. Yep again. However, Liana was a very nice woman and encouraged us to come in and wait, she spoke a little English. Time was getting on and we had cycled 75.5 kms already. What to do? She showed us pictures of her daughter who was a dancer and singer in Russia, then we got to see the videos, her daughter is with a band from Cuba who are in Russia singing and teaching salsa.
While we were waiting she got clean sheets and towels ready for us. That was a bit of a relief. When the room was ready, she cleaned it and then we were allowed to see it. It is cleaner than the place we stayed at last night and we are being charged CUC 10 for the room. Again we are having dinner in the Casa and I hope breakfast.
Dinner was lovely and we chatted to Iliana who would like to have more guests but it is illegal for her to have tourists staying in her house. She asked if we knew of anyone who would want to stay here. I took her phone number and said I would pass it on as we cycled through Cuba, but this Town is off the beaten track. Most people get on the A1 and head from Habana to Jibacoa.
She is willing to take the risk of a big fine to take tourists, for the additional money. It doesn’t appear as if she needs the money for everyday items. For Iliana it is all about the money.Iliana was a consumer, her daughter had sent her a big screen TV, a computer, a cell phone. She has enough food, a house but she wants more, but it costs money – welcome to consumerism.
She is a lovely person, I hope she doesn’t get into trouble.