Wednesday November 19, 2014

A hot and noisy nights sleep. The air conditioner was on all night and the fan. I had ear plugs in but at some time during the night they irritated my ears and I pulled them out. Not a good nights sleep for me.

We had a wonderful breakfast at the casa – scrambled eggs, cheese, meat, and fruit and fruit juice. Oscar gave us a hand-drawn map to take a quieter road to Ciego de Aquila. We were on the road at 8:27, it was hot but not as humid as the previous few days.

The route was rural farmland with a few big factories thrown in for a change of scenery. The factories were sugar mills and a couple of fabrication factories – not sure what they were producing. The pollution controls in this country do not exist.

We arrived in Ceigo de Aquila at 11:30 and found the casa that Oscar had recommended very easily. I was prepared to say no to this one if it was a small room. I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the bedroom and the bathroom is a good sized bathroom.

We showered, and I rinsed out our cycling clothes and we went for a wander around.

The city is a pleasant city with a large main square surrounded by restored colonial buildings.

From the main square leads a pedestrianized shopping area that is about a kilometer long.

The shops have a mixture of things in them. In one shop there were children’s clothes and plumbing supplies, in another shop there were grocery items and washing machines, in another alcohol and cosmetics. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to what each shops sell.

There was a small craft market area, with one section set aside for shoes. A young stall holder showed me a pair of leather sandals. I said that I was on a bicycle and didn’t have room for another pair of shoes. As we came around the other side he appeared with a pair of training shoes, “good for cycling”. I explained my pedals needed shoes with clips. He smiled and resigned himself to not getting a sale from me. If he only knew how much I hate shopping for shoes.

I am feeling a little lethargic, not quite sure why, maybe it is the heat or maybe it is the fact that we are coming up to one year on the road and I need a holiday! We had a week in Alice Springs, but it was such a frenetic five days, we were tired when we got back to Brisbane. Every time we have had time off the bikes, we are either preparing for flights or putting bikes back together and preparing to ride. I think I need a week off the bike relaxing by a pool with nothing to think about but swimming, reading, eating and relaxing.

Ralf went for a wander on his own again, and met 4 fellas from Canada and Alaska. They shared stories and had a few beers together. One of the Canadians, had a girlfriend here and one of the guys from Alaska had married a Cuban girl, but shortly after arriving in the States she served divorce papers on the poor guy. He went straight to immigration and got her deported.

Not sure he really learnt his lesson as he is back in Cuba looking for another long-term relationship!

When Ralf got back to the casa, we uploaded his photos and I wrote the blog and then went out for dinner. Three out of the four guys were still at the bar so we stopped and had a drink with them. We went to a restaurant they recommended, which was quite good, although the service left a lot to be desired.