Sunday November 16, 2014

A short ride, but not an easy one. The road was quite good with rolling hills, but we had a headwind which would not let up. I was glad to see Remedios and find the Casa and settle in.

Our hosts (Zoraida and Jose) are very nice and encouraged us to stay an extra night so that we could visit Cayo Las Brujas and Cayo Santa Maria. They offered to arrange a car/taxi to take us there. We could have a morning swimming and lunch, then they would bring us back to the casa. As Ralf got eaten alive by sand-flies in Varadero, he has sworn off beaches for a while. At least until his sand-fly bites have stopped itching.

As we were leaving Santa Clara we stopped at the Armored Train Derailment memorial – The derailment of the train on December 29, 1958 and the surrender of the troops were a decisive factor in the victory of Santa Clara.

Ralf was taking photographs and I was ‘guarding’ the bikes. An elderly gentlemen was looking at the bikes with great interest. I greeted him with buenas dias and he responded in perfect English – good morning! We chatted for a while, about how he used to enjoy cycling and now at the grand age of 92 he still enjoyed keeping healthy, by walking every day. He asked about my gears and of course our water bottle. Every one seems to be fascinated with our water bottle (which is like a camelback, but is connected to the back of the bike), the drinking tube runs along the top tube of the bike and makes it very easy for us to stay hydrated.

I was also the centre of attention of a group of German tourists who had just got of the tour bus to visit Santa Clara. I am sure I will be in a lot of photographs. A lady came and spoke to me about our cycling and asked if it was dangerous. I assured her Cuba was very safe. Although after todays ride and the tour buses hurtling along the northern carrereta towards Cayo Santa Maria, I wasn’t so sure.

We left Santa Clara at about 9:15 and it was already hot, windy and humid. Not so good cycling conditions, throw in the rolling hills and it made it a harder ride than we have been experiencing for a week or so.

When we arrived at the casa in Remedios, Zoraida bought us cold guava juice, it was lovely and I drank it like I was dying of thirst, she quickly replenished the glass and I drank the second one slowly and enjoyed the taste. I don’t like the taste of the guava as a fruit, but I really like it in a juice. Ralf said, a drop of rum or two wouldn’t hurt the taste either!

We showered and changed and walked into the main square of Remedios. It has been undergoing some major renovations and is quite a pretty town. It has a large park in its main square and all the streets emanate from this square. There are two churches in the main square, one is being restored to its former glory.

The main church dates from 1734 and was restored in 1944 – 1946.

The main claim to fame that Remedios has is its annual Parrandas (fireworks). This party starts on December 24, and carries on for 4 days with fireworks going off every night. Jose showed us a video of the event. The streets are lined with people every night and it looks to be insane with fireworks going of in all directions. It is one big party that started in Colonial times and has carried on since then. The Town was originally named San Juan de los Remedios de la Sabana del Cayo!

On the way back from our wander around we stopped in at a chess club.  We chatted to the chess master for a while.  We had noticed in other towns that there was usually a chess club.  Apparently, Fidel wants children to learn to play chess as it is good for the mind.

Dinner was huge, way too much food. After dinner we wandered back into the main square and had a couple of drinks and chatted to a young man who wanted to leave Cuba. It is too hot, he likes the cold. Ralf told him how cold Canada could get and you could see his eyes glaze over with incomprehension.

José our host has called the hotel in Mayajigua and reserved a room for us. He has also given us a card for Moron, the next nights place to stay.