Sunday November 23, 2014

Two and a half days to discover Camaguey. Not quite, as we had the business of cleaning bikes, washing, banking and updating the blog to do as well. Camaguey is the capital city of Camaguey province. The city was founded in 1514 by the Spaniards. The city has a labyrinth of streets that were designed to discourage pirates. The streets, alleys and abundant plazas make Camaguey’s urban layout unique in the country.

There is one straight street in Camaguey, the rest go off on tangents in a spiders web of streets and alleyways. Most of them end up in a park or plaza, where there is either a church or bar or both.

Some of the buildings have incredibly stunning architecture and others as in other Cuban cities are run down. A lot of money is being spent in Camaguey on the streets, the hotels and the buildings.

We spent a good part of yesterday and today wandering the streets and alleyways. We went into one colonial house to see the frescos on the walls. There was one room set aside to show the diversity of religions in Camaguey. There is a small Jewish area, past the train station, which was too far for us to walk.

We peer into houses and doorways as we wander around – No transmissions in the bathroom please, but how about your car in the front living room.

One of the claims to fame are the tinajons, they are large earthenware pots used to hold water. It is said if you drink water from one of these pots you will always return to Camaguey. Needless to say we didn’t partake of the water.

It is hot work wandering around a city, we could have taken a bicycle taxi, but enjoy going own alleyways, where we find things like this.

Colourful bike taxis in Camaguey.

We got back to the casa after a wonderful coffee and cake and had a siesta. Tonight was an early night as tomorrow may be another tough day on the carrerrata. We ate in the same restaurant as last night, the service in some restaurants leave a lot to be desired but the food was good at this one. It would be nice for us to have eaten at the same time though. On both nights Ralf got his food first and was almost finished eating before I got mine. Usually he would wait until I got mine but the waitress said mine would be another five minutes.

Saturday November 22, 2014

A good lie-in this morning, we had breakfast at 8:30 am. After breakfast I proceeded to clean the bikes. Ralf had asked Jorge yesterday if it was o.k. to clean the bikes and he was expecting Ralf to do them. I explained I did it, then told him Ralf’s bike was 10 years old. Good maintenance has kept it looking good.

It took me a couple of hours to get both bikes looking good and oiled. Ralf came back from lining up at the bank and the Internet office and tightened all the nuts and bolts on the bikes. They should be good to go on Monday.

It took Ralf one and a half hours to go to two banks, and pick up a USB drive from the telephone office. They didn’t have any internet cards, a city this size and they run out of internet cards.

I was able to check my email and the bank accounts but unfortunately I was only able to update two days of the blog.

We had a little wander around the City and found a nice Chinese/Italian place to eat. After we had eaten we walked down the main commercial street and back to one of the squares where a band was setting up to play. We stopped at a little bar and had a couple of mojitos and watched the show, Cuban music and dancing, similar to what we would see at the all-inclusive resorts.

We were back at the casa for 10 pm and chatted to the owners for a while.

Friday November 20, 2014

We were amazed at the breakfast table this morning, so much so we had to take photos. The best china and a great selection of food, cheese, meat, fruit a choice of fruit juices, coffee and eggs. Lovely.

I had to take photos of this great couple. Charel was shy at first but we persuaded her to have a photo taken.

We chatted to Gustavo and Charel (the casa owners) it was so interesting to hear that even the young people want to stay in Cuba and have a dream of owning their own business. Gustavo said he has had to sacrifice a lot to be able to buy things for the Casa. He works as a bike taxi driver and saves everything he earns to improve the casa. They have the drive and the will to succeed. The house was originally Charel’s, family home. I wish this couple all the best in their future endeavors and know they will succeed.

The ride was much the same as yesterday although it had a few more bends in the road. Because it was a short ride we got in to Camaguey before noon. I went into a tourist office to see about a casa and she called a couple of casas that she knew –they were full or didn’t have space for the bikes. I asked her to call the casa that Oscar had given us and he was waiting for us. It is nice and clean and has a lovely open-air patio.

We had arranged to eat at the casa, but after walking around the town we realized we should have eaten in the town. The food in the casa was very good and the right portion, but we know we can eat for less in the restaurants.

After dinner we spoke to the casa owner and his wife who made hair ornaments, they were very pretty but my hair isn’t long enough to wear them. The school girls are only allowed to wear the same colour hair thingy as the uniform they are wearing.

Tomorrow is a working day – cleaning the bikes, updating the blog. Sunday we will have a wander around the City.

Thursday November 20, 2014

We had breakfast earlier today, as we knew it was going to be a hot and long ride. The breakfast was good and we were on the road at 7:45 am. Todays ride was absolutely bloody awful! The road was straight, it had two curves in it, it was flat and the road surface was appalling. The scenery was not very exciting and we had a head wind. Fifty kilometres of rough road, it is hard on the hands, the shoulders and butt. If we had taken the northern route the road may have been as bad, but at the very least we could decide which side of the road to ride on because the traffic would have been lighter. On the carrerrata, we had to cycle on the correct side, because the road was so busy. The bus drivers are the worst drivers, I had one close call, where I was calling him every bad word I could think of.

The frustrations of today included the route, and the annoying habits of some Cubans. I went into the hotel to see if they had room – this was all in Spanish:

Me:      Do you have a room for tonight?

Receptionist:   No

Me:      Do you know of any casa particulars in Town?

R:        Yes

Me:      Do you have an address or a card?

R:        Very slowly she went to a drawer, unlocked it and found a card for a casa.

It was like getting blood from a stone. We cycled to a major intersection and looked at the street name. We were stared at by the locals and then a young man came over. He asked in English, \”Do you need help\”? I showed him the card, another young man followed him and said that is my casa – he showed us the same card and said he would take us. We had assumed that the casa was his parents, he looked as if he was in his mid-twenties. As we were going down some back alleys and an area with very rough looking apartment buildings, we were both doubtful of the cleanliness of the casa and were ready to say no.

Neither of us felt endangered or threatened, our sixth sense was working. The casa was lovely and when we arrived we met two Canadians who were already staying there. One of them lived only 20 kms up the road from Barrie in Craighurst.

We had a good shower and tried to get out of the casa. The owner had thought we had left already and locked us in. It is a very safe and secure casa so much so we couldn’t get out. After about 30 minutes Gustavo came back and let us out. We wandered around the small town of Florida and had lunch, not a very exciting town, but a good place to stop when you are cycling. We had a lovely dinner in a nice restaurant and came back to the casa and chatted to Gustavo and Charel. Charel had decorated her Christmas tree and Gustavo and a friend talked to Ralf about music.

The ride was awful, but the day turned out to be good.

As I finished one of Anne Mustoe’s books the other day, she had written that at the end of a bad day cycling she would lie on her bed and think of 10 good things that happened to her during the day – she admitted it was sometimes hard but she would add having a nice cup of tea as a good thing.

Here are my 10 good things (not in any particular order):

1. Seeing floppy eared calves in the field – they made me laugh
2. Seeing a small purple flower fighting its way through the road surface
3. Having my hubby in front of me breaking the wind
4. Meeting the casa owner (Gustavo) at the central square who brought us to his very nice casa
5. Chatting to Gustavo – he has such grand dreams for the casa, including adding a garage, another room and a swimming pool at the back – he is 28 and has worked very hard to make the casa a good place to stay. Gustavo and his girlfriend Charel own the casa together although it is, of course, in Gustavo’s name.
6. Laughing with the other guests who are from Craighurst – 20 kms up the road from Barrie.
7. Being locked into the casa. One would think this was annoying, but it was so ridiculous it was funny.
8. Buying two buttons for 20 centavos (almost a cent) and Ralf waiting for the change from a Cuban peso (which is worth 24 cents Cdn).
9. Big Agnes has sent a new fly to Gail in Florida and she has received it already. Excellent company Big Agnes.
10. Good clean shower.

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.

Tuesday November 18, 2014

A good breakfast at the hotel, and we were away at 8:30, again the temperature was already 26 degrees.  We said our goodbyes to leanna, she was heading back towards Havana

The route was through the valley and was very pretty. We had one big hill to climb and got the rewards of the downhill, on the other side. The road we were on was a major gravel hauling route – it was busy but all the trucks gave us lots of room, even though they blew fumes of diesel at us as they passed us.

I am not sure which is worse for me at the moment the humidity or the diesel fumes when vehicles pass us.

José from the casa in Remedios recommended a casa in Moron. When we arrived in Moron our casa host (Oscar) was waiting for us at the entrance to the town and cycled with us to his casa. I had thought it might be nice to stay in a hotel again, especially if it had a pool and I could relax by the pool, while Ralf investigated the town. No such luck, we are in a casa with a tiny room and even tinier bathroom. It does have air conditioning and a fan, but that will keep us awake half the night, we are going to melt tonight.

Our intended route tomorrow is 70 kms, we will have to see how early we can get started, and see if we make the next town. Oscar is not sure if there is a casa particular there or not. He has taken our map and will give us casa addresses for the route that we plan to take towards Baracoa.

After a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches, Ralf went to discover the town. I was tired and decided to stay at the casa and read my book – I have discovered I can read the books that I purchased for my kobo on my computer. My version of heaven, being able to sit and relax and read. We had asked our hosts if they could do our laundry for us, this is normal in the casas and they usually do it willingly. However, I was embarrassed to witness Oscar filling the washing machine and starting to do my laundry. If I had known he was going to be doing it I would have quite happily done it myself in the sink and used their spinner.

Ralf had fun chatting to the people in the town at the local crafts market.

During the evenings conversation Oscar was concerned about the route we were planning on taking along the coast. Very bad road and no casas. He suggested taking the carrerrata but we didn’t want to take the central carrareta twice. However, he seemed adamant that the northern road was very very bad, we decided to head south to Ciego de Aquila and follow the central carrerata to Holguin. We will see which way we go after Holguin when we talk to more people in that area.

Monday November 17, 2014

A good breakfast to start our day. It was hot (26 degrees) when we left the casa at 8:30 and just kept getting hotter. I struggled today – although the road was flat, the heat and the humidity and the pollution from the vehicles, got to my chest. I am suffering a little from a cold, I hope I get a good nights sleep tonight and we have a shorter ride tomorrow.

Todays ride was quite pretty for the first part and then was very rural and flat, with banana plantations.

Australia isn\’t the only place with giant road side attractions. Giant crab.

We arrived in Mayajigua at around 12:30, good time for the distance we covered, it was over 30 degrees by that time. We showered and had lunch then went for a wander around the grounds of the hotel.

We met up with another touring cyclist who is from South Africa. Leanna has been on the road for over 7 years! She has pretty much covered every continent. Awesome. We discussed the hassles of visas and the silly restrictions. There should be a special visa for touring cyclists, all you need to do is prove you have sufficient funds to stay in their country and they should let you in. We had to laugh when she said that she had problems getting a visa for Canada. She had to do it online, she sent of all the information, she received two emails saying that they had received it and was processing it and then didn’t hear any more. When she called them she was told to go online, when she went on line she was told to call them!! Oh Canada.

As we were sitting there chatting about her experiences, a group of Canadian cyclists arrived. Sixteen cyclists on a guided tour. We thought we might get to chat to them later.

The Canadian cyclists generally kept to their own group and didn’t chat to us. However, Leanna joined us for a pre-dinner drink and we had dinner together. She was really very interesting to talk to and we discussed if this trip had changed her at all. She didn’t think it had very much, although she said she had gained more patience. At the moment we live very much for the moment – How many kilometres are we going to cycle, is it hot, windy, hilly, etc. Where are we going to sleep? Eat? Etc. How water, good food and a hot shower become very important. We discussed how quickly we would revert to our former selves when we all return to our respective homes. She figured that “peer pressure” is always constant, you are encouraged to fit in, if you do not you are regarded with suspicion.

It was a lovely evening talking to a fellow long distance cyclist who was an inspiration to us. Could we stay out that long, or do we need time to ourselves? Ralf and I agreed that we don’t think we could be out for that long. We both need our own space and although we are often in our own head space on our bikes, we are still spending a lot of time together.

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.

Saturday November 15, 2014

We had decided to make Santa Clara a two night stop, even though we have only cycled for a couple of days. Santa Clara is the capital of the Province Villa Clara and has many heritage sites.

It’s main square Vidal Park is surrounded by several architectural diverse buildings. From the hideous hotel to the beautifully restored library.

The Provincial Library was the former government palace.

After a fabulous breakfast, we headed out for a walk around the City. We needed to go to the bank as after Remedios (our next overnight) we are back to more rural towns and we are not sure about accessing banks. I also needed to check the email again regarding our storage unit and I updated the blog. Once again Ralf waited in line to get the money and I went to the hotel to check the email etc. After about 20 minutes Ralf was back, the bank couldn’t access the account, so he had to wait in line at another exchange office – Western Union! It didn’t take him very long and I was just about done on the blog.

Saturday mornings seems to be the day when people stroll around the park. The little kids are taken for rides on goat carts.

We then wandered around the main square and then went down the side streets for about two blocks and made a big square around the main square. The difference is quite amazing. The main square is clean and well maintained, the streets two blocks over are tired and some are falling to ruin.

We have noticed Cubans wander around with cakes, very fancily decorated in pinks and greens. I wander if they get them home before the icing melts into one big gooey mess. We noticed a cake shop selling slices of these fancy cakes and we couldn’t resist but have a slice. Four pesos (about 5cents) for two slices. I had the fancy gooey mess cake and Ralf had a sponge cake that was dripping with honey. It needed a cup of coffee to go with it, but there wasn’t a coffee shop nearby.

I think Santa Clara is the shoe capital of Cuba, there was one street which had numerous little stores selling shoes. Another street was selling primarily jewelry and another street had the bigger commercial items, like washing machines, stereos etc.

We had a sandwich for lunch in a cafeteria and then headed back to the casa, to drop of our bottles of water. We have been told to buy bottled water on this trip, as the cities and town water is not very good. Varadero is the only place where the water is good to drink from the tap. We still bought bottled water, in Varadero, just to be on the safe-side.

We headed towards the Nuestra de Carmen church built in 1754. There was a service being held so we couldn’t go inside. During the independence wars it was used as a prison for women. A monument has been built to commemorate the Santa Clara patriots.

We wandered down to the train station where a train was in the platform.

I asked at the information, if we could take bikes on the train. He said we could if there was room. We wandered down to have a look at the train. Eurostar eat your heart out – the height of Cuban luxury.

I was feeling a little tired and grubby, so I came back to the Casa, while Ralf carried on his exploration of the city.

We are eating in the casa tonight, if this mornings breakfast is anything to go by we will not go to sleep hungry.

I was right way too much food.

Friday November 14, 2014

A lovely breakfast to start our day, served on the best china. We were on the road at 8:30 after saying goodbye to the Doctor and his wife. I feel as if I have a cold coming on, or it could just be a reaction to the diesel fumes I am breathing in everyday.

Often as we are cycling we are in our own thoughts. I was thinking that rural Cuba is much like rural Indiana – instead of miles and miles of corn fields it is miles and miles of sugar cane. Corn fields and sugar cane can get a bit boring after a while.

Ralf was thinking about the public transportation system. At every village there is a bus stop/transit hub, where there are a group of people waiting for the various buses that pass by. These buses range from dilapidated local buses, old buses that used to be used for tourists and are now used for the locals and the open back truck, and lets not forget the horse drawn carriages. Ralf’s comment as we passed one of these “transit hubs” “I wonder how long it will be before these folks can dial into their cell phones and find out when the next bus is going to arrive”. I almost fell of my bike laughing, after all we only got that system in Barrie 18 months ago.

We arrived in Santa Clara at about noon time. We cycled into the historic square and found the hotel, which again was only 28 CUC per night. It is a hideous green building of about 10 storeys.

As we were discussing whether to stay at the hotel a fella came up to us and said he knew of a casa just outside the downtown core, he could take us. We decided to check it out and if we didn’t like it we could come back to the hotel. The first casa was full, so we went around the corner to another one. We would have to carry our bikes up a flight of stairs. Ralf checked out the room and said it was clean, he was willing to carry the bikes up, after all he carried them up 4 flights of stairs in the hostel in Scotland.

After settling in, we went for a walk around Santa Clara. I needed to confirm that we are allowed to stay three months without renewing the visa at a police station. Yes we are – Canadians are automatically allowed to stay three months. Europeans are allowed 30 days with one extension of 30 days, that is what it says on the back of our entry visa, because we arrived from Spain. Not to worry we are allowed 3 months, lots of time to enjoy the cycling.

I chatted to a young man outside of the Immigration Police office, he was applying for a passport so that he could join his mother and sister in Florida. It was going to cost CUC 1,000.00 including his visa to leave.

I also had the time to do some administrative stuff on the computer. I was trying to access the American Adventure Cyclists Association so that I could get the maps for the southern tier. I could view the first page, but then couldn’t click on any other page. I will try again today. It could be a blocked site.

After sorting all the boring stuff out we sat at a bar and watched people. We joined a young guy at his table, who spoke good English. He had taught himself English by watching American movie channels on TV – they are not dubbed here, they have Spanish subtitles. He also bought a language course and over a 4 month period he learnt English.

He said he enjoyed life in Cuba, especially now as they have more freedom of movement within the country. He said he would like to do something like we are doing, but maybe not cycling. He wants to go in to the Sierra Maestramountains and spend a couple of weeks walking and sleeping under the stars. As we left him Ralf reminded him to do it now, as you never know what is around the corner.

We went to a very nice restaurant for dinner and blew the budget! Ralf had lobster and I had chicken, it included appetizer, soup, main and dessert – the cost was CUC22 for the meal. The drinks added another CUC 14.00 – we did have a cocktail and 2 glasses of wine each.

When we got back to the casa we went up on the roof. It was dark and we couldn’t see, there are no railings, so we came back to the patio area and sat and chatted about our trip, the highs and the lows. The highs being New Zealand and Australia, tough act to follow. The low was having to cut short Europe. We are both still enjoying the cycling, but the logistics of the trip can sometimes be a downer.