Greetings from Sunny Trinidad. As I guessed, the internet access here was both expensive and hard to get into. I´ve pretty much ruled out sending photos to the blog, since all the computers seem to be locked down pretty tightly. I don´t think there are any particularly amusing pictures anyway. I spent two days in Havana, and am now in Trinidad. In summary - Havana sucks, Trinidad does not. Read on for more
Havana was an old city that reminded me a lot of bits of India, namely the crappy roads and old cars driving around. Half the time I tried to speak in Spanish, I´d end up talking a little in Gujarati - a problem which I know Briony faced when she went to India.
I basically didn´t like Havana much because it was too much of a tourist city - too many people trying to rip you off for some cash. I should have been more prepared for that, but hey, what can you do?
Trinidad on the other hand is much nicer, it´s a colonial town, and I´ve had a ball walking around for my first day here. I went and climbed a rather large hill, and had a security guard acting as a tourist guide babble at me for half an hour. I didn´t know what he was saying, but I nodded a lot and walked off happy. To my doubters - I arrived yesterday with nowhere to stay, and it only took 5 mins of me looking pathetic next to the bus before someone offered me a place to stay! It was a good bargain too - the food that is cooked is pretty good. I haven´t had to stretch too much with the eating thing, but I´ve been very lucky. I haven´t been very sick much either.
Tomorrow I should be heading out on a horesback ride to some waterfall somehere, and then I might jump on a bike for a ride down to the beach. The weather is absolutely fantastic here, and I enjoy being able to walk around in shorts and sandals again. It´s a great deal better than walking around in New York or Canada with far too many layers of clothing on.
My next two days will be spent in Trinidad, and then I shoot off to Santa Clara for a few days, while I get ready to go to the Parrandas festival that is on there. After Santa Clara, I have no idea what I´m going to do, but it probably involves going to the Vinales valley in Pinar Del Rio, and then checking into a resort on Cayo Levisa for a few days.