Cuba has an extremely well developed tourism industry, catering to the every whim and desire of the foreigner with hard currency to spend. Nowhere is this more evident than in the state-run tourism bureaus. Aside from a vast array of organised tours for you to join at extremely reasonable prices, they are willing to arrange any sort of tour for you if you have the numbers (usually, minimum of six) and you have the money. Want to tour a school? A hospital? A rubbish tip? Feeling like cycling the length of Cuba? Walking? On your hands in a clown costume? They can organise it.
It's fun to be an independent traveller, but with my time limited I opted to join a tour group in order to quickly see Cuba's interior towns of Santa Clara, Santi Spiritus, Trinidad and Cienfuegos. As with my previous day trip to Vinales and Pinar del Rio, the best part of the trip was the extremely interesting fellow travellers I met on this trip. Basically, half were Spanish speakers and half were English speakers, and every single person was unfailingly interesting.
Maria, for example, from Mexico, couldn't have been a day under 65 but led the way in climbing up every single tower and building we encountered, ranging far afield while the rest of the group was hiding in the shade and cool of a local bar. She was accompanied by her daughter Rosa, and they were in Cuba for some medical tourism: Cuba has the best health industry in Latin America, at extremely reasonable prices. So they came for two weeks: one for Maria's check-up; the other for tourism.
Raquel and Luis were an affectionate couple who seemed so familiar with each other and so content I assumed they had been married, had been together a long time, and were of a similar age, with Luis being the older one. Of course, I was rather far off the mark: Raquel was thirty-six... and Luis twenty. They had been together three years, but weren't married yet. Needless to say, the revelation of the age difference caused a sensation among the group- not because of the difference, but because no one could believe Raquel was that old. I had them both in their mid to late twenties!
"Well," I quipped, "You know what they say: If you can't find a good man, raise one!"
Raquel laughed hysterically and Rosa ordered me to the back of the bus.
Another couple with a big age gap was Chris and Amanda, from Belfast. He was a very experienced traveller, a ruggedly handsome Indiana Jones type with great charisma and a full head of hair (By the way Chris, make the cheque out to "PJ Thum" and you can post it to me in Singapore... thanks). Amanda was ten years younger at 22 and what struck me most about her was the dreamy look in her eyes. I'm not sure if it was due to the haze caused by her endless chain smoking, but probably it was because she and Chris were very happy together.
Another Irishman was Frank, who looked like central casting for an Irish hooligan. In fact, I was highly amused when Chris and I found out we both had independently concluded that Frank looked like a very thin Vinnie Jones. Not only that, but he had a temper to match that, too. He was a very curious creature- 49, unemployed, but had travelled to 56 different countries and was very keenly aware of social inequities and kept up a constant commentary about what we saw in Cuba vs. other countries, particularly the UK and especially Manchester, where he lived.
Finally, Brenda was a larger than life Aussie who grew up in a small town on the West coast of Australia, had spent ten years in the mining industry, had worked for the past few years in London, and has at various times had her life threatened- including once by a local gangster in Australia, whom she had insulted while drunk and was waiting for her when she woke up the next morning, sitting calmly opposite her bed; and once when she was a hostage in a bank robbery, when she was used as a human shield. The robber holding her hostage was nervous and shouted to his partner what to do; his partner replied empatically several times, "Shoot the c--t." Brenda's continued existence is a marvel to her and she values every day of her life every much.
The tour itself paled beside this collection of characters. Che's mausoleum was very interesting, although instead of being a solemn tomb the interior decor in parts reminded be of a 1950s "Hawai'ian Tiki lounge" with lots of wood and tropical plants. Trinidad was a marvel due to its preservation as an 18th century Spanish colonial town, with barely a hair changed since its local sugar industry died around that time. While I was there I got to sit behind the wheel of a 1914 Ford Model-T that still runs and is in excellent condition. Santi Spiritus didn't have anything special; neither did Cienfuegos, although both had their own charm and appeal. Overall I probably had too little time in any of the places to experience them fully. As I've always observed, however, my true enjoyment of any place is determined not by the place but by the people there, and in this case I had those people travelling with me.
Posted by pj at September 8, 2004 10:44 PM