La Mayor de las Antillas…The beautiful Spanish name of the biggest island in the Greater Antilles. The home for 11 million people whose diversity reflects the difficult history of Cuba. 2019 has been the 60th year of revolution. 60 years when time has frozen but the country has been devastated. For travelers from ex-communist European countries the visit to Cuba provides with much reflections: what would have been the alternative if the 1980s Change had not been successful?

Many visitors to Cuba chose to spend the time in the isolated all-inclusive resorts in Varadero or other “cayos”. They can enjoy sunshine, beaches, turquoise sea and good service. No jineteros, poverty and daily challenges the Cubans must face. The Cubans are not allowed to enter the all-inclusive areas unless they work there. This is the Castro’s pride of having 2 Cubas: one for Cubans and one for visitors. Fortunately, spending vacation in the hermetic resorts is not the only option for visiting the island.

Cuba is reasonably safe country, especially if compared with other Latin countries. There is absolutely no restrictions to travel around and the self-organisation of a trip and accommodation is relatively easy. For sure the basics of Spanish helps but is not critical. Normally, the self-travelers follow frequent and popular itineraries. That means the choice and organisation of transportation is rather easy. The most fascinating way is to take so called taxi colectivo. The driver will take you directly from your place and bring you to your next destination. The taxi will be shared with other people (usually tourists) and normally a car accommodates from 4 to 7 passengers depending on vehicle. The luggage goes on the roof tidily fixed with the ropes.

The added value from taxi colectivo comes from the fact that almost always this will be the old (from 1950s) beautiful American car. Beautiful does not necessarily mean reliable and safe (frankly speaking the officials from the EU would get a heart attack seeing the safety standards) and it is quite frequent to see a car stopped at the road side with a guy lying beneath the car trying to fix it. Apart from that the trip with colectivo is a real pleasure and a must have experience. The usual price is between 15-35 CUC depending on the distance. 

Considering the whole tourist industry (hotels and infrastructure)  is more or less controlled by the regime the most attractive and fair accommodation is in casas particulares. Those homestays are pretty reliable and popular. The standard differs of course however, all casas must meet the minimum conditions (so there is no sense asking if there is hot water or electricity etc). Casas provides with opportunity to meet local people and see a bit of their daily life.  Those are private family houses so the money (net of taxes of course) goes directly to the owner. The casas are everywhere in the touristic places. They are clearly marked with a blue anchor-like shape with the name (be careful if you are a daltonist as a red anchor marks the places where you can rent a room for hours). The usual price for a room is around 25 CUC plus 5 CUC breakfast for 1 person.

Staying at casas particulares facilitates the arrangements of any local activities. The host will be happy to organise a collectivo to your next destination, rent a bike or arrange a walking tour. Logically, the guy will be happy to calculate a comission which will be included in the final price. However, despite the fact it is easy to arrange all of this on your own (directly in the street) the recommendation from the host reinforces a sense of reliability somehow. For instance the region of Vinales (2hrs drive West from Havana) is very attractive for different outdoor activities. One of popular options is 2-3 hours horse ridding. The supply of this service is quite extensive however, the quality may differ and the recommendations from the casa may be attractive. Otherwise most of the tour will be spent on”friends'” farms (shops) on the unique and unusual presentations of the local farming methods (read: the pre-sale marketing low quality show performed everywhere the same way) followed by the “only today” opportunity to buy a local staff like cigars, rum or honey (read: all products are heavily overpriced and not necessarily of the highest quality). Contrary, the reliable guide can offer you a higher dose of elasticity and thus allow to spend more time enjoying the magnificent views on magotes from the saddle. The usual price is between 25 CUC per person for 2-3h ride.

To be fair and despite being a bit sarcastic in the lines above I need to admit the beautiful Vale de Vinales is especially famous for its tobacco farming. For sure this is the best place to buy cigars at the attractive price/quality ratio and thus contribute to the local community. Especially that the tobacco farmers must tribute 90% of their estimated production to the state…

 When driving back to the airport in Santa Clara with an ex-lawyer who has been economically forced to become a driver we entered into discussion. “The actual situation in Cuba reminds me the deep communist time in Central and Eastern Europe. Fortunately, the region was able to get rid of it and to introduce the free market economy” – I said. The guy glimpsed at me with a faded ironic smile and said: “And so what, is it better now?”. What could I say sitting in the 40 years old Moskvich equipped with the steering wheel from Hyundai, Peugeot’s dashboard and Honda engine driven by the 50 years old lawyer whose official monthly salary would equal to 3 taxi fares?