At eight o´clock this morning, I was at Onelio to meet Onelio jr. and his girlfriend and especially, his 1951 car, to go to Viñales.

We picked up Tatiana and Andreas, two Austrian friends, and set off to Viñales. It´s about 2.5 hours away from Havana, but it doesn´t take long to hit el campo (the fields). It gets very rainforesty green and it´s very beautiful. Accompanied by Cuban music, driving in a cool car, it´s even more fun. Along the roadside, campesinos were trying to sell cheese, or onions, or whatever they manage to grow. It must be a hard life.

First, we went to a small tabacco factory. The cigar maker was at the dentist with a toothache (I wouldn´t want to be in his shoes, free medical help or not) and an very photogenic old man showed us how to make a cigar. Needless to say you could buy them...

Then we went to the Cueva del Indio, a bit of a tourist trap, where you get into a boat which goes through the cave, which has stalagmites and stalagtites but it was not terribly impressive. In the middle of the trip there was an apagón, which means blackout and of which there are many in Cuba.

We had a walk around Viñales but there really wasn´t that much to see. At dinner Onelio jr. expressed his surprise at the independence of European women. When I told him I wouldn´t see Keiron for four months he said: ´Cuatro meses! En Cuba, no más que cuatro horas!´(Four months! In Cuba, never more than four hours!) I swear I saw his girlfriend thinking ´damn, I wish I was European...´ as he was a bit of a joker.

After the lunch (pollo frito, malangas and pepinos) we went to a viewpoint which is the real reason to come to Viñales: the mogotes (hills) are a very typical shape, like a bunch of pincushions, and it´s very green. There´s also a hotel nearby, and Onelio jr. explained that Cubans are not allowed to stay there, even if they could afford it. He also explained that Cubans are not really allowed to take tourists on tours, so if we were stopped by the police, it was best for us to keep quiet.

But he has to do it, as his official job (car mechanic) doesn´t pay enough to live on. Andreas rightly commented that that was not really socialism, then, but Onelio obviously didn´t want to express any overt criticism.

Everybody (the tourists, that is) keeps talking about what will happen when Fidel dies. While that´s really anybody´s guess, we all agree that Cuba will change, rapidly, and whatever you think of the regime, it´s best to visit now. But I hope that the Cubans will retain their openness, and their friendliness, as that is really the best thing about this place.