La Habana
HavanaHaven’t posted for awhile as I was waiting until I could write a positive post about Havana but that isn’t going to happen so here’s my take on it. Keep in mind that I am NOT a big city type of person & that I am a traveller NOT a tourist. Will srart with the worst & try to end on a bit of a positive note but at this point in time I am seriously considering calling my real estate agent in Antigua Guatemala to see if there is an appartement available for Feb 1.
To start with I have not had a conservation a single person on the street that didn’t end up with a request for money nor sat on a park bench for more than 2 minutes without being asked if I wanted “company”. This gets monotonous after a while & is not condusive to a nice holiday or relaxing long term stay. Actually on my first tripin 2005 the same thing happened in Santiago de Cuba & again in Gibara in 2006. To be fair to the Cuban people I noticed that in Holguin City in 2006 there was no problem so I lay the blame entirely on tourists being way too free with their money (Holguin is not a major tourist centre like the nearby resorts) & ruining the main tourist areas.
Also every thing runs when, if & how the people doing the job feel like doing it like with the Havanatour buses routes which only follow the listed routing & times if the driver & guide want to, other wise it runs where & when they want. A perfect example of this is at 2:00pm I asked my casa owner to call me a taxi to go to my Spanish lesson (about 5 minutes away) for 3:00 pm so he immediately calls the taxi & when I complained it was too early he said “it’s Cuba” which is fine as long as you aren’t the one wasting 40 minutes because you are early.
Prices are way too high, in old Havana the tourists might just as well have “sucker” branded on on their foreheads (similar to cruise ship tourists in Antigua). The best you can do there is $25.00 cuc/night for a room + maybe another couple CUC a day for street food & that’s not going into any attractions which most cost 1-5 CUC, while any where in Central America you can do better for 1/2. Example it’s costing me $50.00 CUC for 2 hrs daily Spanish lessons including my casa & food, where as in Antigua it was $25.00 US (room & board included) for 4 hrs & you could talk to people without getting hit up for money.
Now on the plus side the dentist was very professional & had my best interests in mind when he recommended I return to Canada
(due to complications as a direct cause of our system) for the work. I believe every one knows my feelings & experiences on the subject of Canadian health uncare so we won’t go there, subject closed!
Also I found Jorge to be excellent & his guide Dania to be great not only as a guide but a source on Cuban life, well worth the reasonable fee charged & unlike some Havana guides does not charge Casa Particular owners a commission on referals; jorgeguide2004@yahoo.es is the contact for any info & prices.
I guess the bottom line is if you have unlimited funds for a short stay as a traveller or you are an AI tourist Cuba is OK, other wise there are other places out there where you get a better bang for the buck. Sorry Cuba fans but that is my honest opinion.
The jury is still out on where I go the end of January.
Tags: Travel
busman7
Thanks for the update and especially thanks for the info on Havana. We expect to be there in a few weeks, and any insights at this moment are particularly helpful. Sorry to hear the dentist didn’t work out the way you had hoped. I still envy your all about your journey, and someday hope to see some of CA myself.
Happy Trails 🙂
hola Dave!!!
yeah….I know what you mean about Cuba time lol…..
So you’re thinking of heading back to Antigua?
I think you’re dead on about tourists creating a monster – throwing things from buses
etc……of course they’re going to go looking for more…especially moula…
any plans of seeing South America?
Great update….we were chomping at the bit! lol
Soth America is still 2 yrs away but hear good things about Uraguay.
Then Thailand keeps coming up in conservations with other travellers then Malaysia & the Philipines, so much to see!
Hi Dave, Nice to hear from you again , and to hear about Havana, its nice for you to have met jorge and no doubt have seen quite a lot around there.
I know that you are, like me, a country person and it must feel rather strange to be in such a large town, but you have had a great experience.
I guess you are doing well with your Spanish lessons, which is very good, I imaggine that you will be travelling to Antigua sooner than expected, I know that you like it there.
You are certainly seeing some very different places and are enjoying yourself, you have certainly covered some ground.
Nice to hear from you, Take Care Janet
Hola Janet you are right about being a country person I can’t even stand Toronto let alone a city where they speak a different language. It all depends on the Spanish lessons if I can speak a bit by the end of the month will stay in Cuba but out in the country until I have covered the island. Will only go to the cities for bus connections & really want to do the train trip from Santiago to Havana.
just to let everyone know….Busman will not be reporting for a while as the casa owner decided when there was only 1 hr left of internet use to tell him he’s almost out of internet lol…..and the hotel internet is too expensive….. He will eventually fill everyone in but he has shared with me that Central America gets his vote for the friendliest people….Cuba well…..so far last on list lol
No kidding! Too bad, sounds like Havana’s really turned him off Cuba…
I agree based on what we encountered and in comparison to the people we met from Argentina and Mexico, it really changed my feelings/thoughts on so many levels. I said before that those in my Spanish class who went to both Cuba and Central America overwhelmingly loved Central America and will not return to Cuba … all with the same opinion; expensive, less friendly (and bugged constantly).
Mind you, Havana is a beautiful place .. wish we could have experienced the night life live band and salsa dancing scene just once!!! LOL! Oh well, there’s always the Tango in Argentina! hahaha! (when I win the jackpot!)
Anyway, it’s great that you can experience it all and you just have to follow your heart! Good travels!!!
lol…guess after awhile you can actually have too many frens LOL
I am trying to search out why people are attracted to CA versus Florida or Arizona. I am 59 and retiring in a year. I have looked at Florida and the cost seem cheaper, it is closer to family, there is less language challenges, more people my age (duh), lots to do (sports and the Arts), medical care, etc, etc. You have done a lot of thinking and talking to others who are older. Do you have any concerns or are you quite happy with all that CA has to offer.
Sorry Ont traceller but your comment went to spam & I just found it then your address was lost when I despamed it bbut the answer is that I have no concerns about Guatemala & it is definitely cheaper with better weather & nicer people than Florida & lots to do if you want. JMHO