Sunday April 25th.
We woke up to a glistening and white city. It seemed to have snowed all night, but the sky was blue and no sign of more snow.
We skittered to the airport where everything went amazingly smoothly and we were in the air by 8:55 AM. A little bit late as they had to de-ice the plane. Twice. It was -11 outside.
The flight wasn't full and we had an extra empty seat beside us, so lots of room to stretch out and make ourselves comfy. I watched "It's Complicated" and probably embarrassed myself by snorting with laughter. You know, you put those earbuds in and you can't hear yourself and you don't realize how loud you are.
We arrived in Varadero on time, I think it was about 4 PM. Passport Control and Customs was quick & efficient and our suitcase turned up right away. We only had one suitcase to share, and each of us had a small carry-on. It's so much easier to be travelling light when you have to lug your own stuff around.We were hustled out of the building in a hurry, no time to change any money into pesos and we quickly found our shuttle to the hotel.
Once again, we were the only ones on the shuttle. This was due to my insistence on going into Havana first, and spending 5 days there.
As we were sitting and waiting in the shuttle, Steven spotted the first of many of the old 50's cars that are so indicative of Cuba and off he went to investigate.
I sat and waited in the heat...oh my God, the heat. It must have been 95 or more, and of course we were wearing long pants and a semi-warm shirt since it had been cold when we left. I was quietly contemplating ripping my clothes off and running half naked down the runway, and as the sweat was dripping off my forehead and also running down my back, Steven arrived with 2 ice-cold Cristal beer.
Considering that he had NO money when he left the shuttle, and he speaks not a word of Spanish, well....I don't even want to know. I do know that the beer was cold and delicious and I don't even like beer!
We enjoyed the ride to Havana, it was just over 2 hours, but it was fun to just relax and see the sights of the countryside.
It reminded me a lot, an awful lot, of Africa. The scenery as well as the animals on the sides of the roads, herds of goats, odd looking cattle and skinny horses. The homes looks deserted and extremely run down. People are hitch-hiking everywhere, and (unlike Africa) many of them would wave some money in hopes of getting a ride.
Now, a little history lesson, which I hope you find interesting.
The highways in Cuba are almost all double lane, and in pretty good shape. The reason for this is, the USSR had said that they would build the highways if the Cuban government would then purchase Russian vehicles. A win-win situation. But then the Soviet Union fell apart, and there simply were no cars. As well, Cuba lost, virtually overnight, 6 BILLION dollars of foreign aid. So not only were there no Russian cars, there were no cars, and no fuel. This was only as recently as 1991. As well, Cuba lost 80% of other crucial imports, such as food and medicine. But I'll get into that later.
Thus, people hitchhike everywhere and it's safe and reliable. As a matter of fact, listen to this little bit of info. At every overpass (about every 2 miles) you will see men in yellow uniforms standing with clipboards. (the fact that they are at underpasses in simply because of the shade). (see the picture at the top)
People who are hitchhiking also gather there and they tell these men (who are Government workers, in a job created by Fidel Castro) where they are going.
These men then stop every Cuban vehicle that has 2 or less passengers, and asks them where they are going. Any one of the hitch-hikers who is going to the same place, gets a ride. No ifs, ands or buts. It's very much appreciated by the hitchhikers, who often have no other way to get to work.
I found that to be fascinating. Obviously Government vehicles are exempt, as are tourists and tourist buses, and cars that are full.
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