The Beginning - Havana

We arrived in Havana, tired and exhausted after a long flight.We had some accomodation booked with a professor at the local university, which i had organised by email. But we had to get their first, and as there were 5 of us we had to split in to 2 taxi's. Me and Blake got in one cab, gave the driver a slip of paper with the address and he knew where he was going. He then picked up a crazy Canadian guy who was going to visit his Cuban girlfriend - this meant a journey through the slums of outer Havana, and our first real taste of cuba. We travelled in silence for most of the journey; despite how obviously poor these people were, they were also full of life, colourful and happy, and took an interest in us rich westerners as we passed them in the cab.

We eventually found the appartment we were staying at, in the new town, and to our relief Dan, Caroline and Lucy were there already. The appartment was very nice - Raul was obvously not one of the poorer Cuban citizens, he had a decent stereo, TV and a generally well furnished place. We found out why - by charging $30 a night for 2 rooms he was making a healthy living. We weren't ripped off - this was about the going rate in Havana, but because he had access to the internet he was always fully booked. The average monthly salary in Cuba was $20 at the time, and despite the massive taxes collected by the government from people who let rooms out to tourists, he was doing well. He was also a lovely bloke, him and his wife Magaly looked after us well, and i would recommend contacting him if you want accomodation for the first couple of days: his name is Raul, check his website in my links page. There are great views from his balcony, he provides a brochure for you and there's even a framed photo on his wall of Magaly with Castro himself.

It was here that we witnessed the return of Elian from the States, and from the look on Magaly's face we could tell how important this was for the people of Cuba. I wished we had known about the return and managed to stay at the airport to see it for ourselves if possible.

Not far from this casa particular was the Plaza de la Revolucion. This is where Castro makes his legendary speeches, often dragging on for around 8 hours. At one end is the famous Che Guevara face on the side of a building complete with the revolutionary phrase "Hasta la Victoria Siempre" (Ever onward to victory), and at the other end is a huge obelisk, a statue of José Martí and the platform from where the speeches are made. I took this opportunity to get in a posed photograph wearing my Southend Utd shirt, which I later sent in to the club and managed to get in the matchday magazine; one of my proudest moments.

Havana is like two cities in one - most of it is old, decaying and in need of urgent repairs; a reminder of the old socialist ways, but there is also a new area complete with luxury hotels - perhaps the way of the future. We used these hotels in order to go to the toilet, simply because they were so much nicer than any others - you are guarenteed toilet paper. But these hotels will not let in any Cubans unless they are with a tourist carrying the magic dollars, which has led to comparisons with apharteid. It's the same with the police around Havana - they will always stop and question a Cuban who is with a tourist because they believe the tourists are being hassled. These magic dollars bought in from tourists and Miami-based relatives have transformed the society from the egalitarian one idolised by Castro to a two-tier sociey - those with dollars and those without.

In our search to sample the nightlife of Cuba we went to a local bar and met two guys who would ultimately influence our views on Cuban people, but more of that later... Their names (i think) were Ernest and Elgenio, and we drank rum and beer with them before arranging to meet up with them the next day to walk in to Old Havana. Quite a walk this was, taking us over an hour in the searing heat, and on the way we saw the strange sight of a man taking a pig for a walk, but the little piglet was so tired it just wanted to sleep on the pavement.

Old Havana

One of our trusty handbooks had been the Lonely Planet guide, and it became all the more significant after seeing a little cuban chap walking around with a copy in his hand. We recognised him at once - he was in one of the photos in the book, showing off his Che tattoo on his chest - we then took the opportunity to take a photo of him, tattoo out, holding the book in his hand, open at the page where he pulls the same pose. Quite surreal.

Highlights of Old Havana include the Capitolia building, similar to the Senate House in the US; the sheer amount of 1950's american cars, (we took an 'illegal' taxi in a HUGE 1958 Plymouth); the Museo de Automovil is also worth a visit to see some more classic vintage vehilces. Obispo street is very popular, particularly with its hustlers and runs from El Floridita in the touristy zone (where Hemingway used to hang out) to the Plaza de Armas. The rest of the streets are non-touristy, complete with narrow cobbled streets, kids playing, stray dogs, laundry hanging from the balconies and music blaring out. We saw one tiny little kid doing random somersaults in the street, all the kids seemed to be doing some sport or another. Baseball is a favourite, even though they use their hand instead of a bat - Cuba has a very good baseball team with many players emigrating to the US to persue a professional career in the sport. Maybe this is where some of the kids of today will end up in the future, or maybe they'll stay amateur in the wishes of Fidel, following in the footsteps of the triple Olympic winning boxer Felix Savon, who has refused offers of millions of dollars to fight the likes of Mike Tyson. Turning pro is obvously not allowed - any Cuban wishing to do so must cut off all links with the island - ie baseballers who leave for America will not be allowed to play for the Cuban national team again. Obispo is also the main area to go at night, there's plenty of cafe's and restaurants - and we went to one kind of nightclub. This place was a restaurant by day, and by night they moved the tables and played some music. It was a strange feeling as we were talked into entering for $1, then without realising some locals had been moved out of the way so we could sit down, and we had a waitress come over and take our orders for beer. Basically, our dollars meant we were treated like royalty - we were the only tourists in the small room and seemed to get the most attention. It was only after we had sat down that we realised that the people sitting there had been moved especially for us - we didn't want this treatment but it took us by surprise so we stayed and drank there for a while. The beers were a dollar each, Blake, Lucy and I stayed for a while and we even had a dance to the music, which ranged from traditional salsa to Mambo #5. Lucy had a go at salsa with one of the doormen, who like all Cuban men had fantastic rythm, and Lucy herself was pretty good.

Other higlights of the city are the fantastic markets with their hustlers; the main catedral de la Habana; the museums - particularly the Museo de la Revolucion in the old presidential palace which had blatant anti-US propoganda (claims of the US sending over exploding cigars sticks in my mind); great restaurants with performers (make sure you check the bill!); the huge, packed buses which seem to crush their many passengers; the kids playing a variation of baseball with no bat in the streets; the prostitutes; the cathedrals and churches; the hustlers... It is also worth visiting a cigar factory, we took a tour for $10 in the Partagas factory opposite the Capitolia. It was incredible to watch rows and rows of men and women making all sorts of cigars, each one taking just two minutes from start to finish, listening to a man at the front who would read newspapers and novels. The workers got to take home a certain percentage of their cigars, often they'd save these up in order to sell. One woman worker was 70 years old, smoked 4 HUGE cigars a day, and was effectively a gimmick for the factory, and she can be seen on many postcards, as well as on this page. Cigars are a must to buy, but beware of, you guessed it... hustlers. I bought 10 Romeo y Juliet tubo cigars from an official shop for $17, but also managed to get 25 famous Montecristo no. 4 (the ones Fidel used to smoke) on the black market for $25. We arranged this through the lady we were staying with at the time, but heard stories of people buying banana skin cigars, so you have to be careful.

An excellent way to travel around Havana is on a "pedicab", for a dollar or two you can travel up the main streets, passing the new hotels, whilst the Capitolia dome is always in sight. They're all over the place, and it's a relaxing way to see the sights in Havana. Or alternatively just get in a lada cab - we made the most of them, they're everywhere.

Whilst in Old Havana we stayed in an appartment on the coast owned by two sisters, who judging by their old photos, had enjoyed a Hollywood life-style pre-revolution. Nowadays they make their living by renting out their rooms to tourists and selling cigars (this is how we got ours). The appartment block even had a security guard (who was keen to practice his english on us) and someone operating the shaky lift at all times. From their balcony you can see into Old Havana, and also to the smog filled port. The view from the back bedrooms is a complete contrast - from such a height (7 floors) you can see the state of disrepair many of the buildings are in - we sat and just stared for quite a while as the sun came down on such an amazing sight. These were the homes that were too small to be rented out, and seemed dangerous to live in. There's nothing the people can do - they obviously don't own their homes, it is provided for them as well as their 400 peso ($20 monthly wage). In fact if they want to move out they have to try and swap it with other families, which is probably not very easy.

Being careful is a warning we should have listened to more - we had read about people (particularly young men) who will offer to show you around, then demand a 'fee'. This was the case with our friends Ernesto and Elgenio - we met up with them a few times, during the day they did show us around and managed to get us some cheap pizzas using their peso's, and we also went out drinking with then at night. They were good blokes, seemed genuine and we did have a good time with them, but on leaving them i was asked to give them $15 for reasons they suddenly struggled to explain in english. We wouldn't give it, because we had bought them enough drinks and food over the past few days, and they had insisted to us after being quizzed by the police that they were not after our money. We felt stupid, and i also felt some guilt, but lucy met up with them in her last week and despite some awkwardness she said they were OK. But beware... don't trust everyone you meet.

Old Havana is incredible - the people, the buildings, the restaurants, the cars, the 'different' nightlife, the looks off the locals, the markets, and finally, the hustlers; every few minutes you will hear: "You, my friend, where you from? Taxi? Cigar? Private restaurant? Chica?..."

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