Never Judge a Book by its Cover
On Sunday, 24 October, I was feeling sad while thinking of what to have for breakfast and lunch as this was my last day in Tryp Cayo Coco. I was thinking of having fresh banana and papaya smoothies for breakfast , and grilled fish for lunch. On the other hand I was also busy planning on how I can get directly to Varadero from Cayo Coco.
Although I was told by Yosan that the bus to Varadero from Ciego De Avila is scheduled to leave at around 4am, I was informed by the Tryp Hotel Hospitality desk of a bus to Varadero leaving at 4.40 pm. Yosan and I were trying to figure out whether the time mentioned was in the morning or in the afternoon. In that way I can still catch up the bus to Varadero that day. Sadly, when we arrived at the Viazul Bus Terminal, we were informed that the bus left in the morning. My only option was to take the 6.25pm bus for Havana, instead.
Then another problem came along. I did not have a phone card to make a call to inform Rene that I will be arriving in Havana that night. None of the stores in the area sold phone cards and the only phone that accepted CUP coins was out of service. Along the way, as I tried to come up with a solution, I met Rafael who speaks very good English. He kindly assisted me to make a call to Havana using his phone code. After speaking and informing Rene about my itinerary, Rafael suggested that I should take a private taxi to Havana for CUC25 and luckily the available one was about to leave in 15minutes. After checking in with Rene on Rafael’s suggestion, I concurred to the price that was offered and was asked to wait for the taxi at the Cafeteria across the Viazul Bus Terminal.
At exactly 15 minutes the taxi arrived and I was introduced to the driver. His name was ‘Elvis’ and my first impression was not good. In fact I was rather scared than worried. Elvis was wearing ¾ cargo pants, a printed multi coloured metallic t-shirt, and a thick silver/black bracelet on his right hand wrist. He was bald and simply reminds me of the typical street Cuban drug trafficker in the US. I was contemplating whether to suffer the 5 hour ride to Havana or take the cab with a total stranger. The hell about snap judgment and I decided to take the cab.
I got in a small Hyundai car and then realized that there were 5 of us in the car. One of Elvis’ friends, who was smartly dressed, to say the least, was seated in front. At the back seat were Elvis’ wife on my left, and a young girl on my right.
Conversation started the moment I got in the car. I found out that Elvis was visiting from Ecuador, where he lives and works as diving instructor in the Galapagos Islands. He speaks very good English and his dream is to visit Australia one day and swim with the sharks. Soon enough, I noticed that he is a speedy driver, like most Cubans. He was driving between 100 to120kph in a 60-90kph speed limit zone. I certainly felt every bone and cell through my spine in every humps and potholes he passed through. I definitely felt like being in a race car. In fairness to him, inasmuch as he was a speedy driver he was also very controlled and this was evident when he was driving in narrow roads and in the dark sections of the roads especially in some roads where horse carriages and/or Cubans walking .
The girl next to me was very quiet. She only spoke when I needed help for translation from English to Spanish and when I tried speaking with Elvis’s wife. I soon found out that she was originally from Mosito, South Africa, and been in Cuba for 4 years to study Anthropology. She was a little reserved but I could not resist asking how she coped with from being away from her home alone. She finally spoke and told me that it was difficult on her 1st year. What she loves the most, being in Cuba, is the opportunity to be living in a different country and to meet with other international students. After our brief chat, I felt a little comfortable and also learned that in Cuba, it is indeed common to share a ride with strangers and generally very safe.
I decided to be dropped off at Varadero as Elvis was going via the province of Matanzas, a town after Varadero. During our break stop, 2 hours later, I phoned Rene and told him about the change of plans. We arrived in Varadero at nearly 10pm. Elvis made sure that I got a good place to stay in at a good price for the evening since it was too late and may not have the chance to take advantage of the all-inclusive rate as the normal check out is at 12pm. After checking out 3 places, I ended my first stay in Varadero at Mar del Sur, a 2-star rating hotel for CU40 all-inclusive. The hotel room was small with two single beds. The room has a clean bathroom and had the best towels I had so far in Cuba. I managed to have a chocolate waffles, which I bought from the store earlier, for dinner since the restaurant had already closed that evening.
I have heard from my Canadian friends whom I met earlier in my trip that Varadero has the best beaches in Cuba. I was looking forward to seeing what Varadero’s beach is like. By 11am on Monday, 25 October I was able to organize with the local Cubantur office nearby Mar del Sur. I also decided to spend the rest of my stay in Varadero a 4-star Villa Cuba for CUC234 all-inclusive. A block away from Mar del Sur is a stop for the Varadero Beach Bus Tour. The package costs CUC5 for a whole day, hop on and hop off trip. I decided to go on the bus to take me to Villa Cuba and took the afternoon tour around.
Varadero is renowned as Cuban’s most touristic beach oasis. It has multitude of hotel options that perfectly fits and caters to all kinds of travelers, singles, couples, honeymooners and families. It is a place that I would go back to should I decide to visit Cuba again. It offers a number of activity selections outside the resort and its accessibility to/from Havana.
Finally I made it to the beach of Varadero which is by far better than Playa Santa Lucia and Cayo Coco. The beach has white sands, the water presents a wide range of colors from blue to green, and the water level from low to deep. I enjoyed the walk along the shore. There were so many activities available on the beach. Villa Cuba also offers salsa dancing, aquatic aerobics and volleyball lessons. Souvenirs stalls on Varadero beach are also prominent which is rather unique. I totally cherished the ambience and the whole experience of being in this place. To top it all off the place was not so crowded.
The room assigned to me at Villa Cuba Room has a balcony overlooking a hill by the road. The room was equipped with twin beds, TV, mini fridge, and a safe. The bathroom is large but it looked run down – the shower tap was loose and the bath tub edges were rusting. A towel deposit of CUC20 was charged which is refundable upon check out. The usual problem I have encountered when staying at a hotel is the size of the safe. They were relatively small that and my 13” Mac does not fit in it. I would generally find a spot that can be hardly noticed to hide my Mac. At Villa Cuba, I hid my Mac in the bottom of the movable drawers fitted in the wardrobe unit.
What a beautiful morning in Varadero whilst the storm had hit Midwest of US on Tuesday, 26 October. Reports about power outrage and travel disruptions were widespread, and tornado watch alerts were broadcasted in other parts of the US. It has been reported to be one of the worst storms in a decade. I was very fortunate to have spent my first three days of my stay of complete relaxation at the beach; and had to enjoy the time to read, eat, drink cocktails, sleep, walk, and enjoy salsa dancing lessons.
At night after dinner, I would generally watch the hotel’s nightly show. Tuesday night show was a game show for hotel guests to participate. They gathered four men and four women. They had to compete with each other and whoever wins will get a bottle of Havana Rum. The first game was to get a rope through/under their clothes connecting each other from one person to the last member of the team. The women team won the first game. Second game, was to sing a word of any song as the host hands the microphone. Third was to dance salsa in a comic way. Fourth was to get a shirt and shoes from the audience. The last one was for men to get a bra from the audience and the women to collect some men’s pants. This game scored each team 10points for each bra or men’s pants collected. The women team won the competition as they have collected at least over 10 men’s pants whilst the men team only collected 1 bra. At the end of the show, the host asked all men with only their briefs/under pants on and 1 woman less her bar to go up the stage. Everyone was asked and willingly performed a quick dance. It was just extremely funny to see a selection of men on the stage with no under pants on.
The following night, Wednesday, 27 October, the resort show was a magic show. I immensely enjoyed and was entertained to witness the many magical tricks performed. It was also fun to have some hotels guests to participate in the tricks.
Mabelin, one the hosts has told me the night before that a group of them and hotel guests would normally go out dancing every night. I geared up myself that night to join with the group. After the show, I met Brian and his friends Vinnie, Rob, Len & his Cuban girlfriend, Sobelie. All of them were staying at the hotel. They were all from Montreal (except Sobelie). Brian told me about the bar on the 9th floor and how the bar man makes the best Mojito in the resort. After having 2 mojitos, we then all met up at the lobby bar and proceeded to “La Rumba” club. That night was long and one of my fun nights in Cuba especially being in a company of great people. When we returned to the hotel, we culminated the night/morning with a hot dog by the pool at 4.30am.
Villa Cuba villa accommodation are close to the beach. Brian and his friends have been fortunate to have a villa right on the beach. The next day, Thursday, 28th October, I had the opportunity to check their villa. It has 2 individual rooms downstairs with individual bathroom and keycard to enter the room. The upper level has 2 rooms: one room is the suite with the balcony and a very large room with 2 double beds where Len & Sobelie occupied; the other room was Brian’s room with a king size bed. Brian’s room has a similar size to room downstairs but smaller than my room (considered as the hotel room type of the resort). A common large size living room and a dining area with a long family dining table, and separate large size kitchen with full kitchenette and full size fridge can also be found downstairs. The villa also has a driveway towards a carport. Great location and is literally a few-seconds walk to the beach. It was a perfect accommodation for a group of friends or family. If you fancy, a better villa, there are also villas with private pools.
And since this was my last full day/night in Varadero, I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach and waited for the sunset. I never had the opportunity to witness the sun set while I was at Playa Santa Lucia & Cayo Coco because of the weather condition. At dusk, the beach looks bare in comparison throughout the day. It must have been just my luck, I saw 2 fishermen walked passed by the sea shore carrying a bunch of fish that they caught that day. I ran fast towards them and stopped them so I could take some pictures – no way will I miss the photo opportunity!
My last night at Varadero was culminated by dining at Kiki’s Club, a highly recommended restaurant and was just a 5 minute taxi ride from Villa Cuba. At dinner, we were joined by Tiffany, Natalie & Diane from Zurich. Brian and his friends met them at the beach and arranged to have this group dinner. Kiki’s Club menu was basic where you can have a meal deal for under CUC6, which includes spaghetti, pizza or meat dish with salad/dessert and a drink. Fish is about CUC3 more and if you want the lobster, it’s CUC12 and drinks are extra. The cocktail drinks were under CUC2. Everyone ordered different dishes. I ordered a lobster for myself but I got to try the pizza which was really nice but hard to cut. The pasta that Rob ordered was very tasty. After a much enjoyed dinner, I had the opportunity to ride a convertible, unique and classic 1927 Ford taxi to Villa Cuba. We were lucky to got on to this taxis as taxi that night was rare. Every one of us went back to the 9th floor bar for a few drinks.
My beach holiday in Cuba finally ended on Friday, 29 October. I will certainly miss my usual favorite breakfast treat, banana and papaya smoothies but certainly not going to miss much of the buffet. However, today the resort had some sort of Chef’s cooking exhibition and I noticed that they had some food/cuisine sample of dishes displayed on the foyer. The lunch buffet was obviously and comparatively much better than any other days.
The Viazul bus fare from Varadero to Havana was scheduled to depart at 6pm and priced CU10. I sadly bid my farewell to Brian and Vinnie who took me to the Viazul Bus Terminal by scooters – an undeniably nice and fun ride. I certainly hope that I will get to visit Montreal and see them again, and so with the rest of my new Montreal friends.
I arrived at exactly 9pm at the Havana Viazul Bus Terminal after good 30minutes traffic delay due to an accident that occurred on the way.
After lunch on Saturday, 30 October, Rene drove me to Melia Cohiba so I can change some money enough for the rest of my stay whilst he goes to Viazul bus terminal to get my ticket for Vinales for tomorrow morning at 9am. The ticket was at CUC12.
Melia Cohiba is one of the modern and highly ranked hotels in Havana and located on Malecon. From Melia, I decided to take a quick walk through Malecon, which I never thought I could see myself doing during my first day in Havana as the streets were looking very rugged and not enticing. However, after spending almost 3 weeks now in Cuba, I got accustomed to the scene and lost all the inhibitions I had before. I felt very safe walking along the streets of Havana, much safer than walking on the streets of Rome where I once experienced being followed by an Italian charmer. The Cuban men are equally charmers and I was generally tagged as ‘China’ (Cubans call everyone from Asia ‘tsina’) but once you disengaged a conversation or do not share an eye contact, they will certainly leave you alone.
I walked back to the casa via Calle Paseo, where I enjoyed on the way to Calle 15 (where Aurora’s casa street is), to witness some beautiful and big old houses. It was a nice 30minutes stroll back to the casa . On my way I had the chance to stop at the Restaurant Union Francesa, the usual place where Sam & I had dinner, to have an early dinner.
What a day! My next and final destination is Vinales.
© 2012 by Michelle Riel, retains sole copyright to her contributions to all the contents of this site.
