During my 3 weeks in Cuba I traveled around a lot. After a few days adjusting to life Havana I took an overnight bus to Santiago de Cuba and from there took a 6 hour bus to Baracoa. Baracoa is a sleepy village on the far east of the island. After a few nights here I went back to Santiago de Cuba for one night and then another night bus to Trinidad. After a few nights in Trinidad I took a bus to Santa Clara specifically to visit the Che Guevara Museum and Mausoilim but disappointingly it was closed for renovations. After one night in Santa Clara I took a 5 hour taxi to Havana, I'll explain how this came about later. Luckily I made it in time to catch the bus to Vinales. My intention was to go to Maria le gorda but once I arrived in Vinales I decided to spend the remainder of my time and my last night in Havana.
There are buses and bus stations specifically for tourists in Cuba. The standard of the tourist buses is significantly better than the buses locals use but the price is significantly higher also. For me the buses were extremely uncomfortable, especially the night buses. The buses are relatively new buses from China. Leg room is very limited and even more so when the seats are reclined. When I tried to buy a bus ticket in Baracoa I was told all tickets were sold. I tried get a ticket for the next day and she said the same. After a few minutes of Spanglish she told me to call back at 8am the next day. I did this and she put my name on a list and told me to come back one hour before the bus was due to leave. I called back, got our tickets and got on a bus that was half full. I never quite figured out why this was but I encountered it throughout the trip. It appeared that they could only sell a limited number of tickets in advance. I've no idea what the reasoning is for this but then it is Cuba so who knows. So when I was in Santa Clara I took a horse and cart taxi from the bus station to my casa particular.
I spoke some Spanish with the driver and he said his friend was driving 2 Italian tourists to Havana the following day. He said they would take me for the same price as the bus. I decided to go with it and it worked out quite well. We left at 9am in an old american car and arrived in Havana in time for me to take a bus to Vinales. The Italians were paying considerably more for the taxi then I was so I was curious as to why they didn't just take the bus. The said they tried to buy a bus ticket but they were told it was sold out.
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| Vinales |
There are buses and bus stations specifically for tourists in Cuba. The standard of the tourist buses is significantly better than the buses locals use but the price is significantly higher also. For me the buses were extremely uncomfortable, especially the night buses. The buses are relatively new buses from China. Leg room is very limited and even more so when the seats are reclined. When I tried to buy a bus ticket in Baracoa I was told all tickets were sold. I tried get a ticket for the next day and she said the same. After a few minutes of Spanglish she told me to call back at 8am the next day. I did this and she put my name on a list and told me to come back one hour before the bus was due to leave. I called back, got our tickets and got on a bus that was half full. I never quite figured out why this was but I encountered it throughout the trip. It appeared that they could only sell a limited number of tickets in advance. I've no idea what the reasoning is for this but then it is Cuba so who knows. So when I was in Santa Clara I took a horse and cart taxi from the bus station to my casa particular.
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| Taxi in Santa Clara |
I spoke some Spanish with the driver and he said his friend was driving 2 Italian tourists to Havana the following day. He said they would take me for the same price as the bus. I decided to go with it and it worked out quite well. We left at 9am in an old american car and arrived in Havana in time for me to take a bus to Vinales. The Italians were paying considerably more for the taxi then I was so I was curious as to why they didn't just take the bus. The said they tried to buy a bus ticket but they were told it was sold out.
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| View from inside the taxi |
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