Cienfuegos, Cuba – 28-29 March 2019

We depart Playa Larga on German time at 10am on Thursday 28 March. Off to Cienfuegos we go.

As we drive out of town our driver asks if we can pick up a chica, sure thing. He then proceeds to tell us it’s his wife – we immediately know it’s not true. We then see a photo of his wife and child.

As we pass through the town of Australia we have to stop to take a photo.

At the highway turnoff to Cienfuegos we drive by a few people standing on the side of our road. There is one guy standing alone; we inform our driver we can stop to pick him up. Too funny. The guy is very thankful that we pull over. He tries to offer the driver some money but all 3 of us say no at the same time.

We drop the random guy off then literally two minutes later we arrive at our Casa for the night. It had been an easy drive here.

 For the first time since being in Cuba we are asked for our passports. Sure, no problem.

The lady gives us the option of two rooms; one with two single beds and the other with a mezzanine set up (with two beds). Two single thanks.

While she is dealing with my passport we drop our bags in the room and work out what’s happening today. I notice we were supposed to depart Playa Larga at 9am not 10am. Whoops, total miss on my end!! Ooh well it worked out aok.

She gives us the low down of the Casa from the roof terrace. Wow the views are amazing!

When we had arrived she advised we would get a welcome drink. Too early for us to drink. She laughs and says it’s non-alcoholic and that it’s needed in the heat.  We are given a local map and pointed out a few things to see / do.

As we walk out of the Casa the heat hits us, brilliant! It’s nice to be back in a big city again. We wander along the footpath area in the middle of the road.

As we turn down the pedestrian only street we jump straight into the shade and continue our wandering (in between going in and out of a few shops).

We decide on a lunch spot that has us sitting outside on a narrow terrace overlooking the pedestrian Street. Great for people watching! The food was tasty too.

 

We had brought and written post cards in Havana but hadn’t been successful in getting stamps. After getting the information from the info center I take us there.

Manda goes first with her 6 postcards. The lady shows us a calculator with 6.3 except we don’t see that we see 63 and have a small heart attack. I’m definitely not sending my postcards if they are that expensive (USD 63)!! We all have a good laugh when we realize our mistake.

 

Instead of walking down the same road we came on we decide to go one block further. Some amazing doors along the way! And general life.

We have 25 minutes in the room relaxing. It’s hard work being a tourist especially in the heat.

Our guide for the afternoon arrives before 3pm. Love the promptness.

We head back to the same place we were at earlier, this time going into and around San Jose square area. Each building has an amazing history and design.

As we continue to wander the streets our guide informs us all about the ration card. It definitely doesn’t cover everything the locals need for a month but they do that the option to purchase other things.

She informs us the monthly salary in Cuba can vary from CUC 10 per month to CUC 60 per month. The higher end is for the doctors (who can earn between CUC 40-60 per month). CUC 1 = USD 1 (NZD 1.45) so for the higher end that’s NZD 87 per month. This seems totally unbelievable but there are so many things that are either free or highly subsidized. A lot of locals also take on a second job (often as a taxi driver) and/or rent out a room to tourists to bring in more money.

It’s super-hot today so at the end of the walk we get a recommendation for somewhere to go for drink. One option is a place with live music, yes thanks.

Walking in we get the last empty table (that doesn’t have a reserved sign on it). Two local lemonades (think sprite but the Cuban kind), thanks very much.

Within a few minutes of arriving the music starts.

 

Manda had said she wanted to go on a tricycle since she saw them so after picking up water we head to the street we had seen them on earlier. We had asked our guide how much we should pay so was ready to negotiate with the driver but it totally wasn’t needed.

The Tricycle ride to Punta Gorda is great for people and building watching.

We were dropped off outside Hotel Jagua then wandered to the end of Punta Gorda where we sat in the garden overlooking the water having a cold drink.

We want to see the sunset and had decided to do that at Club Cienfuegos so we decide to take another tricycle (it’s less than a third of the distance we have just come from). They try to charge us CUC 10; absolutely NOT!! We manage to get down to CUC 3 which is what we had decided we were happy to pay.

It’s a glamorous building and grounds yet you have go and order / collect your own drinks. On the plus side it’s CUC 1 (USD 1; NZD 1.45) for a can of beer.

Wow the sunset is amazing!!!

Once the sky starts to turn grey we start to walk towards a couple of the restaurants the guide had recommended earlier. The breeze is lovely.

The menu at the first restaurant looks good and is super cheap, a shame there is a line. We head to the second one, which is less than 100 meters away. On entering it’s basically full. We ask to see the menu. Ummm no thank you, not when a few menu items are around CUC 13. Back out we go to the first restaurant. When a staff member finally comes she informs us the wait will be about one hour. No thanks. To the third restaurant we go.

This one has three stories with three different types of food. The terrace is more grilled food and has a band. Yes we’ll go there thanks.

The views down to the street are great! I could spend hours here just staring at the intersection.

We both elect to have a piece of steak for dinner. It comes with a small portion of rice and beans and a side salad (cabbage, tomatoes and cucumber). Yum. 

We are 19 blocks from our Casa so decide to walk back. There are so many people around - both walking and sitting with family / friends.

After a quick stop at the roof terrace of the Casa we retire to our room. This time last night we were in bed asleep.

Friday 29 March we were awake at 3am as it was so warm in the room. A/C switched on, time to go back to sleep. In the end I wake at 7.10am, a wee sleep in for me.

I decide to go for a walk before breakfast. Cienfuegos is definitely alive and kicking!

We enjoy breakfast on the terrace overlooking this amazing city. We have had less than 24 hours here but have seen and experienced so much.