Holguin, Cuba

Holguin, Cuba

So we left Havana to go east to Holguin. The hometown of Katja, Mikaels wife, to spend a few days there before I went back to Havana. Me and Mike took a night bus from Havana, a 12 hour ride with an air condition which held a solid temperature of 15 degrees celcius, damn it was cold. But we had a little something-something with us which held us warm the entire trip :-)

First night we got together with a part of Katjas family and a few friends of thiers and we went out for dinner and cabaret. Really good food, nice company and a spectacular cabaret, preformed in front of an audience of 20 people. It was a great evening to welcome me to Holguin. We got our own private chaffour, Katjas relative Omar, who was with us almost everywhere. We had dinner with him and his wife Merci one night, and after that we went out bowling, yeah, that you could actually do in this little town, I was suppriced.

Holguin is very different from Havana. The town, is much smaller, porer, more wrecked and there is not so much to do here if you´re looking for an active vacation. You could make a trip to the beach nearby, Guardalavaca, and check into a hotel there. The place is supposed to be beautiful but very touristy and expensive so we skipped that. When I travel I don´t want it the tourist way so Holguin was just fine for me a couple of days. The second day we chilled by the pool of Hotel Pernik, 8 CUC (65 sek) for 2 persons and that included food and two drinks each, nice!

By now my stomach started to feel funny and it lead to me, lying in the bed for two and a half days, not moving and only had one juice to drink. Not so interesting but all I can say about that is be careful with what you eat in Cuba.

One cool thing to see in Holguin is de la cruz. It´s a big cross on top of a mountain, where people come to pray. There are two ways to get there. Either by car or the 1000 step stairway which streches up on the mouintain. I wanted to try the stairs but beacause of my condition we took the car, i know, a bit weak, but next time I´ll do the walk.

One day Mike decided to buy a dog, so he could have someone to guard his house when it´s finished. It´s a concrete house, outside of Holguin. I wonder when that will finish? The dog got the name Rocco, and he looks like, well, take a look at the pictures and decide for yourselves.

So to sum up Holguin. It´s a lot smaller than Havana, but everything is cheaper and the people more relaxed. Not as much to do here compared to Havana but it´s smaller so thats the main reason. Close to Playa Guardalavaca, which is a big tourist area. Nice and cheap casas, I stayed at 2 different ones and they were both ok. Be careful with what you eat. A big cool stairway almost to heaven.

So if you want to see a normal little town in Cuba, and everyday life there and you´re not so sensitive about low standard living areas, Holguin is the place. If you go to Cuba and have some extra time or going to the playa, stop by in Holguin for a night or two and check in at Casa Mary or Casa Rosa. It´s nice to have experianced it.

Now back to Havana for one night and then to my next destination, Cancun, Mexico for only one night before I go back to LA and Lake Elsinore and Freefly camp skydiving for two weeks. Thats gonna be awsome!

So until next time my friends, Hasta Luego.... True Love / David

La Habana, Cuba

Check in - Check out - Check in - Check out - Check in - Check out, aaaaaaghhhhh!

It´s with an enormous Jet-Lag after 3 different flights and 22 hours of travelling from Puerto Rico I walk through customs in Havana, Cuba. Who would of thought that it would take so long when the islands are practically next to each other. If it wasn´t so damn expensive to fly a direct flight, I would. Please Cuba and USA, try to get a long sometime so we can open up the possibilities between the countries, like come on, it was 50 years ago, let it go!

But I try not to think about that now, because I´m in Cuba! I walk through ceveral security controls and 20 questions later I´m out. Grabs the first cab and head for mi casa, where my good friend Mikael is waiting. The first thing I do when I get to the house is taking zip of real Cuban rum. I take a deep breath and yeah, the trip was totally worth it!

We remained in Havanna for three nights at Casa Yolanda y Roberto. A great place with very nice staff and good service and clean, nice rooms, close to the city and a little dog, Dodo, who chewed on everything. I did´t try any other casas and I won´t have to, this place is the best and I recommend it to everyone going to Havanna.

The days in Havanna consisted of hanging by a pool, walking the streets, eating Cuban food, drinking Cuban rum, exploring the nightlife, a concert with Los Van Van at casa de Musica, and lots of other special experiences that I will never forget. Besides Mikael, another friend of mine, Umberto, was also in Havanna at the moment with his Cuban girlfriend Mayelin and their baby, Laura. Umberto is also a skydiver sicnce like forever, he´s acually the guy I did my first tandem jump with and now, 4 years later, I´m here in Havanna, drinking Havanna Club with the man, you never know how things end up in life....

The thing that got to me the most was the way the country looked, acted and how everything works. It´s so different from rest of the world. You wont find another country like Cuba, I promise. The revolution and Castro has really left it´s mark, everywhere! And the gouverment wants to control everything, and they do, thoroughly. Here´s some examples.

• If you own a house in Cuba and move to another counrty, the house goes to the gouverment, and you don´t get one peso, it´s their property then
• The cars in Cuba are very popular, if you have a car, you can´t sell it, but you can let it run in the family. If you would be able to buy a car, a model, for example a little Fiat from 1970-80 will cost you about minimum 4000 CUC (4500 USD)
• Prostitution & drugs are highly illegal and are very strictly controlled. It occurs but you don´t see it much
• Cuba is one of the worlds most poorest countries, and you notice this right away. The buildings hasn´t been refurbished since the revolution, the streets are bad and broken. A normal monthly work fee is 20 CUC, a beer costs 1 CUC, you do the math.

Visit the follow adress to read more about Cuba: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuba

But despite all the hard life in Cuba you can´t help to be inpressed and moved by the peoples daily good attidud and their joy for life. It´s like they somehow accepted they way they have to life and just do it and makes the best of the situation, I think thats why I liked it so much.

So now, enjoy the pictures. I only have a few ones right now, more will apper later at the website.

Next stop, Holguin... Adios...