I had spent the last 18 days in the country, a lot more than most tourists would.
The original plan was to see both the Western and Eastern part of the country, but due to unforeseen circumstances and flight challenges, I had to reroute my plans and skip Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa. My final trip route :
- Havana (4 days)
- Vinales (1.5 days)
- Varadero (1.5 days)
- Playa Larga (0.5 days)
- Cienfuegos (1.5 days)
- Trinidad (3 days)
- Cayo Santa Maria (3 days)
- Santa Clara (2 days)
- Havana (1 day)
Arriving into Havana, it felt like time had rewound itself and I had been transported back into the 60s. At any one time, numerous vendors will come up to you offering tours and excursions in any classic car of your choice, and shop vendors hustling tourists for business.
There's lots that one can do within Havana, though I would strongly recommend any traveller coming to Cuba to spend more time outside of Havana.
Moving out of Havana, the scene changes – there's lesser occurrence of vintage cars on the road, with more chances of seeing locals on horses or horse carts, sometimes even crossing major highways to get to the other side of the road. People are also a lot nicer and friendlier and more genuine in the less touristy towns.
Ease of Travel
As an Asian travelling to Cuba, I often get curious questions from locals on the street asking if I am from China, Japan or Korea, which I suppose is the most common nationalities that they see around here.
Travelling as a single lady, I also get men coming up to me almost every hour with remarks such as "linda" , "bonita" , "sexy lady" , "beautiful" etc, which can be flattering, but at times derogatory depending on the tone and the intentions of the individual who gave them.
From time to time, I would even get guys asking if I wanted a "Chico" (a man). I didn't realize it at the beginning of the trip, but when Frank told me that many travellers come to Cuba for sex, I started seeing the signs of both foreign single men and single women with local dates.
Travelling in Cuba is better with friends, as meeting travellers in Cuba is less easy as compared to other countries with a good hostel network, since most Casa Particulares in Cuba often only have 1 or 2 rooms available for renting out to travellers.
It is even better if one can hire a car, allowing for more flexibility of seeing the country better. It was timely that I was able to tag along with Rodolfo and friends for part of the way and saw more than I would have, otherwise I would be travelling alone and solely rely on public transport Viazul , the only bus company in the country. Viazul is reliable and prompt, though timings may not always be the best.
I was also told that the roads after Camaguey are not so good. The national carrier Air Cubano is also said not to be very reliable, with possibilities of flight delays and / or cancellation of flights without warning. Thus if booking flights, sufficient time should be accommodated for any unforeseen changes.
Cost of travel
As a developing country, cost of traveling in Cuba is on the high side, particularly for backpackers. Average cost :
- Rooms within Havana : USD 30/day
- Outside Havana : USD 20 – 25/day
- Breakfast : USD 5 for breakfast at Casa
- Other Meals : Average USD 10/meal. In smaller towns, this can come down to about USD 5/meal
In Cuba, there are 2 different currencies being used – CUC (pegged to the USD), and CUP (also known as Moneda National, and is about CUC 1 = CUP 25).
There is talks about replacing CUP with CUC, though when this would happen is unknown. Locals are paid in CUP, and often purchase goods using CUP.
Within Havana city, I noted that are clear distinctions between locals and foreigners pricing. Outside of Havana, this distinction is lesser in smaller towns, and there is also the option of paying the equivalent in CUC.
Availability of Tourist Information
Infotur is the national body for providing tourist information, and is available in most towns. I did however noticed that information available at each Infotur is inconsistent.
Do not count on getting a map at these points unless you are planning on buying one. It is recommended to download maps before hand or use a travel app such as Ulmon, which was a great help to me for getting my bearings without requiring any real time data access.
Internet and Phone
Cuba is a great vacation spot if you wish to be off the radar for a while. My Singapore mobile phone would not connect to the Cuban network.
Internet access is also controlled in the country. One first needs to buy credits in the form of a scratch card to access the Internet from ETECSA, which costs $2/1 hr. These cards can be used across the country, and not limited by states or cities geography.
Once you have a card, you will need to find a WIFI spot, often limited to a couple zones in smaller towns. You can either ask a local where these WIFI spots are, or just look for open spaces with major crowds on their mobile device.
Most major hotels should have a WIFI point at their hotel, and these WIFI points also uses the same ETECSA scratch card for internet connection.
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