Travel Blog for Fredrik and Gunnhild

On our last day in Cuba, we got up at 8 am, packed our bags and tried to figure out what to wear on the flight back to cold Norway. We spent a bit more money than expected the night before and realised that we might not have enough to pay for the casa and other things we might need on the trip back to Havana. So again we went to the bank, and again there was a long line in front of all of them. We picked the one with the shortest line, and actually managed to get money in less than 30 minutes. This was a “tourist bank” in the main street, so the procedures for withdrawing money was a bit easier.

We got back to the casa, paid our bill and gave away whatever we had left that we didn’t need to bring back to Norway (shampoo, soap, flowers, flashlight etc.). We also got a couple of sandwiches and some cold water for the trip. Just when we started to pack our stuff into the car, Pedro, José and his wife came to say goodbye. They were a bit delayed since José’s wife was recovering from back surgery, and wasn’t able to walk very fast. But they made it just in time, and we gave them a copy of all the pictures from the weekend. Instead of saying goodbye, we said “hasta luego” (see you later), which made it a little less sad. We had exchanged contact information, and hope to stay in touch until next time.

Around 10.30 am, after loads of good wishes and warm hugs we managed to leave and head towards Havana. We stopped along the highway after a while to eat our sandwiches, and shortly after that we picked up a hitch hiker. He seemed very happy with hitching a ride with a quite new car with air condition, instead of sitting in the back of an old American pickup or similar. He didn’t speak English, and was sitting quietly in the back trying not to fall asleep. About half way we stopped for a short break, and managed to talk to him a little bit. He was going to Holguin (quite far), so he wanted us to drop him of where we left the highway. From there he explained (in Spanish) the easiest way to get to Malecon, and we made it there almost without mistakes. Just as we left the highway the fuel lamp started blinking, and after a small detour we didn’t dare running out of fuel, so we stopped at a gas station, using most of the CUC we had left. That was a good idea, because they used the same car to take us to the airport later. Originally we were supposed to deliver the car at the airport, but that was too difficult for the rental company in regards to the paperwork and the deposit. So we went back to the cruise port where we picked up the car, and arrived there around 12.45 pm, 15 minutes earlier than agreed. When we got there the office was closed, and it was almost 13.30 pm when they came running back, worried that we would be late for our flight. But we had plenty of time, so we even let someone else get ahead of us in line, and just spent a little more time looking out on Havana before we left.

We arrived at the airport a little over 3 hours before our flight (they recommend 3 hours for international flights), and our driver was very grateful for the 4 AA batteries we had left in the car. We changed from sandals to more winter-friendly shoes before we went into the terminal. They were just opening the check-in as we arrived, so we got in the line early and were checked in and ready to go a lot sooner than expected. Our flight was a bit delayed, but they said from the start that we would arrive on time in Amsterdam. We were seated next to a nice Norwegian, and had a nice talk with him until dinner, and after that it was time for a movie, a red wine and trying to get tired (it was midnight in Norway when we left Havana). We were able to snooze a little bit, but were quite tired when we arrived in Amsterdam at 9 am. We had less than 1,5 hours there, which was perfect. At 12.10 pm we arrived in Norway where it was snow and -3 degrees Celsius. It’s often a lot colder there in January, so we were quite happy with that. Now the only challenge was to stay awake as long as possible, so that we would be able to sleep through the night and go back to work the next morning. 🙁

Shortly after we finished our breakfast we heard the doorbell. We expected it to be Pedro, but outside the door was Pedro, José, Ada (Pedro’s sister), Galia (Pedro’s daughter) and Annie (Pedro’s niece) and they brought a huge flower arrangement for us. They told us that it would take to much time for us to go to the tobacco plantation, so José had called them and gotten one of them to come to Pinar del Rio instead. So we placed all five of them in the back seat, stopped outside a house where José ran in and came back after a couple of minutes with a package wrapped in newspapers. We continued out of town towards the small beach town. The roads were pretty bad, so the 20 km took a while, but finally we arrived and stopped at a small restaurant that were normally only for locals (paying in pesos, not CUC). We opened the newspaper package and found a big box of Cohiba Robusto. The price was 120 CUC, which is a lot cheaper than in the official stores where it would cost 340 CUC, so we agreed to buy it. At the restaurant we had some refreshments, the girls showed us their Christmas presents (in Cuba they exchange gifts on January 6th (Epiphany)) and still had a lot to talk about. José had been to a cell phone store in the morning, checking the phone he got from us, and they told him that in Cuba it would easily be sold for 220 CUC, which is a lot of money for them. We explained again that the phones didn’t cost us anything, that they were no longer in use in Norway.

After a bit more relaxation we were served a huge platter of lobster. We had a late (but big as always) breakfast and were not very hungry, but José kept feeding us with lobster. And it was really, really good! After eating it was time for some swimming, and we walked down to the beach. Actually there was not much of a beach, but long piers going out in the shallow water. We walked to the end of the pier, sat down to look at the beautiful surroundings for a while before we jumped in the water. We brought our snorkling gear, and saw plenty of fish, a crab and a jellyfish. Two local kids joined us, and the boy got to borrow one of our diving masks for a while. He quickly got a hang of it and went diving for shells that he brough on shore. Galia, Annie, Ada and Pedro also came down after a while, and they told us that it was the very first time on the beach for the girls. So glad we decided to take them there! Pedro also borrowed a mask and a snorkel. It was his first time ever, and Fredrik had to go into the water to show him how to do it. He was so exited about everything he could see, and when his daughter wanted to go with him, he continued to use the snorkel while she was sitting on his back. We relaxed a bit more at the restaurant terrace, having a couple of beers and drying up, before driving back to the city. José paid for everything. On the way back all five in the back fell asleep. We paid for the cigars and gave them a big bag of clothes and other stuff. They could pick what they wanted first, and the rest was for the people at the plantation.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, we were all back in the car. This time we were going to a birthday party to the son of a friend. Ada had dressed up in one of Gunnhild’s old t-shirts, and the girls had beautiful dresses. The party was in the street, and it was full of kids and grown-ups. There were some benches, but most people were sitting on the sidewalk. Some of the kids were playing “kick the can” without a can. All kids (and tourists obviously) got a cardboard box full of Cuban cakes. We were still not hungry, and especially not for cakes, but we managed to finish most of the box while sitting on the sidewalk with the others. We also brought presents to the birthday boy of course. He got a baseball that we bought in Santiago de Cuba, and lots of paper and color pencils. The highlight of the party was the Piñata. They didn’t hit it with a stick as we expected (probably to be able to reuse it), but opened it from the balcony while kids and grown-ups were standing below “fighting” for the gifts inside. From what we could see there was a littlebit of candy, but mainly it was pencils and school supplies. And the kids were jumping for joy over their brand new pencils. In the car on the way back, we gave the rest of our papers, color pencils, hairbands etc to Galia and Annie. We parked the car outside the casa, and went back to the roof terrace at the 12th floor. This time we ordered a bottle of rum right away, and we also brought 4 of the Cohiba sigars and shared them with José and Pedro. We were still not hungry, but it was clear that our friends were really hoping for something to eat, so we ordered some small tapas dishes. At least that’s what we tried to do, but it was not small and it was not cheap. But everyone got very full and very tired, so we actually left before the bottle was empty. Pedro brought it home, and would save it for another evening.

For breakfast we got a large platter with a big pile of fresh fruit. So much for trying to order a small breakfast. 🙂 Our friend Tom back in Norway had given us his old digital camera, and we had decided that Lourdes who has been taking care of us the entire trip, changing our bookings when needed, arranging airport pickup etc. was the one who deserved it the most. Also she is a grandmother to 3 girls and is one of the few casas with a webpage. She was so thankful for it, and immediately took a picture of us and said that she would always keep that as the first picture on the camera. After packing our bags, we paid for the room and the taxi from the airport, and left our luggage in the living room. We walked the few blocks to Hotel Plaza where we were supposed to pick up our rental car. But since pretty much everything is paper based, they had no idea we were coming and didn’t have a car ready for us. After a few phone calls they found an available car at another rental office, and they sent a driver to pick us up. After a lot of paperwork and a quick look at the map, we were ready for the drive back to Lourdes to pick up our luggage, and at around 11.30 am we were heading towards the autopista to Pinar del Rio. Like last year we were offered help by the rental car agency to get out of Havana, but again we did it on our own without any problems.

We arrived in Pinar del Rio around 13.30 pm. We found our casa, but the guests already there wanted to stay a few days extra, so we had been moved to a different one. We had a small car and had put the back seat down to fit all our luggage, but the owner of the casa still jumped in there and guided us to our new casa (Casa Nonna), only a few blocks away. We had a quick look at the room which had two beds, a small kitchen, a fridge and a large bathroom. It looked great, so we moved in right away and had a beer on the terrace while the owner did the paperwork. It turned out that our new casa was only one block from the restaurant where we met our friend José last year, so we walked over there hoping to find him. We didn’t see anyone we recognized, but we sat down in the rocking chairs on the patio for a mojito and a beer. It got a bit too warm after a while, and we took a walk around the city center instead. We realized that it was Saturday, and that banks might be closed the next day. After our previous experience with running out of money, we decided that we should get some extra just in case. We were told that only one bank were still open, and we walked down the main street to find it. And then we suddenly saw a familiar face on the sidewalk; José! We stopped, he looked at us a bit confused, and we all ended up in a big hug. He introduced us to his friend Pedro, and tried to explain who we were, but he was too exited and pretty much ended up saying “Incredible!” over and over again. José and Pedro followed us to the bank and José went in to try to get us in front of the very long line. Gunnhild went into the bank with José, while Fredrik stayed outside talking to Pedro (who spoke very good English). Only one of the cashiers were allowed to handle tourists, so we still had to wait a while. We got a receipt that was about 40 cm long, had to sign 4-5 places and a second cashier was called over to check and sign the transaction. Crazy!

Homebrewing equipment outside the roof resturant

We stopped by the casa to change our clothes, because José and Pedro wanted to take us to a classy place where no shorts were allowed. We also picked up some presents that we had brought for them. We went to an appartment building a few blocks away. At the top they had recently opened a restaurant and a bar, and we went to take the elevator up to the 12th floor. José pressed the button and then knocked on the elevator door. After a while the elevator came, and there were a guy handling the buttons, because it seemed that they were not all working as they should. Knocking was probably a good idea. 🙂 At the top we went through a dark bar and out to a large roof terrace with a view of the entire city. Beautiful! We ordered some beer and rum and told Pedro a bit about our last visit in Pinar del Rio, how we got to know José and what we did and where we went. José suggested that we should buy a bottle of rum instead of glasses of rum, since one glass costed 1 CUC, while a bottle of Havana Añejo costed only 6 CUC. Good plan! Fredrik had brought a couple of left-over cell phones from home, two HTC Wildfire which we gave to José and Pedro. We had put all the photos from our last visit on there along with some pictures from Norway. We also added our contact information and helped them set up time zones, date formats etc. Neither of them had a cell phone, so they were really, really exited. The funniest part might have been when we showed them the game Teeter (the classic labyrinth game where you control a steel ball), and they both got completely hooked. It was probably the first time any of them played a “computer game”. José kept polishing the screen and showed his new cell phone to everyone he met. He was so proud! Pedro was more interested in all the possibilities and Fredrik showed him all the settings, applications etc.

Later in the evening we had a look into the restaurant that was on the same floor. That’s where all the tourists were sitting, eating boring food in air-condition with a view in the wrong direction. So happy we were sitting on the terrace with all the locals instead. We ordered food that was prepared on the outdoor barbeque. José and Pedro ordered pork, while the two of us ordred chicken. We thought that would be quite boring, but it might actually be the best chicken we ever had. We also got to taste the pork, and it was really juicy and good. When the bottle of rum was empty we went down to our casa instead, and emptied the rest of our Santiago de Cuba rum on the terrace. We got our small travel speakers and played European music from our cell phones. We had such a great night with old and new friends, that we decided to go to a local beach about 20 km out of town together the day after. Before that Pedro would take us to the tobacco plantation to buy some sigars.

Another early morning because of the damn birds. 😀 Since we had to catch a plane to Havana at 2:20 pm we packed our stuff after breakfast, and ordered a bicycle taxi to take us to the airport at 12:30 pm so we could be there the required one and a half hour before the flight. We did not have enough to pay for the room so we went out to get some money. There are no ATM’s in Baracoa and we had to go to the bank, but there was a long line outside. We were advised to go to the exchange office instead, so we grabbed Hans & Jorunn who was also in the line. They had already been at the exchangeoffice and did not get money there because there was a communication problem out of Baracoa. We decided to try Hotel El Castillo, built in the old fort El Castillo de Seboruco. It’s located on a hilltop, so we climed the steps up there in the heat. The view over the city was fantastic, but they didn’t have any possibilty to withdraw money. We were starting to get a bit desperate, since we knew that we did not have enough money. Hans & Jorunn that were going to stay in Baracoa for 2 more, were kind enough to lend us 50 CUC even if they were running out of money as well. We walked down to the exchange office and tried once more just in case, but still no luck.

Hans & Jorunn bought us a beer before we had to say goodbye and go back to the casa to pay before we were leaving. We ended up paying with both CUC and our last USD, since we needed a little bit of money for the bicycle taxi as well. We got both our suitcases on the bicycle and got in i the seats when a man came over and started to talk to us. When he heard we were from Norway, he started talking about his friends there who once gave him two CDs with A-Ha. He really loved them, even though he didn’t have a CD player. He had so many things he wanted to tell us, but we had to leave for the airport. Baracoa is fairly flat, but with two suitcases and two persons it was a bit hard for our taxi “driver”. In the last hill we had to jump off and he pushed the bicycle up before he asked us to jump on again and he took us the last 100 meters. The airport in Baracoa is small and the check-in was quick. We went outside again, but after a short while one of the guys from the airport came out and told us that we had to go in and through security, we did not understand that but did as he said. When we got through security there was a small shop where you could buy water and soda but nothing else. We sat for 1 hour just waiting for boarding to start.

When we arrived in Havana we did not arrive on the international airport, but a small local airport, funny enough named Playa Baracoa Aeroporto, around 1 hour outside of Havana. The Airport was only slightly bigger than the one in Baracoa and they had only one baggage trolley. Since we were the second airplane landing, we had to wait for them to empty the other plane before we got our suitcases, but it was still more efficient that a big airport so we did not complain. When we got out of the airport a taxi was waiting for us. We explained that we needed an ATM to be able to pay him, and he told us that he would stop by one in Havana. Of course the ATM he stopped at did not work. He drove us to Lordes and said that since he knew Lordes we could pay him tomorrow. The first thing on our minds was to get money and since we knew that there was a big “tourist” bank with several ATM’s in Calle Obispo (Tourist street) we went there and finally got money! And when we had money we could go and grab a beer. Perfect! We went back to Lordes, Gunnhild ran trough the shower before we had a Cuba Libre at the casa. Since we had an invitation to eat at La Taberna, we went there and found Ernesto. He booked us a table for the night before he took us to his artist friend Jorly. When we got there we were welcomed with open arms. Jorly, his wife and his mother were all there and he showed us a lot of his work on a computer (installations, hotel lobbies and paintings) before we were shown up to the second floor to see some of his work that he had there. The work was impressive, but too big for us to bring home (and too expensive). After the look we got all his digital pictures and we were allowed to print them back home for free. That didn’t feel right, so we left some money on the table, even though he refused. When we were about to go to dinner Jorly came with a gift to us, an original painting that he signed and packed so it would not be damaged on the trip back.

We got back to La Taberna just in time for the show, and to have the best view possible to the band, Ernesto had set up our seats inside of the bar! He told us he had gotten special permission from the owner. We quickly realised that this was a very touristy place, with no locals in the audience. But the band was really good with several of the members from Buena Vista Social Club, so there were plenty of locals standing outside the windows listening in. We were served a mojito and then a really good starter, and the tourists on the other side of the bar were all looking at us, wondering how we managed to end up there. Funny! We had earlier agreed with Ernesto that we wanted him to select the main course for us, based on what he considered to be his speciality. That was seafood, so we ordered a bottle of white wine, and got a large dish with a lot of different sea food. Really good! Ernesto came out and told us that he had made our food personally, and he was really happy that we loved it. The other guests had plenty of mojitos, and during the last part of the show most of them were standig up, clapping and dancing. Some dancers were also part of the show, and we were really happy to be safely on the other side as they started bringing tourists to the front for “dance lessons”. When the show was over they brought us the bill. 14 CUC for the wine, and the other one just said Ernesto. We did not expect that!

When Ernesto finished in the kitchen, he took us to see their apartment which was just next door. We met Ernesto’s daughter, and found Hanne’s (Vilma’s daughter) room very charming with a lot of pictures from Norwegian fairytales. They had art by Jorly on the walls and a very nice balcony. We still had one more friend we wanted to meet in Havana, Lily at Las Estaciones, so we agreed with Ernesto that he would meet us there as soon as he could change out of his chef uniform. Lily was so happy when she saw us and hardly left our table all evening. We had a really great time and talked a lot with Ernesto and Lily mainly in Spanish. At closing time Lily brought us the bill, but said that it was no problem to order more afterwards. Time just flew by, and suddenly it was 3 am. We said goodbye to Ernesto and Lily, sent our regards to Vilma and went back to the casa for a few hours sleep. As always we had to knock on the door, and Lourdes husband opened for us smiling as always. After way too much food the last few days, we wanted just a small breakfast before we left the next day, so we asked if it was possible to skip the omelet, the bread, the ham, the cheese ++ and just have some fresh fruit. That was of course no problem so we went to sleep happy after yet another fantastic but surreal day.

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We were woken up early because the owner had 5 different bird cages outside our room, again it was a big breakfast, with one of the best coffees Fredrik has ever had. We had decided that we wanted to have a drive outside of town to a river and then to a beach about 20 km outside the city. We were picked up by a big american car that drove us to Rio Toa, where we had a round trip on the river with a rowing boat. When we got back on shore we continued on a very bad road to Playa Managua. The average speed was 15 Km/h, so the 12 km left took almost an hour. When we got to the beach we found Jorunn and Hans that were there with a German couple (Sandra and Christian). We started by cooling off with a dip in the ocean before we ordered a beer from one of the locals selling at the beach. It was one of the better beaches we have been to in Cuba, with no big all inclusive hotels near it. We had another swim before we went back to the car after two and an half hours. The drive back felt faster, but after checking the GPS track the average speed was still 15 Km/h. When we got back to the casa we had a shower and got ready to go out to palidar La Colonial where we had agreed to meet the people from the beach at 7 pm.

We were responsible for booking a table, but our host José didn’t think it was necessary, or at least that’s what we think he said. He didn’t speak a word English. 🙂 Just in case, we went to the paladar 30 minutes early and asked if it was possible to get a table for 6 outside. As always in Cuba, everything can be done, so they moved a big table from inside the paladar out and we had half the terrace to ourselves. We sat down and ordered a beer and looked over the menu, this paladar is known for their special coconut sauce and we agreed that we should order different dishes with that sauce. Jorunn, Hans, Sandra and Christian arrived as agreed at 7 pm. Christian who speaks Spanish took care of the ordering. Gunnhild ordered shark and Fredrik shrimps, and we shared so that we could taste both dishes. Fantastic food! During dinner we ordered 3 bottles of wine and some more beer (all six of us), and after dinner we continued with a lot of rum and cigars. We all told stories, laughed a lot and had a really great time. We had a long dinner and were the last to leave the paladar. We continued to Casa de la Trova, where there was a new and better band than last night.

After more dancing and more drinks, we were standing outside in the street talking after the concert ended. Jorunn bought a CD and got it signed by all the members of the band. Several of them came over to us to talk, and the presenter (or compère) also joined us. He proudly showed us the digital camera he had received as a present from a friend, but he couldn’t use it because it had no memory card. Luckily Gunnhild had a spare one in her purse, and the rest of the evening he walked around with a big smile, taking pictures and promising us a special present if we ever returned to Baracoa. Fun!

At 7 am it was time to say goodbye to Yalissy, her family and the few neighbors that were up this early. Yalissy served us tea and coffee before we left, and gave us a bag of sandwiches and juice for the trip to Cuba’s oldest city, Baracoa. It was really sad to leave, but our taxi to the bus station was waiting for us. The check-in was quick and surprisingly efficient, so we sat down in the waiting area and quickly started talking to a couple going on the same bus as us. It took us a while to realise that they were also Norwegian, and that we didn’t have to speak English. They were seated right behind us on the bus, so we pretty much talked the entire bus ride (5 hours). The trip itself was very scenic. We were stopped on a check point when entering the Guantánamo province, and everybody had to leave the bus to wash their hands. After that we continued along the coast to Cajababo where we started on the impressive mountain road, La Farola. This road was not opened until 1964, and before that the only way in and out of Baracoa was by sea. Because of this isolation Baracoa is different from the rest of Cuba when it comes to culture, traditions and especially food.

At the bus station in Baracoa we were picked up by our host José. It was a bit of confusion, since we thought we were staying with Gustavo, we hadn’t booked any pickup and his note said Frederik instead of Fredrik. But as soon as he mentioned Lourdes, which was our host in Havana who booked all the other casas for us, there was no problem. We were taken to our casa in two bici-taxis, one with José and our suitcases, and the other one for us. Baracoa seemed like a small and charming city, with a lot less tourists, and because of that less people yelling “Taxi!”, “Sigars!”, “Casa!”, “Guide!” etc. Lovely! We got a nice room with twin beds on the first floor of Casa Mary y José. There was a back yard just outside our room with two rocking chairs, lots of caged birds and a cute little turtle walking around. On the third floor there was a roof terrace, where we had a beer and relaxed for a while.

After unpacking a bit, and giving 3 bags of laundry to Mary, we went out for a walk in the city. It was a small town, so it didn’t take long before we met the Norwegian couple (Hans & Jorunn) from the bus in the street. We went with them to Cafetería el Parque for lunch before continuing down to Malecon, over to the bus station and back through the city center. We went shopping for some rum to enjoy on the terrace, and agreed to meet again in the evening. We had ordered lobster for dinner at the casa at 8 pm, and finally got to taste the famous Baracoan cuisine. We had a really tasteful soup made on lobster stock, and the lobster itself was prepared with a lot more spices than we are used to from the other parts of Cuba. Delicious!

In the evening we went to Casa de la Trova, house of music. José insisted on going with us, probably to make sure that we got in and got good seats. We were taken to two chairs very close to the stage, but with a view towards the entrance as well. This was perfect because we could see everything happening on stage, and we could also see Hans & Jorunn when they arrived. There was a live band playing, a mix between locals and tourists in the audience, lots of people outside in the street and plenty of good drinks. In the beginning we mainly listened to the music and watched the people dancing in front of the stage. When Hans & Jorunn showed up we moved over to them further back, and later at night it was people dancing everywhere and almost impossible to say no to everyone wanting to dance. A few mojitos also helps you forget that you really don’t know how to dance salsa…